Hair – The Tribal Love Rock Musical Review
Summary: Where politics has begun to fail us, we can still seek solace in the uplifting power of the arts to see us through to whatever comes next.
4.5
Uplifting
Hair – The Tribal Love Rock Musical – performances at the Athenaeum Theatre, Collins Street Melbourne, until November 2025. Directed by Glenn Easton, choreography by Sue-Ellen Shook and singing direction by Lyndsay Field.
Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical first appeared off Broadway in 1967, with songs/lyrics and the book written by Gerome Ragni and James Rado. At that time, America was in ferment. The conservatism of the 1950s had begun giving way in the 60s as the generation born after World War Two came of age, found that they didn’t like what their parents had built, and decided that there was a better, freer way to live.
Race riots, political assassinations, the Sexual Revolution, Women’s Liberation, rampant drug use and especially the Vietnam War all contribute to the storyline of this latest incarnation, Hair – The Tribal Love Rock Musical. While the 1960s have long gone, and many of those who rose up against the rigid conformity of the era exchanged long hair and beads for lives in the suburbs, the era we currently live in – environmental destruction, old men driving the world into the ground and seemingly endless conflicts around the globe appearing to only benefit the military industrial complex, remains ripe for an upsurge of youth to pull down what their parents have so destructively erected. Hair – The Tribal Love Rock Musical is thus a battle-cry for a different, more harmonious way of living, and the hard choices and decisions that need to be made to achieve it.
Wow – heavy man! While the themes of Hair – The Tribal Love Rock Musical resonate today, you can’t lose sight of the fact that while the musical is designed to ask difficult questions of the audience, it does nevertheless have to be an entertaining experience. So, was it?
Hair – The Tribal Love Rock Musical revolves around the lives of a group of young New Yorkers who have embraced the bohemian lifestyle of the hippie generation. Claude (Alex Cooper) fights against the instincts his conservative parents have instilled in him, as he vacillates between embracing pacifism and resisting the draft, or going to Vietnam to fight and thus placate his parents. With him are Berger (Maxwell Simon) a free spirit, and Sheila (Elizabeth Brennnan) and a merry band of misfits struggling to find their place in a world that regards their worldview as aberrant.
From the outset, the vibe from the audience was one of joyful expectation. It is really lovely as a reviewer to be able to sit in with an audience that has nothing but positivity towards a production, which is testament to the history of Hair and its impact over almost sixty years. A good proportion of the audience came in period dress – never have some much fabric been sacrificed in the service of flares and tassels!
The production team start out strong by projecting visual recordings from the 60s on the backdrop before the musical begins, evoking an era that has now begun to recede from living memory. Iconic images from that decade – including a heavy dose of JFK as president – serve to demonstrate that the 60s was a real turning point in American history – an era where the baton was handed (unwillingly, it must be said) from the old generation to the new.
The minimal staging allows the characters to fully shine, both in their performance and singing. Alex Cooper as the conflicted Claude immediately impressed with his strong dramatic skills as he seeks to find his place within the Tribe, as well as decide whether he will embrace pacifism in defiance of his conservative parents. Clay Darius as Hud had a real presence to the stage, bringing strong comedy chops to his performance, as well as a fantastic singing voice that delighted the audience. Special mention to Maxwell Simon whose likeable portrayal of Berger made him a firm favourite of the audience.
From its first performance, the nude scene that brings Act One to a close has engendered controversy and comment. Happily, we live in a time where those sorts of nonsense debates have been consigned to the dustbin of history. What we did see was some excellent staging of this pivotal scene, where with the aid of a tarpaulin and some very good choreography, the performers were able to strip down on stage – enabling them to express their vulnerability and humanity to an appreciative audience.
Sue-Ellen Shook’s choreography comes to the fore in an excellent sequence after Claude goes a little overboard with his drug intake – the effects of his overindulgence is depicted by the cast members slow motion movement and dancing around him as he rides the psychedelic waves. Elsewhere, excellent harmonies bring the very best from the diverse, talented cast.
For all the lighter moments, at its core, Hair – The Tribal Love Rock Musical depicts the birth pangs of a new generation, seeking to escape the suffocating expectations of their parent’s generation. For all their hope that change is in the air, Claude’s decision to go to war and his resultant death underscore that idealism will only get you so far – that the crushing realities of expectation and the dead hand of the institutions that have taken the world to the brink have a dreadful momentum all of their own. The final song “The Flesh Failures (Let the Sun Shine In)” is delivered with real heart, and the staging of it – with the illusion of snow falling as we see Claude’s body, coupled with bright sunshine illuminating the stage – shows that there is a constant struggle between realism and idealism.
Hair – The Tribal Love Rock Musical is a musical production I would happily pay to see again. The performances are strong, while the staging and choreography allow the characters to shine to their fullest. The cast embrace their roles without limits, bringing strong performances and excellent singing to an appreciative audience. The Sixties are long gone – but the arguments and debates that animated that decade are just as alive today. Hair – The Tribal Love Rock Musical addresses those issues in its own way, teaching and educating a new generation with a talented cast and crew. Where politics has begun to fail us, we can still seek solace in the uplifting power of the arts to see us through to whatever comes next.
