CCU’s ‘Hair’ tribe readies for rock musical
by Prufer
Robin Russell and her group of 29 young actors held their first rehearsal for “Hair: the Musical” on the beach. They sat in a large drum circle, came up with their hippie names and established their own tribe: Varuna Degatoga. It was all so – well, so 1960s, which is fitting for the counterculture rock musical being launched on Thursday, Nov. 13, on a stage on top of the well-publicized water stage in the Edwards Theatre.
“Hair” is the best-kept secret of the fall cultural arts season. The punk-rock play “American Idiot” had been scheduled originally, but there were problems in procuring the rights, and since a rock musical was slotted, the iconic show of the hippie generation became the obvious choice. Russell, who is directing the energetic tribe, said the faculty was split on whether to mount the musical from the 1960s. “Some felt it was too dated; others felt it didn’t have enough structure. But I liked the challenge of it."
And challenge it is, as Generation Y, also called the Millenials, tries to understand the passionate dissonance of the hippie subculture of more than half a century ago with its rebellious beliefs about love, personal freedom, war and the environment.
“As actors, we try to put ourselves in someone else’s shoes,” says Gabby Harker, a senior who plays Jeannie, a pregnant, hippie teenager. “We’ve had a lot of really good discussions about the time period. We get discouraged when we hear we’re the technical generation. No one likes to be stereotyped, and we think we’re a lot more than that.”
“Hair” is the story of a group of politically active hippies living a bohemian life in New York City and fighting against being drafted into the Vietnam War. Claude, his good friend Berger, their roommate Sheila and their friends struggle with their beliefs, the sexual revolution and their rebellion against the war, their conservative parents and society. Claude must decide whether to resist the draft as his friends have done or to succumb to the pressures of his parents – and society – to serve in Vietnam, compromising his principles and risking his life.
To soak up the culture of strong opinions, the students are attending CCU’s Ethics and Values lectures, they’re researching the ’60s and sharing videos about protests – and raiding resale shops for the fashions of the period. Tie dye, bell-bottom jeans, long straight hair, psychedelic fabrics, scarves as headbands, gauzy-flowing dresses and such. “They LOVE the clothes,” says Russell, adding that they are already wearing hippie clothes around campus and to rehearsals, even before the costuming gets underway.
Russell, who carries her dog-eared “Hair” scripts and notes in a colorful, beatnik-style binder, is working from the original play, much of which was lost along the way as tweaks were made to it. “Some of it is bizarre,” she admits, pointing out spaceship songs and protest rallies and, of course, lots of HAIR.
The musical numbers are the driving force behind this raw, high-energy play. “We are loving the music,” says Harker, who sings the solo, “Welcome, Sulphur Dioxide” (about pollution). “Especially the big ensemble songs; they are very powerful,” she says.
One of Russell’s challenges has been pulling “the raw and the grit” from the traditionally-trained musical theatre students. “We don’t want structure, and they are not used to being free to improvise. It’s proving harder than they thought.”
"'Hair’ is not really plot-driven,” says Russell. “It is idea-driven. It’s a struggle for them.”
Just as the ideas of love and peace and acceptance abound, there are some lyrics that are not suitable for children. And the memorable nude scene will be “given a nod” by a body suit, but there won’t be any actual nudity.
Harker, who still remembers Russell calling her “vanilla ice cream” as a freshman, is working very hard to prove that description wrong. “I feel like I’m growing every day,” says the young actor. “I have more understanding of what the hippies were all about. In addition to the peace and love, they were looking for the reason in life, the ‘why are we here?’”
“We want to be the change we want to see in the world,” says Harker, sounding very much like a modern day hippie.
“Hair” runs Nov. 13 to 22 in the Edwards Theatre.
