Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical is a rock musical with a book and lyrics by Gerome Ragni and James Rado and music by Galt MacDermot. The work reflects the creators' observations of the hippie counterculture and sexual revolution of the late 1960s, and several of its songs became anthems of the anti-Vietnam War movement. The musical's profanity, its depiction of the use of illegal drugs, its treatment of sexuality, its irreverence for the American flag, and its nude scene caused controversy. The work broke new ground in musical theatre by defining the genre of "rock musical", using a racially integrated cast, and inviting the audience onstage for a "Be-In" finale.Pacheco, Patrick (June 17, 2001). "Peace, Love and Freedom Party", Los Angeles Times, p. 1. Retrieved on June 10, 2008
Hair tells the story of the "tribe", a group of politically active, long-haired hippies of the "Age of Aquarius" living a bohemian life in New York City and fighting against conscription into the Vietnam War. Claude, his friend Berger, their roommate Sheila and their friends struggle to balance their young lives, loves and the sexual revolution with their rebellion against the war and their conservative parents and society. Ultimately, Claude must decide whether to resist the draft, as his friends have done, or serve in Vietnam, compromising his pacifist principles and risking his life.
After an off-Broadway debut on October 17, 1967, at Joseph Papp's Public Theater, and a run at the Cheetah nightclub from December 1967 through January 1968, the show opened on Broadway in April 1968 and ran for 1,750 performances. Simultaneous productions in cities across the United States and Europe followed shortly thereafter, including a London production that ran for 1,997 performances. Since then, productions have been staged around the world, spawning dozens of recordings, including the 3 million-selling original Broadway cast recording. Some of the songs became Top 10 hits, and a feature film adaptation was released in 1979. A Broadway revival opened in 2009, earning strong reviews and winning the Tony Award and Drama Desk Award for Best Revival of a Musical. In 2008, Richard Zoglin wrote in Time that "Today Hair seems, if anything, more daring than ever."Zoglin, Richard. "A New Dawn for Hair", Time, July 31, 2008 (in the August 11, 2008 issue, pp. 61–63)
History Actors James Rado and Gerome Ragni began writing Hair together in late 1964.Rado, James (February 14, 2003). "Hairstory – The Story Behind the Story", hairthemusical.com. Retrieved on April 11, 2008."Viet Rock" . Lortel Archives: The Internet Off-Broadway Database. Retrieved on April 11, 2008. The main characters were autobiographical, with Rado's Claude a pensive romantic and Ragni's Berger an extrovert. Their close relationship, including its volatility, was reflected in the musical. Rado said, "We were great friends. It was a passionate kind of relationship that we directed into creativity, into writing, into creating this piece. We put the drama between us on stage.""40 years of 'Hair'" . Newark Star-Ledger (July 19, 2008). Retrieved on July 26, 2008.
Rado described the inspiration for Hair as "a combination of some characters we met in the streets, people we knew and our own imaginations. We knew this group of kids in the East Village who were dropping out and dodging the draft, and there were also lots of articles in the press about how kids were being kicked out of school for growing their hair long". He recalled, "There was so much excitement in the streets and the parks and the hippie areas, and we thought if we could transmit this excitement to the stage it would be wonderful. ... We hung out with them and went to their Be-Ins [and] let our hair grow."Taylor, Kate (September 14, 2007). "The Beat Goes On" . The New York Sun. Retrieved on May 27, 2008. Many cast members (Shelley Plimpton in particular) were recruited off the street. Rado said, "It was very important historically, and if we hadn't written it, there'd not be any examples. You could read about it and see film clips, but you'd never experience it. We thought, 'This is happening in the streets', and we wanted to bring it to the stage."Haun, Harry. "Age of Aquarius", Playbill, April 2009, from Hair at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre, p. 7 According to Rado's obituary in The New York Times, the title was inspired by "a painting of a tuft of hair by the Pop artist Jim Dine. Its title was Hair."
Rado and Ragni came from different artistic backgrounds. In college, Rado wrote musical revues and aspired to be a Broadway composer in the Rodgers and Hammerstein tradition. He went on to study acting with Lee Strasberg. Ragni was a member of The Open Theater, one of several groups that were developing experimental theatre techniques,Miller, pp. 54–56 including non-traditional theater roles, blurring the lines between playwright, director and actor. By 1967, theaters such as The Living Theatre, La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club and The Open Theatre were devising plays from improvisational scenes crafted in the rehearsal space rather than following a traditional script.Miller, pp. 56–58 Ragni introduced Rado to the modern theatre styles and methods being developed at The Open Theater.Horn, p. 23 In 1966, while the two were developing Hair, Ragni performed in The Open Theater's production of Megan Terry's play Viet Rock, about young men being deployed to the Vietnam War.Gary Botting, The Theatre of Protest in America, Edmonton: Harden House, 1972 Viet Rock employed the improvisational exercises being used in experimental theatre.Horn, pp. 18–19 Scenes were connected in "prelogical ways": a scene could be built from a tangent from the previous scene, in counterpoint to it, or connected psychologically. Actors switched roles in the middle of a show, in mid-scene, or played actors. Terry wrote, "The ... transformations should be abrupt and total." Hair was designed in much the same way; the actors play different characters throughout the piece, and, as in Claude's psychedelic trip in Act 2, sometimes during the same scene. As in Viet Rock, the actors frequently break the "fourth wall" to interact with the audience.
