In October 1967, just as the sun set on the Summer of Love, HAIR opened at New York’s Public Theater. The real revolution came, however, when the show transferred to the glittering lights of Broadway a year later, and in doing so made musical theatre history. No other show had ever opened off-Broadway and made it to a Broadway theatre.
The original production of HAIR was the show to define the "rock musical" genre. It defied convention by employing a racially-integrated cast and inviting the audience onstage for the finale. It is a true product of hippie counter-culture, of sexual revolution, and several of its songs became anthems of the anti-Vietnam War peace movement.
The show captured the hearts and ears of America and played in cities across the United States. The same ground-breaking production then opened in London, at the Shaftesbury Theatre, on 27 September 1968. The original London cast included Elaine Paige, Paul Nicholas and Tim Curry.
It was a timely opening, particularly because it came hot on the heels of the abolition of censorship, and London welcomed the show with open arms. The London production ran for 1,998 performances, only forced to close because the ceiling collapsed at the Shaftesbury Theatre.
HAIR has played pretty much continuously ever since its opening at Broadway's Biltmore Theatre. It has been translated into many languages and produced around the world, from Japan and Australia to South & Central America, from Europe to Israel.
This critically acclaimed new production extended three times whilst playing at the Delacorte Theater in New York’s Central Park in Summer 2008 before transferring to the Al Hirschfield Theatre on Broadway in March 2009, where it received rave reviews and won the Tony Award and Drama Desk Award for Best Revival of a Musical.
