History Theatre / Hair

-> '''Claude:''' If I am unseen, I can perform miracles.

* InsaneTrollLogic:

* AmbiguouslyGay: Woof has a [[Understatement slight crush]] on Mick Jagger, and Jeannie says that he is "hung up" on Berger.

* [[DoggedNiceGuy Dogged Nice Girl]]: Jeanie for Claude.

The original rock musical, ''Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical'' debuted in 1967 and is very much an [[TheSixties artifact of its times]], particularly the bohemian, [[NewAgeRetroHippie hippie]], Free Love and anti-[[TheVietnamWar Vietnam-War]] movements, but at the same time has found new relevance in subsequent revivals, including the Tony award winning, 2009 Broadway revival. It was also very experimental for its times, involving nudity, audience participation and with some actors planted amongst the audience, not to mention scandalous for reasons which will be covered in the plot synopsis. The libretto (lyrics and dialogue) were written by its co-stars, James Rado and Gerome Ragni, and the music by Galt [=MacDermot=].

The musical stars '''Claude''', TheHero (Rado), the leader of a "tribe" of New York hippies, and his two friends [[TheLancer Lancer]] '''Berger''' (Ragni) and '''Sheila''', a SoapboxSadie. After various songs extolling the various practices and issues afoot (''Colored Spade'' for racism, ''Hashish'' for drug use, ''Sodomy'' for alternative sexuality, ''Ain't Got No'' for the tribe's semi-deliberate poverty), making it clear that this is a DividedStatesOfAmerica due to the differing values between generations. This is underlined when the play does a SmashCut to the entire tribe having an orgy (yes, onstage) and the maid walks in. Claude is promptly berated by six cast members representing his parents, each one with a different costume and concern (we ''said'' it was experimental), and is told that he should join the army. He leaves, and (after another couple of songs) returns to admit that he passed his draft physical and may be forced to go fight TheVietnamWar.

* TheVietnamWar: It doesn't deal with the war directly, but it underlines much of the action of the play.

* TheVietnamWar: FromBadToWorse.

* ForeignRemake: Hair Tokyo 1969, written and translated by Katsumi Kahashi of Music/TheTigers which almost completely rewrites the song lyrics/plots to suit Japanese attitudes, reflecting the Youth Movement at the time.

* ForeignRemake: Hair Tokyo 1969, written and translated by Katsumi Kahashi of Music/TheTigers which almost completely rewrites the songs/plots to suit Japanese attitudes, reflecting the Youth Movement at the time.

* ForeignRemake: Hair Tokyo 1969, which almost completely rewrites the songs/plots to suit Japanese attitudes, reflecting the Youth Movement at the time.

''Hair'' was also made into a RockOpera Concert Album and various hit singles including "Age Of Aquarius" and "The Flesh Failures (Let The Sunshine In)", and [[BrokenBase interestingly]], was made into an [[CultClassic often forgotten (but still unique) film]], by Miloš Forman, starring John Savage. Both feature most of the original cast and variations on the original songs.

!!The Miloš Forman film (1979) provides examples of the following tropes:

--> '''Jeanie''': This is the way it is. I’m hung up on Claude. Sheila’s hung up on Berger, Berger is hung up everywhere. Claude is hung up on a cross over Sheila and Berger. And as a prospective mother, I would just like to say that there is something highly unusual going on here, and furthermore, Woof is hung up on Berger.

* LoveTriangle: between Claude, Berger, and Sheila (and to some degree, Jeanie and Woof), ''all'' of whom like each other:

Audiences and critics ''loved'' the show, partially because it averted or subverted many of the era's most dominant tropes (and, for that matter, many of ''theatre''[='s=] most dominant tropes; among other things, the set was minimal and there were no curtains whatsoever). It did what it wanted to, and it worked. Plus, there is NoSuchThingAsBadPublicity either. It was not only the first [[RockOpera Rock Musical]], directly preceding shows like ''Theatre/{{Rent}}'' and ''SpringAwakening'', it was the first ''{{Concept|Album}}'' Musical too (in which the central theme of the show is more important than the show's narrative), which culminated in ''Theatre/AChorusLine'' in '75. ''Good Morning, Starshine'' and ''The Age Of Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In'' got some respectable airplay as singles. Most importantly, it helped revive the flagging theatre scene and completely rewrote the common perspective of what you could get away with onstage.

