Theatre & Dance Department celebrates 50th anniversary of love-rock musical
The love-rock musical âââa product of the counterculture and sexual revolution of the late 1960sâis coming to Boulder, April 13-22. âHairâ tells the story of a group of politically active hippies fighting against conscription into the Vietnam War.
According toÌę, the Âé¶čÊÓÆ”âs faculty director of âHair,â the musical âgives us the opportunity to look back at a pivotal moment in American history.â
When: April 13-22, 2018
Where:
Cost: $24
Tickets: Visit the CU Presents box office in person (972 Broadway), call 303-492-8008 during business hours or visit us anytime.
Indeed, from Steven Spielbergâs recent film âThe Post,â to Ken Burnsâ epic 18-hour documentary âThe Vietnam War,â the American public is still motivated in trying to understand this moment in our history: What happened? What does it mean? How did it change us?
âIf we accept Hamletâs observation that plays hold a mirror up to nature, then this mirror gives us a chance to look at an era where we are part of the image,â explains Coleman, Roe Green Professor of Theatre at CU Boulderâs Department of Theatre & Dance. âHamlet doesnât say that plays are a window, rather they are a mirror, which means the viewer is part of the experience.Ìę
âPut another way, weâre all shaped by what happened, even if our parentsâ names werenât Cloud and Sage.âÌę
While âHairâ was groundbreaking for boldly introducing the genre of rock ânâ roll to Broadway, some of the songs from the score became Top 10 hits and much of the score is now part of the American Songbook.Ìę
âWhen Galt MacDermot, Gerome Ragni and James Rado wrote âHairâ in the late-1960s, they were less concerned with the war itself than trying to capture the turmoil and optimism of being an American teenager at that time,â says Coleman of the work that opened on Broadway in 1968. âThink eastern religions, draft cards, sexual experimentation, recreational drug use, unplanned pregnancy, the British Invasion, the Womenâs Movement, Civil Rights Movement and the like.âÌęÌę
So grab your love beads, let your hair down and travel back in time with us to the âAge of Aquarius.âÌęAdvisory: This production includes nudity,