The Chance Theater of Anaheim Hills opens a 5 week run of the 1960's hit musical Hair, The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical. Although the Chance will kick off the production with a Gala Opening Night July 11, there are no seats available until next weekend. This show was considered so radical at the time it was first produced that it had to wait until censorship laws were revoked before it could be produced in London. If you don't remember the 1960's, Hair was the source for several top 40 hits, including "Aquarius", "Let the Sunshine In", "Hair", and "I Believe in Love".
According to Casey Long, Managing Director at the Chance, "We have some great voices on the show. We have some really talented singers/actors." The music will all be live, with a four piece group (keyboards, guitar, bass, and drums) providing the backup.
Not only will the cast be special, the Chance's production has something not available to earlier productions of Hair. The show had its Broadway openning in 1968, when the United States had 553,000 troops in Vietnam. It was when the US involvement in Vietnam peaked, the year of the "Tet Offensive", and the time of the phrase "It became necessary to destroy the village in order to save it." As Hair was gaining acceptance and multiple national productions, the US was trying to find a way out of the Vietnam quagmire. This ultimately ended with the evacuation and fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975.
The Chance's production is directed by Oanh Nguyen, a survivor of the evacuation of Saigon as it was falling to the North Vietnamese forces. Nguyen, in addition to directing the show, is also the Artistic Director at the Chance. “As a Vietnamese-American that came to this country as part of the evacuation of Saigon in 1975, this time in American history is very personally important,” says Nguyen. “Our production will focus on who these young people were and what they were so passionately fighting for. We want to go beyond nostalgia, and find the root and the engine of the work: the pride, loyalty and subversive nature that are inherently a part of the American spirit. It's easy to be patriotic when everyone agrees.”
Long added "Nguyen has really brought something special to the show. He's really found a strong narrative and has put together a really awesome design team as well. The lighting goes from atmospheric to rock concert in the blink of an eye. I think our audiences are going to have a great time."
Click here to go to the Chance web site for all of the details.
Please note, this show could very easily still be considered radical and may not be suited for everyone. Click here to go to Wikipedia for more information, including a synopsis.
