GOOD MORNING STARSHINE

The opening night of Hair at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood was like attending the most energetic, love-filed performance in which there was nothing but mutual love between the cast and audience.  The cast led by the charismatic and uber-talented Steel Burkhardt (Berger) and Paris Remillard (Claude) knocked every number out of the park sparking enthusiastic applause and cheers from the audience. 

The Hair “tribe” is energetic, unifying and strong.  The energy they emit whether they are onstage in “Oh Great God of Power” or dancing amongst the audience in “Hair” make the show not only entertaining but interactive as well.  Members of the tribe who make their appearance at the Pantages include original Broadway-revival cast members: Burkhardt, Remillard, Allison Guinn (Mother/Buddhadalirama), Kaitlin Kiyan (Chrissy), Josh Lamon (Margaret Mead/Dad), John Moauro (tribe), Darius Nichols (Hud) and Kacie Sheik (Jeanie).

Despite being a feel-good musical that elicits feelings of hope and love, Hair actually tackles some very serious issues like sexual identity, draft card burning and drug use – issues that were seen more than 40 years ago when it first debuted on Broadway.  The essence of the show continues to be relatable and prevalent in 2011 even though some of the details of the issues of today are slightly different.

Pictured: Hair National Tour Company/Joan Marcus

Visually, Hair was a stunning celebration of bright colors, light and staging seen in the dance, costume and choreography under the direction of Diane Paulus and choreographed by Karole Armitage.  This was only enhanced by the music of Galt MacDermot and book/lyrics by Rames Rado and Gerome Ragni (“Aquarius,” “Let the Sun Shine In” and “Good Morning Starshine”). 

There is nothing but high praise and deep appreciation for the Hair tribe in bringing their love-filled-emotional show to LA audiences.  The Pantages Theatre on opening night of Hair, was nothing short of a captivating two and a half hours of an intoxicating love-filled performance (a musical certainly not to be missed).  You will leave the theatre with a silly grin on your face feeling happy and naturally high, and if you don't...keep going back until you do!

Now Playing through January 23, 2011 at the Pantages Theatre (6233 Hollywood Blvd. in Los Angeles).  For tickets or more information: Broadway L.A., 1-800-982-ARTS (2787) or Ticketmaster Outlets. ($25-$90)

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Gavin Creel (original Broadway revival, Claude)

The touring cast of Hair also continues to support the cause of marriage equality that the Broadway cast supported in the spirit of love and peace.  In virtually every touring city, the tribe stages a fund-raising “be-in” of music and performance and they donate 100% of the proceeds to Broadway Impact to support their efforts in the fight for marriage equality.  The Los Angeles “be-in” will be held Monday, January 10 with shows at 7:30 and 10:30 p.m. at Show at Barre (1714 N. Vermont, Los Angeles). General Admission tickets are $25 ticket and a $50 VIP ticket gets first row seating and a signed poster.  For tickets or more information to this “be-in” check their Facebook event page.

APPLAUSE, APPLAUSE

Merriam-Webster defines applause as:

approval publicly expressed (as by clapping the hands)

While applause is a commonly understood and used expression of approval, I was taught at a very early age that a standing ovation is different; the standing ovation is a special distinction to honor a stand-out performance or speaker and indicates a particularly high level of approval and should be used sparingly.  Right?

The sound that says love,
Applause, applause, applause!
~Applause, Applause, Lee Adams (lyricist)

For as long as I can remember, I have taken that sparingly thought to heart and tried to only gave standing ovations if I was blown away by a particular performance.  Sometimes I admit that I give away the standing ovation a little too freely but sometimes I do the whole following-the-heard thing and feel guilty that the entire theatre is standing and I'm not.

So I started thinking about the performers/performances I have recently given standing ovations  (because I thought it was well deserved).  This isn't a list of everything I've seen, but what I thought was particularly well performed in the last year:

• The touring company of my favorite contemporary musical:  next to normal
• Lin-Manuel Miranda as Usnavi in In the Heights at the Pantages
• Raúl Esparza as Jonas Nightingale in Leap of Faith 
• The company of Parade at the Mark Taper Forum

Not so long ago, I made the snarky comment that theatre audiences in LA will give anyone a standing ovation as I left a mediocre performance.  I was unsure if audiences were unaware of the concept of what a standing ovation means or if they believe that standing during curtain calls are customary.  I am not talking about the people standing (and then LEAVING) during curtain calls or even during encores during a concert - that is worthy of an entire forthcoming post.  However, not all performances are standing ovation worthy and yet, I see that (particularly with LA crowds) EVERY show, EVERY performance gets one (even those that are really, not so good).  The only time I noticed a lack of a standing ovation was not because the show was bad, but because the average age of the audience (at this professional equity production) was upwards of about 80-years-old, and most had walkers or wheelchairs, so I assume that maybe they couldn't stand up?  Either that or they are old enough to know that not every single performance needs a standing ovation.  I don't want to be a negative nellie here, but I think giving every performance a standing ovation regardless of a performance is a little misleading and unfair.  Its like the audience who cried wolf!

Then...I googled the history of the standing ovation and found this somewhat equally snarky article written by Michael Billington of the UK's The Guardian.  The thing is, I kind of agree with him (not the insulting American theatre-goers as déclassé parts) but here:

The standing ovation is now a meaningless nightly ritual...If you do it for virtually everything, it soon becomes valueless...But a standing-ovation should be a rare and choice event. Currently, however, it is turning into a hollow gesture in which audiences seek to transform perfectly decent plays and musicals into earth-shattering occasions.

This has been my point and I think that Billington says it better above than I do, but for those of you who attend any performing arts or speaking engagements...pay attention and let me know what you think...theaterfan [at] aol [dot] com.