I am extremely interested in musical theatre and keep up to date with Broadway musicals and Broadway news regularly. I have read a lot about the musical Hair and have for the most part heard nothing but great reviews about the show. When I was in New York a couple of years ago I was unable to see Hair with the revival cast. In all honesty, the show wasn’t on my top list to see while in the city.
Coming to London, Hair once again was not on my top list of shows to see. I ended up making a friend who was also into musicals. She wanted to see Hair because one of the lead actors, Gavin Creel, was leaving the production. She asked me if I wanted to go and I agreed because I am always game to see a show. We ended up going to see Hair on Gavin Creels last night. I’m not sure whether it was because it was Gavin Creels last show or not but I cannot speak highly enough of what I saw that night.
Hair turned out to be one of the most fun theatre experiences that I have experienced. The actors broke the fourth wall which I have never seen live before. The performers also ran out into the audience and danced on the theatre seats, messed with people’s hair, and even drank the alcohol of the person in the row ahead of me. They also handed out some flowers which I was lucky enough to get a hold of. At one point Gavin Creel got choked up during a song and had the rest of the cast help him through it. I liked seeing that side of him because I felt that the performance they were putting on was very personal. At the end of the performance the cast even invited the audience to come up on stage with them to dance.
After the show we decided to wait outside for the cast and get pictures, which we did.
Overall, the experience was great and I am happy that my friend asked if I wanted to see it with her. The show closed only a couple of days later and since it has also closed on Broadway, I feel lucky that I was able to have witnessed a musical that included the audience as well as made us a part of an amazing theatre experience.
You managed to make yourself a part of theatre history. Your description is lively and vivid. I really enjoyed reading your comments about Creel 'choking up' and being unable to complete a number. That will be so interesting to historians who will analyse performance technique and whether performers alter according to the circumstances of the night. Well done and so glad you enjoyed it too. Dr Q
ReplyDeletehair is definitely top 3 most favorite plays of all time
ReplyDelete-bryan
Kristin,
ReplyDeleteWhat an excellent review. I'm glad you got to meet some of the cast as well as seeing the play before it closed. I'm sure it was a great experience.
Jacqueline
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