Hair Review

Civic's messy 'Hair' has some highlights

Strong vocals and choreography can't save chaotic script

Friday, June 08, 2007
BY JENN MCKEE News Arts Writer

As a theater critic, nothing makes you feel more like the establishment - like "the man,'' in current parlance - than coming down on "Hair,'' the quintessential hippie musical now being staged by the Ann Arbor Civic Theater.

So before this particular square kills your buzz, let's highlight the good stuff.

There are incredible voices on stage in Civic's production, and the show's signature ensemble numbers - "Aquarius'' and "The Flesh Failures (Let the Sunshine In)'' - still have goosebump-producing power. Director Caitlin Frankel Rowe's 32-person "tribe'' fills up Mendelssohn's stage, and they belt out the tunes with seemingly boundless passion.

Individually, Katherine Hoeg has a lovely, moving solo with "Easy to be Hard,'' and Jihan Ain Woods and Angela Davis' rendition of "White Boys'' nearly blows the roof off the joint.

The show - with music by Galt MacDermot and lyrics by Gerome Ragni and James Rado - has little dialogue, and features the full cast on stage much of the time, so there's tons of choreography, supplied by five choreographers. Their designs were often visually playful, tone-appropriate, and well-constructed. Execution was shaky on some numbers opening night, but the cast's unusually heavy dance-load made small goofs forgivable.

What was more difficult to get past was that much of the lyrics were indiscernible - either because of a lack of clear enunciation, or because soloists were vocally buried by the ensemble or the band, or because of microphone issues (once, a cast member's harmony line boomed while the soloist's melody could barely be heard). In "Hair,'' all the audience has to go on are songs, and when we can't understand the words, we're doubly lost.

But even if we heard every word, "Hair,'' as a script, is a mess. There are throwaway numbers, and much of the material that raised eyebrows when it first premiered feels ho-hum and familiar now. So while the bittersweet final number will always be profoundly heart-wrenching, much of what precedes it is just too scattered to make a satisfying whole.

"Hair'' continues at 8 tonight and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday at:
Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre, in the Michigan League,
911 N. University Ave., Ann Arbor.
To reserve tickets, visit www.a2ct.org, or call 734-971-2228.