Hair, Gielgud Theatre

Well I was fortunate enough to catch this amazing production about two weeks before it unfortuneately closed.A friend and I got seats on lastminute.com for £20 and were in row C, which in my opinion is great value. It was one of my summer holiday must sees as I knew it was closing and I had heard such great things about the production. Also to have an entire Broadway cast and to experience different performers was something I wanted to benefit from too.

My friend had seen it before and had told me alot about it and I was very scared and excited to finally be sitting there. Especially at the beginning, the show being very Brechtian in its staging we could hear the cast warming up and shouting and joking and occasionally catch a glimpse of them. One of whom managed to make eye contact with me from behind the silk cloth that covered the stage.

Sasha Allen as Dione

From the moment the haunting overture started and Sasha Allen began to belt out Aquarious I was hooked. Completely engrossed within the vibrancy and the cast that bursted with enthusiasm to some extent that I had possibly not seen from any previous production.

Although production values were low the bright scenery and bright lighting enhanced the production and the band has to be said to be one of the most rocking in the West End. The music steered away from some of the more staunch traditional shows and were placed at the back of the stage in full view of the audience and were almost intertwined and involved in the performance.

The way the cast conveyed their passion for the piece through their stunning vocal form and the fact they actually came out into the audience and passed fliers and flowers and also climbed onto the seats and fondled with hair and provided such a good time. This inclusion with the audience, especially for us lucky enough to be in the front few rows made you feel all the more included in the performance.

Special mention must be made of the delightful Allison Case who was just charming in her kookie and cute performance as Crissy. By the end of the show Gavin Creel performed the broken Claude with great effect and the audience had grown an emotional connection with him that when we witnessed his downfall we were all the more heartbroken.



Allison Case as Crissy

 Also the hilarious performances of Claude's parents which was almost like a small stand-up comedy section within the musical.

This really was one of the gems of the summer and although I am unsure of the correct reasons the short lived run in the West End truly was unfortunate as the story remains fresh and relevant today and the vibrant cast exuded life from the stage which would appeal to the young and old alike. One of the special highlights was the fact that for the finale the audience were invited to go and dance along on the stage with the cast which was all the more fun!

A brilliant show which is truly original and to have the perk of a full cast coming over from Broadway was so nice to see fresh faces. I find it such a shame that the ever growing film musicals and juke box musicals seem to push original scores and brilliant performances like this to one side.