by Gregoriancant

Created on: May 20, 2007   Last Updated: May 21, 2007

If you've ever wondered how Rock musicals managed to become mainstream on Broadway, then you need to look back to NYC during the late 1960's. The direct beneficiary of such modern Rock musicals such as 'Rent' and 'Spring Awakening' is 'Hair.' This classic musical is also little-studied in its controversial impact on the First Amendment by the U.S. Supreme Court that's created a ripple effect still felt today in the arts. Hair' has also managed to connect to the frustration behind the Iraq war in recent years with various revivals.

First, let's take a quick look at how 'Hair' developed during the quickly-evolving decade of the 1960's. Originally, writers (and Broadway actors) James Rado and Gerome (Jerry) Ragni became fascinated with the changing environment in NYC and the Hippie movement that was forming during the mid-1960's. They thought forming a modern-day musical around this movement (also merging traditional Broadway sounds with modern day pop songs) would be highly revolutionary for the Broadway stage. While trying to find jobs acting, they wrote a book with lyrics that formed gradually throughout 1965-67. Once it was finished, they needed to find just the right composer to write music for this different project. It was difficult finding just the right person for that job. Eventually, during a meeting with Canadian composer Galt MacDermot, they found someone with creative kinship. MacDermot began writing music immediately for the project and finished within three weeks. You may be surprised to learn, though, that the music originally written would change and evolve later. But with the project finished in mid-1967a search for a producer was even tougher. Most of the time, the project was met with rejections. Even famed Broadway producer David Merrick turned it down...citing it as too controversial. The subject matter would deal with the protests against the Vietnam War, drugs, sex and other frank subjects that had never been dealt with before on the mainstream Broadway stage.

Ragni later encountered famed producer Joseph Papp and handed him the book and music for Hair.' Papp was known for staging free Shakespeare plays in Central Park as part of the New York Shakespeare Festival. He was now interested in staging avant-garde plays for a new theater he was opening called the Public Theater. He accepted Hair' as a tryout. It debuted there on October 18, 1967, but only ran six weeks. The future didn't look good for the musical until another producer recognized

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