For students performing in the Department of Theatre’s upcoming production of “Hair,” the impact of the show goes far beyond the lines they speak onstage.
The show, which is set in New York during the age of the hippies, has a unique feel to it, unlike what many would consider a typical musical.
“It’s more fluid in its narrative ... it’s less we come out, and then we do a song, and then we dance,” acting senior Sarah Matthews said. “It’s a world where it’s totally believable that all of these people would actually be singing these songs.”
Students will be able to take the reins in the production of the show.
“The show has been a very organic process ... usually a musical has a large cast, a large band ... and a lot of it is planned beforehand, very specifically,” director Deric McNish said. “With this, everything is emerging out of the moment-to-moment interactions of this unique group of people.”
While it may seem that it could be difficult for college students in 2015 to relate to the themes and issues present in this late 1960s society, McNish said the cast was able to find elements of the show that they really related to such as war, poverty and equal rights.
As for the mindsets that were slightly harder to understand, like the hippie culture and anti-war sentiments, the actors used various tactics to prepare themselves.
“My dad is a hippie and was a hippie, so he was alive during the time ... so I asked him about a lot of the music of the time which is what I really was able to connect to ... I watched a lot of documentaries that were about the way specific hard drugs make you feel ... to be able to recreate that without actually having to do (them),” fine arts design and stage management junior Sarah Ackerman said.
The actors shared the belief that this show was different from others they have participated in because of the message they have taken from it.
“It’s made me a better person,” Ackerman said. “We’re all a family and it’s something that I’ll never forget and take away for every show that I do from now on, to treat other people the same way that I treated my tribe while I was in this show.”
While modern issues are less focused on anti-war sentiments and lean more toward social issues, the actors hope audience members can walk away with the same feelings of love and hope that they have felt throughout the rehearsal process.
“I think that one big message we’re working toward ... is the perseverance of humanity and the idea of hope, and always finding hope even in these really dark, terrible situations,” Matthews said.
