Alleanna Torres, Naledi Miga and Izzy Perez (Photo by Jess Jani)
Reviewed by Amanda L. Andrei
Conundrum Theatre at the Broadwater Main Stage
Through August 24
RECOMMENDED
This year, Hair turns 58 years old. This radical musical that debuted off-Broadway on October 17, 1967 and shocked audiences with its taboo topics, rock music, and psychedelic structure… is a Gen X-er. And like many early Gen X-ers, it’s currently undergoing its Saturn Return (a time when the planet Saturn completes its roughly 30-year orbit to the same sign when a person — or in this case, play — was born). To translate the astrologese, it’s a major transition time, one of testing boundaries and structures to see what crumbles and what endures. Though the shock of the original may not prevail in Conundrum Theatre’s revival, its power is less third rail and more low-humming electric generator: a source revealing American history and how (little) our society has changed.
The production preserves writers James Rado and Gerome Ragni’s original hippie counterculture while also updating it to today’s politicized atmosphere. Aelin-Alexandria Nyx’s simple set evokes a commune with public and private spaces mingled. Beanbag chairs and a zodiac tapestry flank a brick wall painted with slogans in support of trans and abortion rights and against corrupt law enforcement and genocide, reminding the audience that though the words have changed, the issues, barely. Cardboard protest signs bear similar mottos, with the best one referencing class struggle: “The only dangerous minority is a billionaire.”
Here, a loose community of youth known as the “Tribe” gathers to protest, fight, have sex, do drugs, escape, hallucinate, and otherwise vent against the excesses of mainstream American society. Director Ignoisco Miles casts expansively, with actors playing different races and genders than their characters. The choice generally works, showcasing today’s fluidity with pronouns and raising intriguing ideas about mixed race. A small bump came when a choral Tribe member yelled out a racial slur and the other members questioned their permissibility to say it, but the bump was more of a distraction about the intent of the original casting and text than anything offensive. Soon enough, the Tribe jumped back into Miles’ melodious melee.
Performances among the leads are solid. Cool and confident as the rebellious hippie Berger, Joshua Lincoln flirts with both audience members and characters, a seductive trickster navigating worlds. Michael Neely inhabits Hud, a radical Black hippie and the main critic of Whiteness in the group; he’s crooning and charming while still revealing the ugliness of racism in America. And Shantilly Tuazon is excellent as the newcomer Claude Bukowski, who is torn between the life of a bohemian or that of a soldier. Their clear voice resonates and rouses, especially in “Ain’t Got No,” a ballad that pays tribute to the autonomy of one’s body — no need for material goods or close relationships.
The cast makes the most of the Broadwater’s small space, turning the musical into more of a groovy living room party than something more flashy or overdone. However, the constraints of limited resources are felt. The mics occasionally cut out on the leads. Some unmiked Tribe’s vocals are barely audible — which is a shame, because overall, the ensemble members’ voices are gorgeous (I look forward to hearing more from Arianna Ford and Alleanna Torres in the future). And while most of the musicians play from a tiny loft, two of them remain onstage without blending into the trippy space, a dissonant image that could potentially have been integrated more smoothly into the off-kilter world.
It’s strange to witness an innovative and game-changing work of art turn into a “classic.” There’s a twinge of jealousy and sadness — not for an era or an aesthetic, but for a spark of change: for people to be galvanized over this musical, and for the current state of our country and the world to be better. That’s the reveal of Conundrum’s restaging — not as shocking, but as reflective. To gaze sixty years into the past and feel like we’re still fighting over the same rights? No one said Saturn Returns would be easy.
Conundrum Theater Company, Broadwater theatre, 1078 Lillian Way, Hollywood. Fri.-Sat., 8 pm, Sun., 2:30 pm; thru Aug. 24. https://conundrumtheatreco.com. Runtime: two hours with a 15-minute intermission.
