August 11, 2008

'Hair' extends free Central Park run through Sept. 7

(Update: “Hair” in Central Park has been extended yet again — through September 14. There’s also talk it may move to Broadway as early as this fall.)

Following last week’s opening to mostly positive reviews, the Shakespeare in the Park free production of “Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical” will run for one extra week — through September 7.

“Hair” is performed Tuesdays through Sundays at The Delacorte Theater in Central Park. You can get tickets for free by lining up the day of the show, or try for the daily online lottery.

Jonathan Groff (recently of “Spring Awakening”) will play Claude only through Aug. 16 (thre original end date.) He’ll be replaced by Christopher J. Hanke (of “Cry-Baby,”) for the full extension, Playbill notes.

Here’s a sample of some of the main reviews of the “Hair”:

New York Times - “Seen 40 years after it first stormed the middle-class citadel of musical comedy, “Hair” registers as an eloquent requiem not only for the idealism of one generation but also for the evanescence of youth itself. It’s still the “tribal love-rock” celebration it was always advertised as being. But in suggesting the dawning age of Aquarius is already destined for nightfall, this production establishes the show as more than a vivacious period piece. “Hair,” it seems, has deeper roots than anyone remembered.”

Daily News - “The show still rocks, but it no longer shocks. The profanity, nudity and odes to sodomy and LSD seem tame. The tribe, in fringe and flowers, look let’s-dress-up cute. And though the anti-Vietnam message resonates today, the show is a singing catalogue of its own messy era. “

New York magazine - “Hair is the weirdest musical ever staged. There’s sort of a plot, though not really. It treats audiences to a Hamlet soliloquy set to folk music, just before the song that runs “Gliddy glup gloopy/Nieby nabby noopy/La la la lo lo.” Deadly serious activities like draft-card burning alternate with Dionysian vistas (naked boys and girls singing) and lyrics that would be at home on Sesame Street (“I got my eyes/I got my nose/I got my mouth/I got my teeth,” goes one nursery-ready stanza). The show’s hymns to love will always hold up; the shout-outs to heroin aren’t quite doing the same.”

Newsday - “What’s also important, however, is the subtle, shrewd, ongoing smartness of this show. The book, by lyricists Gerome Ragni and James Rado, may seem like a ragtag jumble of sketches about the rebellious young pursuit of “peace, love, freedom, happiness.” In fact, the creators are cleverly telling layers of individual stories through an unconventional structure that still feels new.”

Post - “Granted, the plot - revolving around the imminent Army induction of Claude Bukowski (Jonathan Groff) and the romantic entanglements of the hippie tribe with which he aligns - is as thin as ever. But it hardly matters, thanks to Galt MacDermot’s driving rock/pop score, spectacularly performed here.”

Sun - “With so little narrative, it is essential that the magnetic pull of these two men keep the non-plot moving. Sadly, only Mr. Swenson obliges. Mr. Groff, a compellingly uneasy leading man in “Spring Awakening,” again comes across here as sweet and gentle, with a plaintive tenor voice. Unlike in the previous show, though, he is also utterly sexless. You half-expect to see his mom swing by Washington Square Park to pick him up before dinner.”

Bloomberg - “You may also have guessed that Oskar Eustis, the Public’s artistic director, picked “Hair” largely because it can now be construed as an anti-Iraq War show. True enough, but artistically speaking, this unstructured, baggy monster of a musical, though pleasant on first exposure, does not bear too much reviving and closer scrutiny. “

NY1 - “Director Diane Paulus has done a phenomenal staging and casting job. From goddess-like Patina Renea Miller’s soul-stirring “Aquarius” to Will Swenson’s hunky bad-boy Berger and Jonathan Groff’s openhearted Claude, these intensely talented young actors leap clear over the generation gap to deliver a mystic crystal revelation we badly need. Add Karole Armitage’s group choreography and a supremely groovy band, and the moon is smack dab in the seventh house.”

Earlier: Shakespeare in the Park to give tickets away online

August 11, 2008 2:31 PM in Broadway, Cheap Stuff, Romance, Upper East Side, Upper West Side

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