HAIR review- August 15, 2009

Instead of figuring out who understudied who, I'm going to type the cast list as it was given to us as a separate sheet in the playbill.
Dionne- Saycon Sengbloh
Berger- Will Swenson
Woof- Bryce Ryness
Hud- Darius Nichols
Claude- Jay Armstrong Johnson
Sheila- Caissie Levy
Jeanie- Kacie Sheik
Crissy- Briana Carlson-Goodman
Mother- Allison Gruinn
Dad- Andrew Kober
Margaret Mead- Andrew Kober
Hubert- Josh Lamon
Abraham Lincoln- Nicole Lewis
John Wilkes Booth- Josh Lamon
Buddhadalirama- Allison Guinn
The Tribe: Ato Blankson-wood, Jackie Burns, Matt Deangelis, Lauren Elder, Allison Guinn, Chasten Harmon, Anthony Hollock, Kaitlin Kiyan, Andrew Kober, Josh Lamon, Nicole Lewis, John Moauro, Megan Reinking, Paris Remillard, Michael James Scott, Maya Sharpe, Hannah Shankman, Tommar Wilson

Alright :)
First, I was a little bummed we weren't seeing Gavin, but, I really didn't mind. After all, sometimes understudies can give fabulous performances. So, I was open-minded about this. Plus, I was really excited to see Saycon again. I saw her as Elphaba in Wicked the first time I saw it and she was fantastic :) Okay, starting the actual review now!

