They came, they danced, they spread joy.

But all good things must come to an end and with an echo of cheering in our ears, they were gone.
On Saturday evening, the phenomenal American cast of Diane Paulus' revival of HAIR said their goodbye to London, The Gielgud Theatre and Owen and I.

We had already seen Gavin Creel's last night as Claude on Wednesday so it was time to put ourselves through the turmoil of watching the show knowing this was the last time - and also knowing the performers were thinking the same thing. As some of them have been with the show since 2008 when it first opened at the Delacorte in Central Park this had all the aspects of one emotional show.To be honest, I felt a bit sorry for anyone who was seeing the show for the first time as the show kind of lost it's shape a little as the audience response was so huge. But for us HAIRites it was a great opportunity to finally let rip and show The Tribe in what affection they are held.

Needless to say the Gielgud roof got it's first seismic shock when Sasha Allen finished singing AQUARIUS - a huge roar and a standing ovation marked the end of the number - Tribe member Hannah Shankman (brunette at the front in the picture above) was in the stalls aisle nearest us and with the ovation, her face crumpled into a teary smile. And we were off...Standing ovations abounded - at the end of the title number we again were on our feet applauding - and we had Darius Nichols as 'Hud' standing on the seat in front of us! It was a bit of a shame that Gavin Creel had to leave those few days before as it would have been great to see him in these circumstances.

It was a particular delight to be able to stand and applaud some performers - Kacie Sheik as 'Jeannie' with "Air", Andrew Kober as 'Margaret Mead' with "My Conviction", Caissie Levy as 'Sheila' with "Easy To Be Hard" and - best of all - Allison Case as 'Crissy" with "Frank Mills". Every time I have seen it she has broken my heart with this most gentle and touching song in the score and as I said in an earlier blog, she carefully guided us through it - pointing out the funny lines at the start but never failing to touch the heart at the end of it. She was quite adorable.After a much-needed drink and ice cream in the interval it was time to welcome in the second act. It seemed to whizz by and soon we were at the cold dawn of "Let The Sun Shine In" which again was greeted with a standing ovation midway through and as the Tribe left the stage for the last time revealing the snow falling on the fallen Claude, quite a few of them were already giving way to emotion too.

They raced back on stage to a thunderous ovation and there was one hell of a lot of love in the air. As soon as we saw the rails appear to be put on the stairs leading up to the stage we were off but hadn't reckoned on the cheeky buggers at the back who had followed the cast down the aisle when they returned. It was at absolute scrum and despite initial fears, we both managed to get on stage and join in the last dance.
I think that's me about 3:05 getting on stage looking about quickly then clapping with my hands over my head!

After it was all over we threaded our way through the throng and Owen managed to nab Allison Case just as she was heading into the wings. She graciously signed the picture Owen had taken of the two of us together on an earlier trip and we told her we would love to see her in future shows which she was most touched by.And with that, they were gone... gone to star in the theatre that lives in memory.

It was Gavin Creel's last night in HAIR tonight which itself ends on Saturday so O and I made a point of booking for both.
It was bound to be a highly emotional night and on Gavin's first appearance he received a huge ovation which should have let him know he was among friends on both sides of the footlights. In the first of his 'big' songs I GOT LIFE he totally went for it, showing the kinetic energy that has energised the show.

At the song's end which finds him sitting in the middle of the stage surrounded by the tribe in a line-up widely arcing behind his back, the audience's thunderous ovation was echoed by his cast mates who advanced clapping him for a few minutes before the delayed light cue brought us back to 1967.There was a definite feeling of end-of-term with plenty of ad-libs and invented business, particularly cast member Kevin Kern who as the school principal started effing 'n' jeffing to beat the band to gasps of delight from cast and punter alike and later as Hubert when, accompanying Andrew Kober's scene-stealing turn as Margaret Mead, he shouted out "why the hell don't you get star billing" which again set the cast into a fit of church giggles. We also had extra participants in the DON'T PUT IT DOWN hoedown when Gavin, Caissie Levy and Darius Nichols joined the line dance.

Needless to say the title song was slammed across the footlights with most of the lads following Gavin's lead in pulling his shirt off at the start! Again another massive ovation when they ended the musical coda.Oh and need I say that Allison Case again made me cry... buckets... with her lovely rendition of "Frank Mills".

