Public Theater Plans Hair Anniversary Concerts in Central Park

The Public Theater will celebrate the 40th anniversary of Hair with three free concerts of the musical at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park on September 22, 23 and 24 at 7:00 p.m. Directed by Diane Paulus The Donkey Show, the concerts will feature 26 actors and singers joined onstage by past Hair alumni. Composer Galt MacDermot will play keyboards with a full orchestra alongside his son Vincent, who will play the trombone. Complete casting for this "Joe's Pub in the Park" event will be announced shortly.

Hair ranks as the first off-Broadway musical to transfer to Broadway and officially opened the Public's longtime home on Lafayette Street on October 17, 1967. After a six-week downtown run, it opened on Broadway on April 29, 1968, and ran for 1,873 performances. The show features book and lyrics by James Rado and Gerome Ragni and music by MacDermot.

The year is 1967, and the Vietnam War is at its height. In New York City, a tribe of hippies rails against the establishment, protesting intolerance, brutality and the dehumanization of society. When Claude, one of their own, gets drafted, he must make a decision about what values are worth fighting for.

"Hair is a remarkable artistic work and a stunning societal document, capturing the counter-culture in all its beauty, utopianism, narcissism, idealism and failure," Public Theater Artistic Director Oskar Eustis said in a statement. "It was a landmark in the American theater and a pivotal moment in the Public's history. We're thrilled to bring it to Central Park."

The design team will include set designer Scott Pask, costume designer Michael McDonald, lighting designer Michael Chybowski, sound design by the team of Acme Sound Partners, choreographer Karole Armitage and music director Rob Fisher.