ACT ONE

Aquarius It was fantastic. The music was wonderful (as always) and Saycon was just as wonderful as I remember. The harmonies were so incredible... It was just great :) After Aquarius, Berger establishes himself and people introduce themselves. Will Swenson is FABULOUS. One of my new favorite people. First of all, there is a LOT of audience interaction. They speak straight out to the audience all of the time. He was like, "Call me anything you want... you could call me, 'Banana Berger'... or 'taking my pants off Berger' (that's when he took off his pants- by the way) or, 'I'm playing with my cell phone instead of watching the show Berger'" It was so funny. He was great. He couldn't get his pants off, so he said, "'I can't get my pants off Berger'" It was fabulous. He put his leg up on the front row chairs and was like, "Do you have any spare change? what? I'm just stretching... it could be a nickel, a penny, a dime, a spare hundred dollar bill. I'll just sit here all night with my b***s hanging out" omigod. So funny.
Donna So good. You're going to hear just about the same thing from me for every song. It sounded just like it did on the CD, yadda yadda. Will Swenson is extremely talented. the singing blew me away :)
Hashish So cool. It was trippy (duh... that's what the show is) Many... let's say, "interesting" movements made by the tribe on stage. Actually, someone is always doing something sexual on stage haha. But anyway, on the CD, my favorite part of the song is when they say, "LSD" and they didn't say it that way in the show hahaha! It made me sad, but then made me laugh because I felt sad about nothing.
S****y I'm starring these words out for the little eyes and ears. Just so you know. Gah. It's such a good song. If only I could sing it in public places without getting yelled at by authorities. Bryce is fantastic, too. Crazy how that works, huh? They're on Broadway and they're all talented... weird. Anyway, great song.
Colored Spade Can't really say much. I love the song. Darius is wonderful, too. Tia (my sister) said he should play Judas in JCS. He could. He definitely has the voice for it, that's for sure!!!
Manchester England Enter Claude. Berger said that he was, "The most beautiful creature in the forest" Tara and Tia both absolutely think Berger wasn't far off. They're pretty much stalking him at this point (not really, though) He is a really attractive person. I just feel like trying to know him/like him on a personal level just kills the character he created on stage in a way, so I tend to stay away from that. But he is extremely good looking. He's so talented. He is definitely as good as Gavin, if not better. Seriously, he was such a good singer. I couldn't even tell that he was an understudy.
I'm Black Not really much different from the CD. It was good, but VERY short. Like, literally 16 bars so, not really much to say.
Ain't Got No So cool. Of course, they're all out in the audience. So, it was awesome. The chanting was great and everything. It was just fabulous. I loved it.
Sheila Franklin Enter Caissie Levy. My favorite cast member.
I Believe in Love She is so fantastic. Her singing looked absolutely effortless. This song gets stuck in my head SO OFTEN it's crazy. Live, it was even better.
Ain't Got No yup... just about the same. as the first one lol
Air I love this song. Can I just say that Kacie Shiek is so hilarious?? She's so funny. She's all preggers and she singing the song and like, "FALL OUT" to her baby. She was so funny. Her voice was great too. I love the song. Another one of those songs I can't really sing in public, but only because people give me odd looks.
The Stone Age Another very short, but good song. It makes me happy, but it's so short that nothing really happens.
I Got Life One of my FAVORITES. The scene before it is the parents yelling at Claude and he goes, "Moooom!! Not in front of the audience!" and they're like, "oh... audience? sorry..." anyway. Another fun song. I wanted to sing with it, but I thought that would be looked down upon. Oh. Speaking of being looked down upon. Some guy 2 rows ahead of us was filming the show with his phone and he got yelled at like, 5 times. So funny.
Initials I love this because whenever I listen to it, I do the sign language letters as it's playing. So I did them quietly and discreetly in my seat :) The blocking for this was cool They were in a triangle of sorts and they were shuffling back and fourth.
Going Down Berger comes in and is like, "yoooo! I got expelled from High School" and everyone's like, "groovy" (except for that is not the dialogue at all) and they sing this awesome song. Will's voice is absolutely amazing. He has such a clear tone and it doesn't sound like he's stretching at all. It great. It is such a privilege to see this many talented people in one show. It really is.
Hair OMIGOD. MY FAVORITE. I love this song with the burning passion of over 1000 suns. The scene was amazing, the response from the audience was amazing, the people in it were amazing. It was great. But during it, Will's voice cracked and they just laughed. He and Jay were just sitting there laughing for like, 3 minutes. But it was great because they were still in character. The experience was wonderful. Many people think this is the end of act one, but NO! There is more!!
My Conviction The control in Andrew Kober's voice is the best I have ever heard. The crescendo is truly out of this world. I can't get over how great the cast is. Truly, I can't.
Easy to be Hard She's my favorite for a reason. Once again, efforless. She didn't even look like she was speaking. What I mean is that there was no strain in her neck or any of her body. She was just singing. It was like the notes came as naturally as blinking. My mom is absolutely convinced that I am able to sing this song well. I am not haha
Don't Put it Down So entertaining. The harmonies were incredible and the three voices, of course, were wonderful. I'm running out of adjectives. How many ways can you say fantastic? But yes, this song was very entertaining!!
Frank MillsI have to say, I was really looking forward to seeing Allison Case. But again, open mind :) Briana was great. She was a very talented singer and she was very animated the whole show. I love the character, and she played Crissy very well!
Hare Krishna It was so interesting. The songs like these where people are just kind of walking around and singing are so hard to describe. I wish I could give credit where it's due, but I don't know who this girl is. She's an amazing operatic singer and she looks like Fuzzy Pink Bra Girl from RENT. She was amazing. Anyway, The song gets super intense as it goes on. They're all burning draft cards and everything. It's great.
Where Do I Go ahh, the famed nude scene. Let me tell you how it really went. The song is beautiful. Claude sings it and it fantastic. As he is singing, the spotlight is on him- very far downstage right. and there is very low lighting on the tribe in the back. It wasn't until halfway through the song that I even noticed any of them were naked. The thing was, though, that it was so incredibly subtle and well done. The cast was comfortable, and therefore, so was the audience. It was almost nice. I don't know, it was motivated, and not uncomfortable for me in the least bit.