Then for the big one... I had wondered during the show how Gavin might approach the first act closer WHERE DO I GO? Within a few lines however, the emotions took him over and without missing a beat the tribe members took up the song and sang softly until he was able to gather himself but by the end again he was too choked to sing.

The second act seem to speed through on fast-forward and there we were with Claude in his army uniform, invisible to his former friends, and again he just made it through "Eyes Look Your Last" before he went again. The rousing, ferocious a capella "Let The Sunshine In" faded away as we watched the snow gently falling on Claude's dead body, only this time it was a heightened sadness for the previously-mentioned reason. The bows took place amid raucous cheers and clapping and Gavin appeared for his final bow. Trust us to be stuck in the slow-moving queue for the stage-dancing, they stopped letting people on just as we got within gobbing distance of the stairs but we got a smile and a wave from Kacie Sheik and had a good view for when Caissie gave a very touching and heartfelt speech to Gavin from the whole company and there was a final rousing version of LET THE SUNSHINE IN as he was lifted shoulder-high... oh and the shirt came off again, captured here by HAIR fan Chasity Neutze.Apart from the GRRRRRRRRRness of not getting on stage, it was a night to remember.

The day after receiving very positive reviews, what is the best the American company of HAIR can look forward to? Me and Owen in the audience of course!

Yes it was time to re-visit Diane Paulus' explosive production that we had previously seen in February with most of the same cast in New York.If anything, I thought it was even better at the Gielgud. I was a bit worried how a London audience would take to the show but the audience were up for it from the get-go and I suspect the prospect of performing this very American-themed show with all it's now-obscure cultural references to a London audience made the cast go for it a little harder.

Yes the book still has problems, Claude's extended bad trip sequence does seem to go on a bit - although it does feature the marvellous ABIE BABY - but the sheer brio and exuberance of the cast carry you through the dodgy patches.It was great to become re-acquainted with the cast members from NY such as Will Swenson's Berger and in particular Gavin Creel's Claude - his torment over what is his ultimate destiny is palpable in an excellent rendering of WHERE DO I GO at the end of the first act, so good he pulls the focus from the company stripping off behind him! His choice leaves him invisible to his former compadres and leads to a stunning coup-de-theatre.

It was a pleasure to see Caissie Levy again as Sheila, the political activist doomed to be disappointed in love and life - her soaring voice turns EASY TO BE HARD into a genuine showstopper as well as sparkling in I BELIEVE IN LOVE and GOOD MORNING STARSHINE.

Two performers who I wasn't sure of in New York made a greater impression here: Kacie Sheik as the pregnant Jeannie made the most of her one-liners and got a massive laugh on her Mary Magdalene gag - I guess I was so used to Linda Kendrick's version of AIR on the London cast album - and Darius Nichols was great as Hud - during the HAIR number he crawled over the stalls seats and made it all the way to K row where we were!
It was sad that Bryce Ryness didn't make the trip as he was great as Woof but it was delight to see Allison Case as Chrissy as she had left the cast by the time we saw the NY production. She gave a winning performance as the love-lorn Chrissy and carefully managed to steer her rendition of FRANK MILLS through the lines that elicited laughs to the touching last line. I happily "Woo"ed at the end.

The real bugger was that we didn't see Sasha Allen as Dionne - again! She was off in New York and she was off again last night - c'mon gurl... it ain't THAT taxing a role.

However we had instead the delightfully-named Phyre Hawkins who raised the roof at the top of the show with AQUARIUS and also raunched the bumhole out of WHITE BOYS.

Special mentions must go to Andrew Kober and Megan Lawrence who step out of "The Tribe" to play Claude's parents as well as scene-stealing turns as Margaret Mead and Buddhadalirama respectively.
Oh and the cherry on the cake?

During the finale the audience are invited on stage.... OH COURSE WE DID! It was a great experience to join the teeming crowd on the stage and dance to the finale music played by the rockin' Hair Band.

My estimation of the company went up leaps and bounds while up there - those damn lights make it boiling up there!

Owen has booked for us to see it again soon - can't wait!