Hair: The Story of the Show that Defined a Generation
More than 40 years ago, the first rock musical made off-Broadway history. No one had ever seen anything quite like Hair, which celebrated hippie values and earned its notoriety as much for its nudity as for its use of rock music and its controversial themes. It addressed topics (race, sexual liberation, youth culture) that were unheard of at the time. This illustrated authorized history chronicles the musical’s beginnings from its off-Broadway roots in New York’s East Village in 1967 to its successful 2009 Broadway revival. When it first appeared, it was condemned as vulgar and a death knell to Broadway. The book discusses the play’s obscure origins when James Rado and Gerome Ragni borrowed a typewriter from their landlord in Hoboken, New Jersey, to write a first draft of what would become Hair, the initial media response, the lawsuits over the nude scenes, its touring productions around the world, and such iconic counterculture figures as Allen Ginsberg and Mick Jagger. An entertaining social history and fascinating document of a seminal musical. --June Sawyers