50 years after it first sent Australian audiences on a trip, ‘Hair’ is bringing its peace-and-love message to Geelong for a limited run of shows this September.
Starring The Voice’s Prinnie Stevens, four-time Logie winner Hugh Sheridan and two-time ARIA winner Paulini, the rock musical follows a tribe of long-haired, barefooted hippies rebelling against the constraints of conservative, mainstream society in the swinging ‘60s.
Set at the height of the Vietnam War and the counterculture movement, ‘Hair’ explores themes such as sexuality, racial justice, environmentalism, self-expression and pacificism that are still achingly relevant half a century later, complete with the nudity, drug use and profanity that made the show so controversial when it first opened in 1967.
Specifically, ‘Hair’ follows a young man, Claude, who is pressured by his parents and society at large to abandon his bohemian lifestyle in New York City and enlist in the military despite his growing disillusionment with middle-class America.
When ‘Hair’ first hit theatres in Australia in the winter of ‘69, some worried it would be banned. Instead, the show became a cult hit, shattering countless taboos and changing the face of musical theatre forever.
With a Grammy-winning soundtrack packed with fist-pumping numbers, a story that continues to shock and delight audiences and plenty of frizzy hair and flower prints, the latest incarnation of ‘Hair’ is sure to ignite a new generation of devoted fans.
‘Hair’ is touring nationally and will play at GPAC from 4 – 8 September. Find out more at www.gpac.org.au.
Written by Seb Starcevic
