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April 13, 2009

Broadway - Hair & Exit The King

The great Broadway experience of this season is the revival of Hair, merging a great score, a still absolutely non-existent book, and last season’s Xanadu, one of the great nights out ever that also happens to be unquotably about the experience of that evening.

There is something undeniably modern about this months-away-from 40 year old show. I didn’t see the show when I was 5, so I have no idea of whether it felt like it was so much about The Communal Conversation back then. But that is what it feels like now.

“The Tribe” hangs out together around New York… people come and go… a few members of The Tribe are “stars” within the community… but people stand up and make themselves heard within the communal over the course of the evening. As I wrote, there really is no book of note, just a head nod to the idea that Claude is going to go throw the process and will struggle with whether he will allow himself to be drafted. It is, to stretch a metaphor, a highly talented group blog with some members who stand out, but in which every member is welcome to add to the conversation.

There is also an edge of sexuality that is missing from Broadway these days. It isn’t brazen or an effort to show off. It is the seduction of young sexuality… still unencumbered by too much thought. It is the anti-Sex & The City, in a way. It’s not about talking about sex… but it is about people who have and enjoy sex and who deal with all the personal drama of sex.

On some level, it makes me think of the West Side Story revival and why Anita is so strong and most of the rest feels unformed… it’s that Anita wants to keep having sex with Bernardo… she has already passed the schoolyard games of the street gangs and when she is faced with Maria’s virginal passion, it heightens her passion, reminding her of something she’s lost a little. But unlike everyone else, Anita is alive in her life, which includes her sexuality. She is waiting for everyone else to catch up... and so is the audience, except when we are swept up in Maria's blind enthusiasm. (Unfortunately, I have never seen a version of WSS in which I believed in the love surviving the circumstances less.)

In any case… Hair is sexy. And that sexy is also a fascinating function of the wild diversity of the cast, in both race and physical type. True, there are only a few examples of people who are not in good shape. But everyone is not Broadway Dancer Lithe either.

What most caught my imagination in the first 15 minutes of the show was how quickly and completely defined almost all of these characters were, both the eight “leads” and the 20+ members of The Tribe (who do not have character names in the Playbill… only the names of songs they have leads in). As a result, there is that feeling you have when you go into a new social situation. The impact of the purely visual is what you start with, but as you get to know people, you are drawn to personality as much as the visual. And in this show, where almost everyone is always on stage, often watching others perform centerstage, that richer sense of relationship develops quickly.

Of course, it is pushed along by the production, which sends the actors into the audience from the first scene to the last, cracking the fourth wall aggressively, the way many great nightclub performers do. (Yes, “where are you from?” is actually asked out loud.) I actually wonder whether Hugh Jackman or his peeps who helped develop the opening number at The Oscars this year saw this show in the park over last summer. That opening, combining crowd interaction and the “we’re making this up as we go along” feel, is very much the feel of this show.

Before I went to the show, it was interesting how resistant people were to this show. At least three people told me not to waste my time going. Others, after I saw it, needed a lot of convincing – and probably still don’t believe me – that it was worth the time. One person who had seen it complained that the cast was “rather long in the tooth” for the roles.

All I can do is to shake my head and wonder, “Why?” I mean, for me, Allison Case and Kacie Sheik were the only irreplaceable members of the cast… hard to imagine anyone doing better… though it was interesting to think about Amy Adams and/or other singing celebs jumping into a month or two in this show, where the pressure wouldn’t be quite as great as being a lead and where they could be part of a true ensemble show. Caissie Levy grew on me as the show progressed, though she suffered a bit early on from her character not having much story development. The guys – Will Swenson, Gavin Creel, Darius Nichols, and Bryce Ryness were all strong.

But he point is The Communal and as such, every single person had to be very strong… and almost every single person is replaceable by another incredibly talented person. That is the strength. That is the joy.