ACT TWO

Electric Blues Let me just say that I want to wait outside the theatre for intermission. they come in from OUTSIDE. that means that they're out on the street. I want to see that. Some guy was awkwardly standing out there watching them go back in. Some people were still getting back to their seats when they came in so Caissie Levy and a bunch of other cast members were hugging them and being like, "where are you guys going? i'll walk you there" It was so great. And then Will was walking past me (My mom let me sit on the aisle for the second act! yay!) and he tickle-scratched my shoulder, gave me a head nod and said, "hey babe" which, made my life, and I was like, "hey!" and got excited. and then he went up to Caissie and pointed at me and she gave me like, an, "oh, hi!" look. haha. It was great. Best ever. anyway, the song was fun, as it alway is, even listening to it on the CD its fun.
Oh Great God of Power So pretty. It's a really pretty song. Lots of candles, the vocals are nice. And then, "gasp! It's lord buckingham!" and they go into Manchester England again. And the lights return :)
Black Boys This song requires so much vocal range, it's crazy. It's a really really good song that makes me happy. Lots of movements that not many people would smile upon, but, its plenty fun and it goes into another really good song called
White Boys which is a better song than Black Boys. It's just a lot more up-beat and interesting. If I sang it, I'd look like a racist, though. The vocal abilities of the six girls who sing these songs are astounding.
Walking in Space This is when they're all passing out pot haha. But Woof was like, "roll roll roll the joint... *rhyming that I don't remember* and pass it to a friend"
Minuet uh... I'm sure it was great. It was instrumental according to the playbill. I wish I remembered what happened during it.
Yes, I's Finished on Y'alls Farmlands haha, interesting name, right? It's a quartet of 4 of the "black boys" in the Tribe. Lots of fun, but very abstract as are the next few songs, as they are a part of Claude's trip. haha
Four Score and Seven Years Ago OMG. The girl who played Abraham, was so great. She has the vocal range of... I don't even know, but it's a really good thing! The whole show is fun, I think you get that by now. Have I said it enough? This song was fun, and nice.
Give Up All Desires Not gonna lie, this scared me a bit. It was pretty funny, but also kinda creepy. I was like, "oh... that person is supposed to be REALLY REALLY old" ha
Three-Five-Zero-Zero I don't know what it means, but it was interesting. The Music is fantastic. It carries the show on its own, but this song, the music carried the story for me. I don't really know what was happening because Claude was all tripping out and everything, but, it was gorgeous to watch.
What a Piece of Work is Man This is the most beautiful song in the show as far as harmonies go. And it's sung by two random background people, too! I love when everyone in the chorus of the show gets to have some kind of solo. It's my favorite. So, this song made me happy. And it's beautiful, so, it was great :)
How Dare They Try They're all talking about the stupid dumb war. It makes me sad, because I love the hippies and all the peace and love and everything they stand for. I understand how they're trying to end the beauty. It is such a powerful show while maintaining it's fun-ness and everything.
Good Morning Starshine My mom has been singing this to me since I can remember. It always had a little bit of a soft spot for me, you know? I love it. It was done beautifully. Caissie Levy. Aghhh! Why can't I have your voice? Once more- effortless. Plus, the song is wonderful on it's own anyway, so... yeah. It was a great scene.
Ain't Got No (reprise) Always makes me sad for reasons I don't want to ruin here. But it's sooo powerful, and you'll get it when you see it.
The Flesh Failures This is meaningful. Claude is going through a time of decision making and it's kind of like, "I'll do this because I know I have to" and then it gets all trippy, but not literally and the Tribe is looking for him, but they can't find him... ugh. So sad.
Eyes Look Your Last This is so sad. I almost cried, but I didn't I don't know why I didn't. I should have. It made me want to cry but the tears freaking wouldn't happen!!! It was so weird. I cry about freaking everything.
Let The Sunshine In DEFINITELY should have made me cry. But didn't. So Amazing.
Curtain Call Right now you might be like, "why the frick is she making a section for the curtain call?" well, you people, it's because at the end of the show, you get to go up on stage and sing with them. YEAH. I freaked. Especially since we were the only people dressed as Hippies for the show. We blended in (kinda, but not really) anyway, you don't know what it's like to stand on a broadway stage when the theatre is full of people. It's an absolute rush. It was wonderful.

Stage Door Everybody was really really nice :) I got 18 autographs! And a bunch of people commented on my pants. Some people were really excited about them ahha. I'll post pictures. Will stopped smiling before the final flash, so he looks like a creep-and-a-half, but that's okay. Tara had everyone sign her jeans. They look really cool. We missed one person who came out and I was sad. He skipped us because we were taking a picture with someone at the time. We missed pictures with a lot of people, too, because my mom didn't have the camera ready or something stupid. But yeah. It was the best theatrical experience of my life. The best show I have ever seen!!!

Also, during the show- I can't remember when, we were invited to the Be-In (so was everyone else...). They gave out flyers and everything. I got one :) And she stopped right in front of our row and was like, "Okay guys, listen up. This is the most important part. You gotta bring your own pot, okay?" haha I'll post pictures soon. But the show is amazing. Go see it if you get the chance!!