Hair - Hope Mill MCR / National Tour

It's not a good time in the regions.

Could anybody who has seen both give an indication as to how this revival compares to the last West End one (2010)?

Can anyone tell me how the cast interact with people on the front row? I've just looked at the performance I booked for and I'm slightly horrified to see I'm the only one at the very front.

Oh no! 😱 I don't mind something brief, but I'd be mortified at having to actually get up and do something. I thought I'd be ok with a row full of other people to choose from. Think I need to try to get a different seat.

^Thank you,Sir

I saw it in Dartford with an understudy on for Berger and it was absolutely fantastic. My one complaint was the addition of the song "Hippie Life" during the curtain call. Let The Sunshine In is an dark and emotional song (despite the popular radio version) and following it with a mindless and fun song kinda kills it's emotional impact. Plus, this might just be because I'm an American, but I thought Daisy Wood Davis (Shelia)'s accent was awful. 90% of the time it sounded like she wasn't even trying to not sound British. Compared to the rest of the cast, it really stood out.

I also thought it was pretty funny how for a show called Hair, there was very little during the nude scene.

I've always thought it seemed out of place too. I presume it was added to end the show on a happier note.

Anyone know the origin. Wikipedia isn't very helpful here.

From that I can work out, it was originally written for the film, but cut.

And added to the licensed version of the production sometime in the 1990s (Broadway World says for a European tour in 1995).

Always interested to see how much of the original survives. I'm sure this version was advertised as being very true to the original and without many of the cuts that are often made, but it is obviously isn't the original version.

^Yes,DrTom,I think you are correct with ‘Hippie Life’ being added at the end to send the crowd home happy.The audience are also invited to dance on stage at the end for a final feel-good vibe.

Seeing this again in July...Jake in a leather thong...a licence to print money🤪

Another strong show in Oxford last night. The biggest change was Hud was played by Louise Francis (normally played by Marcus Collins, second cover DJ Spin, both away). No notices on display regarding the cover. It was a little odd, as it's obviously intended as a male role, but a lot of Hair is so surreal it doesn't really matter. She did a good job.

There were various cuts to accommodate the missing cast, particularly during the extended trip scene in the second half. Most notably, they dropped "White Boys".

The theatre is a pleasant one. Front row has extra legroom and a good view, although there's a large unused orchestra pit (which ended up housing most of the flyers the cast attempted to throw from the stage to the front row). They must have really had the bass turned up on the speakers as you could feel the vibrations. One good thing about the large pit is the smoke from the smoke machine stayed a safe distance away from the front row.

Lots of improvisation during the Margaret Mead scene. Hubert really got into it.

The place wasn't terribly busy until right before the show, at which point the Stalls suddenly got to about half full. There was a chatty Spanish speaking group sat right behind in the second row, but they were oblivious to anyone looking at them. Possibly an extended family as they had younger teens with them (obviously the nudity didn't bother them, although it did seem to surprise some of the older people sat near me).

They were doing a special deal with programmes at £3.

Really unusually, they struggled to get people to clap and dance at the end. Some people did go on the stage and I get up when beckoned during the finale, but very few others joined me.

A fun, moving night as always. I shall catch the tour again in Milton Keynes in July.

I spotted Marcus Collins in some stories from Glastonbury, is that why he's missing shows? 🙄