Music, singers powerful in 'Hair'

• By JOHN BOYD
• 2theadvocate.com staff writer
• Published: Apr 21, 2008 - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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Tune in, turn on and strap yourself in for “Hair,” the hip-shaking, joint-passing musical experience from Swine Palace.

Part concert, part play, part street bazaar, “Hair” ensnares its audience even before the performance begins and keeps on rocking until the lights go down.

Gregory Allan Bock and Garrett Bruce co-star as hippie brethren Berger and Claude. Berger lives for sex, drugs and draft card burning; Claude for peace, love and rock ’n’ roll.

When Claude’s card gets chosen by the draft board, Berger and friends stage a “Be In” rally to protest the war in Vietnam, but Claude’s not so sure he wants to dodge the draft, raising questions about the nature of patriotism and protest.

The plot is generic, offering the same old “war bad, peace good” message audiences have seen in everything from “Forrest Gump” to “Rambo.”

Though “Hair” was among the first productions to cover these topics when it debuted in 1968, today it just seems like the same old Vietnam shtick.

Mostly, the plot just gets in the way of what otherwise could have been a great concert.

Conductor Robert Webb’s 10-piece band is the true star of “Hair.” Without its head-bobbing canvas, director Steven Young’s production could never be so colorful.

The band is spot on with this score full of hippie favorites.

The title song is the best number in the show … right after anything sung by Amber A. Harris. The range of the soulful songstress gives the audio systems fits on “Aquarius” and “White Boys.”

The fellas are all capable singers — the James Brownish Sinclair Mitchell is particularly funky — but it’s the ladies that rule this show.

Ann Harris is an underutilized talent who has the chops to carry almost any musical, and Jessica Wu’s chirpy love-song “Frank Mills” is one of the more charming things you’ll hear sung in go-go boots.

The cast together makes a wonderful chorus. Kudos to the production staff for keeping everyone mic’d up and sounding great.