"Don’t fucking question my Christianity you fucking idiot assholes. If you continue to have a problem, then talk to God about it, not me, you fucking racist homophobic misogynist fake Christian shitheads. God thinks it is funny that I swear so much. He said I could use his name in vain or whatever. He just wants me to use it. He loves me. So fuck you. And I guess he loves you too. Even though you are fake Christian assholes. If you were truly Christians, you would let gays get married, and send them fucking presents from Bed Bath and Beyond! If you truly believed in Jesus, you would try to be like him and love us, fags and dykes and feminists all. God bless you, even you. You fucking fuckers."
In a very strange way, the daring comedy of OPM owes a great debt to a revolutionary musical which made its Broadway debut on April 29, 1968 after an initial run at Joe Papp's Public Theater in Greenwich Village. A new documentary which will be shown at the 2008 Mill Valley Film Festival, Hair: Let The Sun Shine In, reminds viewers that it was Hair which broke down previous barriers of onstage nudity and confronted issues such as drug use, war resistance, and civil rights in ways which challenged audiences like no other show had in the past. For those who have forgotten, birth control pills were a relatively new phenomenon which helped bring about an age of sexual freedom for women. Hair was also one of the first multiracial Broadway shows to cast blacks in leading roles.
Although this documentary may make some baby boomers feel incredibly old, it offers viewers a fascinating look back at the times and artists that created Hair. Veterans of various Hair tribes (Keith Carradine, Melba Moore, Ben Vereen) as well as coauthor James Rado, composer Galt McDermott, director Tom O'Horgan and producer Michael Butler offer fascinating historical insights into the cultural changes which brought the first rock musical to Broadway. A wealth of archival footage includes fascinating clips of Presidents Richard Nixon and Lyndon B. Johnson as well as a 19-year-old Tim Curry being interviewed in French.
The occasion for this documentary is, of course, the recent production of Hair (which is now slated to move to Broadway in 2009) by the Public Theater. Contrasting archival footage from the original production's creators and cast with the new production (some 40 years later), it's amazing to see how some things really haven't changed all that much. The music still enthralls, the lyrics still challenge an audience and old taboos just won't die.
Since the film is only an hour long, I'm pretty sure it will end up on television. Here's a clip:
1 comment:
Thanks for the fantastic review.
We're coming back this September!
http://www.opmcomedy.com
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