* BadassLonghair: It would be a lot faster to say who is not one in this film.

** This is actually very common. This troper has spent years traveling around the world seeing the show (he's a tad obsessed) and most shows have the cast in the audience before the curtain goes up.

* TheVietnamWar: ItGotWorse.

Audiences and critics ''loved'' the show, partially because it averted or subverted many of the era's most dominant tropes (and, for that matter, many of ''theatre''[='s=] most dominant tropes; among other things, the set was minimal and there were no curtains whatsoever). It did what it wanted to, and it worked. Plus, there is NoSuchThingAsBadPublicity either. It was not only the first [[RockOpera Rock Musical]], directly preceding shows like ''Theatre/{{Rent}}'' and ''SpringAwakening'', it was the first ''{{Concept|Album}}'' Musical too (in which the central theme of the show is more important than the show's narrative), which culminated in ''AChorusLine'' in '75. ''Good Morning, Starshine'' and ''The Age Of Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In'' got some respectable airplay as singles. Most importantly, it helped revive the flagging theatre scene and completely rewrote the common perspective of what you could get away with onstage.

* Badasslonghair: It would be a lot faster to say who is not one in this film

* LoveTriangle: between Claude, Berger, and Sheila (and to some degree, Jeanie and Woof), ''all'' of whom like each other.

* SoundtrackDissonance: "The Flesh Failures" is given a different meaning by the film's shocking TwistEnding, which is different from the original play. May actually produce [[TearJerker/{{Film}} tears]], which is quite different from the feeling most people get watching the play. (Or [[{{YMMV}} the same]]).

* BreadEggsMilkSquick: ''Sodomy...fellatio...cunnilingus...[[{{Squick}} pederasty]]...''
* CoveredUp: The show produced four popular singles-- the title song by The Cowsills, "Starshine" by Oliver, "Aquarius" by the 5th Dimension, and "Easy To Be Hard" by Three Dog Night.

* BreakawayPopHit and CoveredUp: The show produced four popular singles-- the title song by The Cowsills, "Starshine" by Oliver, "Aquarius" by the 5th Dimension, and "Easy To Be Hard" by Three Dog Night.

* BreakawayPopHit and CoveredUp: The show produced three popular singles--"Starshine" by Oliver, "Aquarius" by the 5th Dimension, and "Easy To Be Hard" by Three Dog Night.

* DarkReprise: ''Manchester England (The Flesh Failures)'' [[OuterLimitsTwist And how]].

* TwistEnding / OuterLimitsTwist: [[spoiler:Berger leads the tribe to Nevada, sneaks into the army training camp and impersonates Claude to give him a chance to see Sheila one last time... on the day Claude's battalion ships for Vietnam]].

Audiences and critics ''loved'' the show, partially because it averted or subverted many of the era's most dominant tropes (and, for that matter, many of ''theatre''[='s=] most dominant tropes; among other things, the set was minimal and there were no curtains whatsoever). It did what it wanted to, and it worked. Plus, there is NoSuchThingAsBadPublicity either. It was not only the first [[RockOpera Rock Musical]], directly preceding shows like ''{{Rent}}'' and ''SpringAwakening'', it was the first ''{{Concept|Album}}'' Musical too (in which the central theme of the show is more important than the show's narrative), which culminated in ''AChorusLine'' in '75. ''Good Morning, Starshine'' and ''The Age Of Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In'' got some respectable airplay as singles. Most importantly, it helped revive the flagging theatre scene and competely rewrote the common perspective of what you could get away with onstage.

* BreadEggsMilkSquick: ''Sodomy...fellatio...cunnilingus...[[{{squick}} pederasty]]...''

* HoYay: Deliberately written into the show itself, which provides quite some subtext between Claude and Berger at times.
** Supporting character Woof: "I'm not a homosexual or anything, but I would make love to this man" ([[TheRollingStones Mick Jagger]]). Bordering on {{Transparent Closet}}. Lampshaded by Jeanie, who points out that Woof is 'hung up on' Claude.
** Also a Les Yay: In "White Boys," the last appealing trait of white boys listed is that they're "Beautiful like girls." (Note this is being sung by black girls.)

** This is actually very common. This troper has spent years travelling around the world seeing the show (he's a tad obsessed) and most shows have the cast in the audience before the curtain goes up.

* SparedByTheAdaptation: [[spoiler:Claude]].