By Eric George Tauber
SAN DIEGO — It takes a true optimist to rebel against society. First, you must really believe that you’re right and the world around you is wrong. Then you convince yourself and others that change is possible, that marches, chants, signs and sit-ins will actually make a difference. The alignment of Jupiter and Mars was supposed to usher in the Age of Aquarius with “harmony and understanding, sympathy and love abounding…” That didn’t work out too well. And the hippies — for all of their desires to live in a better world — can be rather petty and childish.
So, what does “the American Tribal Love-Rock Musical,” set in 1967 with draft-dodging radicals as protagonists, have to say to us today? That’s what a very full house of theater lovers came to the Old Globe to find out.
Director James Vásquez considers himself “an activist through art” (Program page 9). Preferring to take to the stage rather than the street, Vásquez always has high hopes for what he calls “Act III,” those conversations in the car ride home. In a politically mixed city with a large military industrial complex on one side of the table and left-leaning progressives on the other, I’m sure there will be a lot of lively third acts taking place.
Hats off to the Old Globe for putting together a tight, fluid ensemble. After more than a year of distance, masks and isolation, the joy that the performers had to be working together again was palpable. The band really jammed well together and the choreography by Mayte Natalio had a kind of beautiful chaos like a flock of birds in flight.
Andrew Polec was born to play Berger. Cavorting bare-chested with his loins girded with bandanas, Polec exudes a kind of wild, capricious, full of himself animal magnetism. Angel Lozada had a softer, “peace, love and flowers” vibe as Woof. Woof denies being homosexual…but he wouldn’t kick Mick Jagger out of his bed. When a poster of the rock icon comes into Woof’s hands…Well, let’s just say that he’s only too happy to have it.
“I know what I want to be: invisible.” – Claude in Hair
Tyler Hardwick overflows with fluid sexual chemistry as Claude and Bethany Slomka is adorable as his quintessential middle-class mama. Of course, Claude’s parents are impatient for him to outgrow his hippie phase and get a job. When his draft notice arrives, they’re hoping that the army will “make a man of him.” They seem more afraid of losing him to licentious living than an enemy’s bullet. It’s not just politics, Claude’s eyes betray the frightened boy within. When Claude trips out, he hallucinates giant puppets telling the story of American history from a pretty groovy point of view.
“The draft is the White Man sending the Black Man to kill the Yellow Man to protect the land he stole from the Red Man.” – Hud Johnson in Hair.
Alex Joseph Grayson is powerful as Hud. He really owns his skin as a describes himself as “a colored spade, jungle bunny, jigaboo coon, pickaninny….” You get the idea. He takes the tropes meant to dehumanize him, stands tall and throws them back in our faces with proud defiance.
Storm Lever plays Sheila with genuine conviction. Sheila recounts with shock and horror the events of October 21, 1967. Led by Abbie Hoffman and Allen Ginsburg, several hundred “Yippies” encircled the Pentagon in an attempt to exorcise its demons and make it levitate. When they applied for the permits, they were haggled from levitating it 300 feet down the three feet. No noticeable levitation happened, but the Yippies were attacked with tear gas and rifle butts by the 82nd Airborne Division and Federal Marshalls. A true activist, Sheila understands that fighting the system takes more than platitudes and drug trips. It requires personal sacrifice.
The hippies sing the praises of Hare Krishna from Indian mysticism, yet the values they espouse are very Jewish. They are hungry for Olam Habo, the World to Come, a perfect world ruled by peace and love instead of violence, hatred and greed. Impatient for an endlessly tarrying Messiah, they sought to bring it about themselves.
So how relevant is Hair today? Very. With our armed forces abandoning Afghanistan just as we did to Vietnam and Iraq, it feels more pertinent than ever. Yet the spirit of rebellious optimism is alive and well. We saw it in January of 2017 as millions of women and men marched in pink pussy hats singing “I can’t keep quiet.” We saw it in March of 2018 as March For Our Lives organized hundreds of rallies to stand up to the NRA. After the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and too many others, BLM and their allies took to the streets demanding justice and accountability from law enforcement. Like the levitation protestors, they too were met with riot gear and tear gas. And yet the march goes on. No longer frightened into hiding in silence, young people are bursting out of their closets, wearing rainbow flags like superhero capes in celebration who they are.
That is why we were all feeling the infectious optimism, rising to our feet, clapping and singing along in joyful exuberance. So, if there’s a part of you that wants to recapture the rebellious spirit of your youth and help pass it on to a new generation, get to the Old Globe’s production of Hair and “Let the Sunshine In.”
And that’s show biz!
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Eric George Tauber is a freelance writer who specializes in coverage of the arts.
Bravo! I was sitting in the same puter and I did not get the same impression. As Eric’s review took me through That night again, I knew that I had experienced thehe same story after all. I personally was just so engulfed with the music and the ensemble That I wasn’t really interested in the story. Great night, great play, great review.