ALPINE – The Sul Ross Theatre Program’s production of Hair, the American tribal love-rock musical, opened to enthusiastic audiences this past weekend with patrons arriving in bell-bottoms, tie-dyed t-shirts, and platform shoes.
Hair tells the story of the “tribe,” a group of politically active, long-haired hippies living in the “Age of Aquarius” in New York City and fighting against conscription into the Vietnam War.
Sul Ross theatre major Callie Jones, who choreographed the dance sequences in Hair as part of her senior comprehensive project, thinks the musical’s subject matter is especially relevant in today’s political climate.
“The show is about everybody coming together for peace and youth empowerment,” she said. “I think these are issues that speak to many young people today and to many members of the Hair cast.”
With book and lyrics by Gerome Ragni and James Rado, and music by Galt MacDermot, Hair opened on Broadway in 1967, featuring hit songs like Aquarius, Let the Sunshine In, Hair, and Easy to be Hard. The eclectic score of radio hits simultaneously produced anthems of the anti-Vietnam-War peace movement. This unique mix of politically conscious and popular music is reflected in the Sul Ross production’s dance sequences with Jones noting that she “…listened to a lot of the music of the era and watched documentaries of The Temptations and other groups from the 60’s and 70’s for inspiration.”
Hair will run for two more weekends, closing on Saturday, April 20. Curtain times are 8:15 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and 2:00 p.m. for the Sunday, April 14 matinee. Performances take place in Marshall Auditorium inside SRSU’s Morelock Academic Building, and patrons are advised that Hair contains profanity and adult content.
Tickets are on sale now at www.sulross.edu/theatre. Information: 432-837-8218.