A little history...

This is the second time I have been associated with a production of HAiR. The first was in 2002, when I had another theater company in Santa Cruz, OpenStage Repertory Theater. We had done two years of shows and I was in the midst of some strange changes in my life (a divorce, a new job, etc.) My new work was very near San Francisco, and so I was only in the Santa Cruz area every other week.

A good friend, Cat Winske (who had been in one of my shows, Tomfoolery, the year before), wanted to produce HAiR, so I told her "go for it" and she used OpenStage as the backing company to mount the show. It was scheduled to play for two performances only at the Rio Theater (a very large 700-seat converted movie house in Santa Cruz).

The auditions were awesome (I dropped by to watch) with over 100 people showing up and many very talented individuals to pick from. Cat was working with Ed Levy, another friend who had played El Gallo in OpenStage's first production of The Fantasticks in 2000 (and Ed was incredible in that role). Ed directed and music directed the show.

There were a lot of good things with that production, and number of not so good things. Without going into too much detail, there were some real tough times heading into hell week, and I stepped in to help out, although not everyone was happy about that. The show was a sell-out and we added a Sunday performance, but behind the scenes, we had enough issues that things weren't very smooth. Also, Ed's version of the show was highly modified from the original Broadway production and I wasn't thrilled with it. But we did mount the show, and despite the issues that we were dealing with, the show was very successful. We even brought it back in the summer for another one weekend run and did very well (although not as well as the first run).

This go-round will be much different. The venues are smaller (about 150 seats per theater compared to 700 seats at the Rio), the stages are smaller, making for a more intimate show and a much smaller cast (maximum of about 20 this time, compared to over 40 the last time).

I also will be sticking much closer to the Broadway script as provided by Tams-Witmark. We want to honor the spirit of the original show on its 40th anniversary, although we will make a few minor adjustments.

Most people who work on HAiR say it is often a life-changing experience. The 2002 production was for me, and my life has turned in very different directions partly as a result of that show. I hope there will be more changes in store with this production, which I am helming from the start. And hopefully a lot of fun along the way, as well!