50 Favourite Musicals: 48: HAIR (1967) (Galt MacDermot, Gerome Ragni, James Rado)

The 50 shows that have stood out down the years and, as we get up among the paint cards, the shows that have become the cast recording of my life:

First performed: 1967, Public Theater NY
First seen by me: 1993, Old Vic, London

Productions seen: three

Score: Galt MacDermot / Gerome Ragni & James Rado

Book: Ragni & Rado

 Plot: A 'tribe' of hippies in New York assert their love of life and peace in late 1960s America but the Vietnam war looms ever closer...

Five memorable numbers: AQUARIUS, I GOT LIFE, HAIR, FRANK MILLS, THE FLESH FAILURES (LET THE SUNSHINE IN)

Odd for HAIR to be so low in my chart, particularly as Diane Paulus' 2010 revival was so wondrous but, for all the variety of the score, the book is showing it's age - and in particular, the lengthy and disjointed Vietnam drug trip in the second act stops the show dead, just when you want more of the members of the tribe that you have grown to like in the first act.  I got to know the score through the 1968 London cast album, but was totally bewildered by the disjointed Old Vic production by Michael Bogdanov in 1993; my only lasting memory of it was sitting in the back row of bleacher seats on the Old Vic stage with fellow First Call workers - as I watched Sinitta spiral down to the stage holding onto a strap with one hand while singing AQUARIUS, I had not noticed 1) that Paul J Medford had popped up behind us to sing the second verse and 2) that one of my colleagues had started a nose bleed - when the spotlight snapped onto Medford it also revealed Nigel covered in blood!!  That was the most dramatic thing in the whole show.  All was put right by the fantastic revival by Diane Paulus which we first saw on Broadway then visited 5 times when it transferred to the Gielgud Theatre but sadly it just didn't connect with a wider audience and closed early.  However I will long treasure the definitive performances of Claude, Sheila, Jeanie, Berger and Crissy by the wonderful Gavin Creel, Caissie Levy, Kacie Sheik, Will Swenson, and Allison Case who made me blub every time with her heartrending performance of FRANK MILLS.

Here that remarkable ensemble led by Gavin Creel and Will Swenson take over the Tony Awards with the title song - it won the Award that year for Best Revival...