One of the memorable moments is the brief moment of full and full cast nudity at the end of the first act. (Kacie Sheik actually has to strip down AND carry a fake pregnancy belly.) But part of what is memorable about it – aside from Ms Levy’s award-winning physique, which will inspire more dating interest for Jewesses everywhere – is how forgettable it is. Again, it is part of The Communal. Even minutes later, as the second act began, I could remember glimpses of this body part or that - more memorable was the process of disrobing, which was different for each actor and which led to the intermission gathering of clothes by stagehands on a curtain-less stage – but we were all on to another conversation and that shock beat, it was just a part of the overall experience.

And that was Hair. A group grope of The Communal.

That, and that score, which still slays me all these years later. Song after song after song, meaningful and tuneful and catchy and funny and memorable. “Aquarius,” “Hair,” “Easy To Be Hard,” “I Got Life,” “Good Morning Starshine,” and “Let The Sun Shine In,” are the best known of the group, but there are at least a half dozen other unforgettable tunes. Me? I love almost every song. But my older sister, who did see the show on Broadway when she was 19 or 20, played the album almost as much as she did The Beatles, so I knew most of the lyrics and turns in the score before I was 10.

It’s hard to imagine anyone not enjoying themselves at this show, unless they really, really don’t want to enjoy it. That is not to say that it is the best show ever. The lack of a book still keeps it from soaring above. And that is, I must say, true of blog life as well. The glory of The Moment and the incompleteness of The Moment is what both frees and limits the form. Someone will rise above – and the score here has that effect – but the simplicity of the form creates its own limitations. But I would put the score in the Top 30 of all time. And that ain’t nothing.

I found myself thinking that this would be a sensational opportunity for a Spike Jonze movie, shot without any effort to make more of the book, shot on location like a documentary… as that is the spirit of the show… and Jonze has the artistry to make it more than just a document while maintaining the intimacy of the exuberant life of the show and the wonderful performances that don’t demand any more casting with names or other actors to be a pleasure to experience over and over and over again in a film.

ALSO – The mere fact of the existence of Ionesco’s Exit The King in a Broadway theater, with Roundabout’s production of Beckett’s Waiting For Godot just starting now, demands applause. The fact that the theater is full – even with a much-lauded performance by Geoffrey Rush and Susan Sarandon in support, is a near miracle.

Unfortunately, it is a long night at the theater.

It has its rewards. Rush is manically relentless and a pleasure to watch… but you get a whole lot of him.

Lauren Ambrose is building a stage career that is more than admirable. She gives herself over to this work completely and gets about as much as one can get out of a limited character. The same is true of Bill Sadler, who gives it his all and just doesn’t get enough to play with to be as memorable as his outfits.

Susan Sarandon seems loathe to let it go in the first act, but finally gets to tuck into some more lengthy and quality speeches late in the second act and acquits herself with all the skill you would expect. The writing is schizo for her character, who seems to be waiting for her alone-time on stage…. and while solid, Sarandon doesn’t find a way over the play itself until it moves back into her comfort zone.

The scene-stealers here are the two clowns, Andrea Martin and Brian Hutchison. Both kill. The audience is loyal to them. And, as is almost always the case, when your favorite moments in a show are when a supporting actor is hamming it up, the show is a bust. (Though I must say, Rush’s speeches, especially one in which he wanders off-stage and up and down the aisles, were a highlight worth the price of admission for me… but likely not enough for some others… including the entire band, Pearl Jam, each member noticeable for the age inappropriate goddesses by their side.)

The show would have been far more of the moment when our last president was still in office. That is, not coincidentally, when Rush started doing this show (which he co-adapted as well) to great acclaim. The notion of a king raging at the dying light… trying to hang on… not caring what his behavior does to others… unwilling to listen to those who know the history and seek a peaceful solution to the inevitable… all interesting Bush-aphors.

But it’s nice to see something other than “easy” shows on the boards… even if it takes movie stars (who can act their asses off) to get them there.

Posted by dpoland at April 13, 2009 04:14 PM

Comments

Posted by: samias at April 13, 2009 07:51 PM

Posted by: Kristopher Tapley at April 14, 2009 01:21 AM

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Posted by: KamikazeCamelV2.0 at April 14, 2009 05:48 AM

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Posted by: movieman at April 14, 2009 11:16 AM

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Posted by: Hallick at April 14, 2009 05:59 PM

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