Rado and Ragni brought their drafts of the show to producer Eric Blau who, through common friend Nat Shapiro, connected the two with Canadian composer Galt MacDermot.Horn, p. 27 MacDermot had already won two Grammy Awards for Best Instrumental Composition and Best Original Jazz Composition in 1961 for his "African Waltz" (recorded by Cannonball Adderley)."Galt MacDermot", Grammy Awards. Retrieved August 14, 2025 The composer's lifestyle was in marked contrast to his co-creators: "I had short hair, a wife, and, at that point, four children, and I lived on Staten Island." "I never even heard of a hippie." But he shared their enthusiasm to do a rock and roll show. "We work independently", MacDermot said in May 1968. "I prefer it that way. They hand me the material. I set it to music."Whittaker, Herbert (May 1968). "Hair: The Musical That Spells Good-bye Dolly!" . The Canadian Composer. Retrieved on April 18, 2008. MacDermot wrote the first score in three weeks, starting with "I Got Life", "Ain't Got No", "Where Do I Go" and the title song. He first wrote "Aquarius" as an unconventional art piece, but later rewrote it as an uplifting anthem.
Off-Broadway productions The creators pitched the show to Broadway producers and received many rejections. Eventually Joe Papp, who ran the New York Shakespeare Festival, decided he wanted Hair to open the new Public Theater (still under construction) in New York City's East Village. Hair was the first work by living authors that Papp produced.Saltz, Amy. "Flow it, show it: 50 years of Hair, American Theatre, October 17, 2017, accessed August 5, 2018 The director, Gerald Freedman, the theater's associate artistic director, decided that Rado, at 35, was too old to play Claude, although he agreed to cast the 32-year-old Ragni as Berger. The production did not go smoothly: The rehearsal and casting process was confused, the material itself incomprehensible to many of the theater's staff. [Freedman] withdrew in frustration during the final week of rehearsals and offered his resignation. Papp accepted it, and the choreographer Anna Sokolow took over the show.... After a disastrous final dress rehearsal, Papp wired Mr.Freedman in Washington, where he'd fled: "Please come back." Mr.Freedman did.Isherwood, Charles (September 16, 2007). "The Aging of Aquarius" . The New York Times. Retrieved on May 25, 2008.
Hair premiered off-Broadway at the Public on October17, 1967, and ran for six weeks. The lead roles were played by Walker Daniels as Claude, Ragni as Berger, Jill O'Hara as Sheila, Steve Dean as Woof, Arnold Wilkerson as Hud, Sally Eaton as Jeanie and Shelley Plimpton as Crissy.Horn, p. 34 Set design was by Ming Cho Lee, costume design by Theoni Aldredge, and, although Anna Sokolow began rehearsals as choreographer, Freedman received choreographer credit.Horn, pp. 32–33 The production had a "tepid critical reception" but was popular with audiences. A cast album was released in 1967."Album Reviews" , Billboard, December 2, 1967, p. 98
Chicago businessman Michael Butler was planning to run for the U.S. Senate on an antiwar platform. After seeing an ad for Hair in The New York Times that led him to believe the show was about Native Americans, he watched the Public's production several times and joined forces with Papp to reproduce the show at another New York venue after it closed at the Public. Papp and Butler first moved the show to The Cheetah discothèque in midtown, where it opened on December22, 1967,Zolotow, Sam (January 23, 1968). "Hair Closes Sunday" The New York Times, reproduced at michaelbutler.com. Retrieved on May 23, 2009 and ran for 45performances. There was no nudity in either the Public Theater or Cheetah production.Horn, pp. 87–88
Revision for Broadway Hair underwent a thorough overhaul between its closing at the Cheetah in January 1968 and its Broadway opening three months later. The off-Broadway book, already light on plot, was loosened even further and made more realistic.Planer, Lindsay. "Hair [Original 1967 Off-Broadway Cast]", AllMusic.com, accessed February 3, 2011 were added,Horn, pp. 39–40 including "Let the Sun Shine In", to make the ending more uplifting.
Before the move to Broadway, the creative team hired director Tom O'Horgan, who had built a reputation directing experimental theater at La MaMa E.T.C. He had been the authors' first choice to direct the Public Theater production, but he was in Europe at the time.Horn, p. 29 Newsweek called O'Horgan's directing style "sensual, savage, and thoroughly musical ... [he] disintegrates verbal structure and often breaks up and distributes narrative and even character among different actors. ... He enjoys sensory bombardment."Junker, Howard. "Director of the Year" . Newsweek, orlok.com, June 3, 1968, accessed April 11, 2008 O'Horgan and the writers rearranged scenes to increase the experimental aspects. In rehearsals, O'Horgan used techniques passed down by Viola Spolin and Paul Sills involving role playing and improvisational "games", many of which were incorporated into the Broadway script.Horn, p. 53 O'Horgan and new choreographer Julie Arenal encouraged freedom and spontaneity in their actors, introducing "an organic, expansive style of staging" that had never been seen before on Broadway. The inspiration to include nudity came when the authors saw an antiwar demonstration in Central Park in which two men stripped naked as an expression of defiance and freedom. O'Horgan had used nudity in many of the plays he directed, and he helped integrate the idea into the fabric of the show.