After appearing on Broadway in 1968, the musical Hair was produced around the world, including in Paris in 1969 and in Montreal in 1970, and brought to the screen with great freedom in 1979 by Miloš Forman. Revolutionary, So Much Inside In both its substance and form, the poetic cabaret of Gerome Ragni and James Rado, set to music by Galt MacDermot, crystallizes brilliantly a blessed era: that of the 1960s counterculture, the claims of hippie Movement to the ideals of the legendary Peace and Love.
Written more than half a century ago, the work points to the foundations of a sexist, racist, homophobic, bigoted, hyper-capitalist and ultra-militarist society and undoubtedly sheds light on our contemporary problems. Unfortunately, the show produced by Just for Laughs and directed by Serge Denoncourt fails to take into account the play’s political dimension, emphasizing beauty rather than revolt, brilliance rather than anchoring, sleazy humor than social criticism. Importantly, given the disjointed nature of the libretto, a story that captures very little, the community represented on stage is one of extraordinary symbiosis, an irresistible presence, an overwhelming sensuality and an overwhelming fury. However, this is not the case.
Accompanied by 7 musicians, carried by the exciting choreographies of Wynn Holmes, the 25 interpreters are undoubtedly talented, but the staging rarely manages to make the group the driving force. Rather than enriching the show and complementing the engaging songs and poignant melodies, the spoken scenes induce slowdown, heaviness and even uneasiness, severely disrupting the rhythm of the evening.
Among the six leading roles, the award goes to Kevin Houle. Witty, touching and irreverent, his interpretation of Berger, a free spirit who fascinates as well as disturbs, is remarkably complex.
In the second part, the show takes us into the amazing and terrifying hallucinations of Claude, a character whose inner conflict Philippe Touzel renders very well. As you enjoy this cathartic reinterpretation of American history, a section reminiscent of the golden age of collective creation—paintings in which scenographer Guillaume Lord and lighting designer Julie Basse are having a blast—you’ll be surprised to imagine which ones The turn the evening might have taken had it been driven solely by such theatricality, so much sheer invention, so strong emotion and formal freedom.
On the night of the media premiere, there was a power outage, leading to an intermission in the show’s final minutes – a magical moment when the troupe and audience sang in one voice, a cappella and under the only lights of the phones: Let the Sun in. As the saying goes: you had to be there.
To hate
Book and text: Gerome Ragni and James Rado. Music: Galt MacDermot. Translation and direction: Serge Denoncourt. A production of Just for Laughs. Until July 30th at the St-Denis Theater.