VIDEO: Diane Paulus Remembers HAIR on CBS Sunday Morning

By: May. 27, 2018
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Broadway had never seen anything like it: An anti-war rock musical featuring nudity, profanity and drugs. "Hair," premiering on stage in 1968, was a reflection of the turbulent times. Diane Paulus, who fell in love with the show's music at age eight, and would grow up to direct a Tony-winning Broadway revival of "Hair" in 2009, talked with CBS Sunday Morning correspondent Susan Spencer about the importance of the show in musical theater history.

Paulus said, "What was so radical about 'Hair' is, it was reflecting exactly what was happening in real time in the street, to the point that cast members in the show would get draft notices delivered to the stage door."

She says it was a "dream come true" when she directed the 2009 Broadway revival of Hair.

"I wanted people who understood what it meant to be alive in '68 as a young person," she said. "And of course, I should say we were always looking for actors with extraordinary hair!"

Watch the full segment below!

As previously reported, "Hair Live!" will be broadcast on NBC in the spring of 2019 in front of a live audience.

Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, who have executive produced each of NBC's live musicals since "The Sound of Music" revived this innovative programming genre, will executive produce the telecast.

Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical is a rock musical with a book and lyrics by Gerome Ragni and James Rado and music by Galt MacDermot. A product of the hippie counterculture and sexual revolution of the late 1960s, several of its songs became anthems of the anti-Vietnam War peace movement. The musical's profanity, its depiction of the use of illegal drugs, its treatment of sexuality, its irreverence for the American flag, and its nude scene caused much comment and controversy. The musical broke new ground in musical theatre by defining the genre of "rock musical", using a racially integrated cast, and inviting the audience onstage for a "Be-In" finale.



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