After assembling the Anne, Mamma Mia!, Mary Poppins and other UnboundJust for Laughs breaks with tradition To hate, a raw, daring and mind-blowing new musical. And the result, worn by artists of great talent, is a breath of fresh air.
The musical’s premiere took an unexpected turn on Monday night when a power outage interrupted the second act. Would this technical issue cause the show’s finale to be interrupted? We first believed this when the staff of the Théâtre St-Denis evacuated the premises after several minutes of darkness.
But a few moments later the electricity in the room returned and the troupe was able to complete the evening’s program after a forced break of about twenty minutes.
• Also read: [À VOIR] The premiere of the musical “Hair” was temporarily affected by a power failure
• Also read: [PHOTOS] Marie-Soleil Dion and Julie Ringuette Don the ‘Peace and Love’ Look on the Red Carpet of the Musical ‘Hair’
As potentially disastrous as it was, this event fitted perfectly with Hair, a musical that requires a certain nonchalance and whose staging is meant to be experimental and, let’s be honest, deliberately chaotic. The show is also intended to be an immersion into the everyday life of young hippies in the late 1960s, whose demands – including free love, peace and tolerance – serve as a common thread, far more than a coherent narrative framework.
drugs and nudity
At the beginning of the program, the performers of the show cross the hall onto the stage, stroll through the aisles, [faux] Applied by hand, time to greet the audience and set the mood. The tone is already set. We’re adding more from the first issue with lots of gags and nudity just to show off the colors of the show perfectly. Because yes, hair is raw. It is libidinal, suggestive and provocative.
The show is also intended for 13+ audiences, a cue not to be taken lightly: when a couple of times nudity — sometimes including frontal nudity — intervenes in the action, the characters on stage , under other free love, drugs, threesomes and bestiality.
In short, we’re miles away from Annie and Her Innocent Orphans, a musical performed as part of this festival last summer. Therefore, a certain level of maturity is required to fully understand and appreciate hair at its fair value.
- Listen to the column by Marianne Bessette, Research Writer via QUB radio :
talent left
While less accessible than some of Just for Laughs’ earlier works, Hair is no less entertaining and no less successful. Because on the stage of the Théâtre St-Denis, where more than thirty artists perform at each performance, there is talent per square inch.
Among these, Kevin Houle shines particularly brightly in the role of the deliciously playful and perfectly invested George Berger. The actor – also a superb singer and dancer – has the show firmly under control and once again demonstrates immeasurable talent. Meanwhile, Philippe Touzel returns to our stages in an equally exemplary form, strengthened by the experience he has gained on the stages of France over the past four years.
In addition, Éléonore Lagacé and Sarah-Maude Desgagnés also amaze with their vocal skills, which fit perfectly with Aquarius and Let the Sunshine In, the heart of the show. The colorful and imaginative production by Serge Denoncourt and the breathtaking choreography by Wynn Holmes also deserve a special mention.
“Hair” may therefore be a denser show than we’re used to from “Just for Laughs,” but it proves beyond a doubt that Quebecers are ready for more delicate, even controversial, musical works that entertain as much as they provoke thought. So we come out of this show disheveled, entertained and above all full of thirst for life.
And we know we’ll be humming the tunes for a few more days.
- The musical “Hair” will be performed at the St-Denis Theater until July 30th. It will be shown at the Salle Albert-Rousseau in Quebec City from December 12th.