Hair is both at one and the same time a joyous celebration of life, and a stark and poignant reminder of death, and this production crosses and criss-crosses that bridge many times in this extremely fast-moving, slick, and high energy production.
Hair, as a Musical, was written over 50 years ago by Gerome Ragni, James Rado and Galt MacDermot, and was a hugely ground-breaking piece of theatre in many respects... it's use of profanity, endorsing the taking of illegal drugs and multi-partner sex, and of course the fact that at the end of act 1, the entire cast appear naked. Not only this but the musical appeared at times to be disrespectful to the USA and their flag, and indeed was very anti-war, violently opposing the Vietnam War. It was also, and this was 1967 remember - a multi-racial cast which, in itself, caused untold problems. Given all of this, it is a miracle that the show survived to become the hugely popular cult musical it has!
Things have moved on apace and we are now in the 21st century, where most of the above-mentioned taboos are pretty commonplace in theatre, and the anti-Vietnam sentiment is also very dated, so how does one approach producing this musical to appeal to and satisfy our modern generations... very much like it was this evening, is the simple answer!
This current production started life at Hope Mill Theatre in Ancoats, not that far away from this evening's venue. It was a small, intimate production using a thrust-stage configuration (audience on three sides). It was a very up-close-and-personal production which has stayed with me to this day. My personal concern therefore was how such a truly personal production would work on the massive expanse of the Palace Theatre's stage. To a large extent my fears were unfounded, as they did cope with this space remarkably well... providing you were sitting in the stalls. Sadly, as is the case with even pantomimes which visit such venues, where audience participation or involvement is required, it is always restricted to the areas which are easily accessible for the cast.
Using the same director (Jonathan O'Boyle), the same designer (Maeve Black), the same Musical Director (Gareth Bretherton), and the same choreographer (William Whelton), producers Aria Entertainment have sensibly kept the essence of the piece, utilising similar ideas throughout, but changing them to the circumstances of different venue and (all but one, Natalie Green) a different cast! Aria Ent also continue their policy of giving newcomers their first professional break out of theatre school training, and in this show it is Louise Francis that shines with her given opportunity.
With O'Boyle's sense of fun and tight reign, combined with his love of using materials in interesting ways (taken up by both Black in her designs and Whelton in his dance moves), and a band that is permanently on-stage, and almost continuously playing throughout, along with a stunning lighting design (Ben M Rogers) this is as thrilling and all-embracing as it was at Hope Mill, and perhaps even when the show first premiered 52 years ago. Fresh, alive and kicking, this is one musical that you simply do not want to pass by! The cast belt out some stunning vocals to tunes which, even if you don't know the musical, you will undoubtedly be familiar with (Aquarius, Good Morning Starshine, Electric Blues, Manchester England) and if you are not standing, singing along and clapping to the beat as the cast bring audience on stage at the end... a tradition in this Musical, and called the 'Be-In'...then you have a heart of stone!
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 9/4/19
No comments:
Post a Comment