When Hair first appeared in 1968 it was seen as a social statement and not fully viewed as a Broadway musical filled with great musical numbers.  It made political statements, racial statements, and religious statements.  It addressed the use of re recreational drugs, especially marijuana, in talked about inter-racial sex and it presented the entire cast on stage, completely nude.  The trauma of  1968, including the assassinations of Robert Kennedy and Dr Martin Luther King, the war in Vietnam, the Hippy Movement and the Chicago Democratic Convention only added to the mystic that became Hair.

This time around Hair is a musical period piece,  the social statements have little meaning except to those who were around in the sixties, but the music has been reborn as a gift to a new generation.  The dichotomy between then and now is both an advantage and disadvantage to this cast recording. You can feel the pathos of the performers in the original cast recording that you do not hear in this recording, but there is a musicality in this recording that does not exist in the original.    I only wish that the producers of this recording had chosen to really emphasize the great songs and left a few of the quick interludes off the album, although some dialogue and musical riffs that were not in the original album really add to this recording.  The performances by Gavin Creel, Sasha Allen, Will Swenson and Cassie Levy are wonderful and after listening to the album, even if you have yet to see the revival production, it is hard to walk around without hearing the songs in your head or humming or singing the tunes.  Hair is a period piece, but “Aquarius,” ” I Got Life,”  “Hair,”  “Easy to be Hard,”  “Where Do I Go,”,  “Good Morning Starshine,” and “Let The Sunshine In” still contain powerful visuals and messages.

Buy the album.

Categories: Broadway Revival Cast Recordings
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