Theatre is never done evolving! The wonderful nature of art is that a show written 50 (even 500!) years ago can still hold relevance today. HAIR, the tribal love musical that took musical theatre by storm all those decades ago is no exception. Now in 2017, it's back, enjoying a raucous run at The Vaults theatre and writer/lyricist James Rado will not only be visiting the London production (for a gala night on 17 October 2017) but he was also involved in re-writing certain lines to make it even more relevant!
85 year old Tony and Grammy Award winning writer/lyricist of HAIR, James Rado told young producer Katy Lipson and young director Jonathan O'Boyle – "I’d like this production to have the definitive script of HAIR – there’s never been one in 50 years..."
See some of the new script lines below + programme notes from Jonathan and Rado...
1. The set for this production is the North/South Korea border fencing, the most dangerous border in the world, which has millions of coloured peace ribbons tied to it. The Vaults too is immersed in prayer ribbons.
2. For the first time the song HIPPIE LIFE which was written for the movie of HAIR has been included in this new 50th anniversary production.
3. New lyrics in Sheila’s Easy to be Hard
It was -
''And don't you wonder how long we can take it
The way that we play and make fun of each other'
It's now-
'I'm readin' the headlines, the world bloody brutal
The terrible torture, the horrible warfare'
And James Rado has added a line for Berger in his number Be In –
"Keep America strong. Make America stronger. May God bring our nation victory." A thin reference to Trump.
Director Jonathan O'Boyle then worked with James Rado via Skype on the updated script for HAIR.
JAMES RADO – (the real life mad love affair was between himself, James Rado and co writer Gerome Ragni – and they went on to play the original Claude and Berger in 1967)."HAIR was born from the real-life mad love affair of two young actors, and on stage it manifested as the characters Claude & Berger. Jerry Ragni & I were about the same age. Cast in a play in New York is how we met and three years later had a script in hand, bound in yellow leatherette with the letters of the title in gold. Jerry was on an Amtrak train coming back to NYC from Yale University in Connecticut. On that train was a well-known producer, Joe Papp who was opening a new Public Theater. Jerry gave the yellow & gold script to Joe, and one week later got a phone call from him saying he wanted to open the Public with it. The show you will see at The Vaults is the yellow & gold script evolved. A work of heart that was labored over delicately with huge inspiration from 1989 to 2017. (Jerry had begun the transformation with me.) The show you see here at The Vaults in London in 2017 is the world premiere of the evolved HAIR which I hope will take you deeper. That is the goal. It is some kind of miracle that Jonathan O'Boyle showed up at the finishing touches."
Jonathan O'Boyle - “I wish every mother and father in this theatre would go home and make a speech to their teenagers and say: Kids, be free, no guilt, be whoever you are, do whatever you want.”
“The values and anxieties of the characters you see here in Hair today still resonate 50 years after the original production of Hair opened off-Broadway in 1967. Women’s Equality, LGBTQ Rights, Ethnic Diversity, Black Lives Matter, Environmental Issues and perhaps one of the biggest issues that once again is pressing down on us - the threat of nuclear war. It makes me feel sad that all the issues people were shouting about back in the Summer of Love are still unresolved and remain part of our social conscience."
"Jim’s input to the show has been invaluable and enlightening. Hearing first-hand accounts of the original production, stories of Galt MacDermot and Jim writing the show together and then having Jim sing Aquarius down the phone to me is a moment I won’t forget in a hurry... I’ll never forget the first email I received from Jim, signed ‘the original Claude’. It made me smile and I instantly knew that having Jim on board would be a huge asset. Jim’s new lyrics have deepened the shows meaning and strengthened the overall message they were trying to communicate. “
