Hair National Tour Review- Tampa, May 24th

[florida theatre kid]

Posted: 5/25/11 at 1:13pm

After having seen just about everything to come through Tampa over the past 10 years, I can truly say this is one of the best, if not the best, national tour I have seen. I saw the revival on Broadway in October 2009, and it was an amazing experience, and I wasn't sure if the national tour could live up to that, and it did. The energy from the cast was amazing, utilizing the entire 2,500 seat Carol Morsani Hall. I saw them going all the way up into the rear of the balcony. Kudos to Diane Paulus yet again for fabulous direction.

The cast is uniformly strong. Nicholas Belton as an understudy for Berger had the audience in the palm of his hand from the beginning, and gave an amazing performance. You could tell he was having a blast and there was lots of laughing among the cast, assuming because he does not get to go on very often. The original Broadway cast members, Paris Remillard, Kacie Sheik, Katie Kiyan, Allison Guinn, Josh Lamon, Darius Nichols, and Matt DeAngelis (although he is not OBC), are still giving amazing performances after nearly 3 years in the show, especially Ms. Sheik, who is absolutely hilarious and even funnier than I remember her being in New York.

The ensemble, like I said earlier, brought an amazing energy, with stand-outs being Sara Ruzicka and Marshal Kennedy Carolan, both of whom you cannot take your eyes off the entire show. The audience ate it up, which made me incredibly happy, and the whole place was dancing on their feet during the "Let the Sun Shine In" finale. I cannot say enough good things about this tour. Run to see them if they come to your city, or in New York this summer!

[californiasnow]

Posted: 5/25/11 at 1:21pm

I saw the tour's last performance in Atlanta on Sunday, and I think your review is spot on. My favorite by far was Paris Remillard, who was clearly the emotional center of the whole performance. The only cast member I didn't love was Caren Tackett (Sheila). Her voice, at least at the performance I saw, wasn't up to the rest of the cast. The dance party at the end was great fun, and had me coming out of the theater on a high note. A really wonderful production.

[florida theatre kid]

Posted: 5/25/11 at 1:28pm

I agree with you about Caren (forgot to mention that in my original review). She had the characterization down; her "yellow-shirt" scene was heartbreaking. But yes, I agree that her voice was the weakest of the leads. I too, loved Paris as Claude.

[broadwayjim42]

Posted: 5/25/11 at 1:59pm

Saw the show in Schenectady NY a few weeks back and felt the exact same way about Caren...by far the weakest link...apparently she's not improving as the tour progresses. Brace yourself for the NYC critics is they re-review the show, my dear.

I thought Josh Lamon was hysterical in his character bits (Andrew Kober's on Broadway) but supremely annoying as a member of the tribe. But then again, I thought the same thing on Broadway. There's intensity and then there's simply looking crazed and attention-hoggy.

[DefyGravity777]

Posted: 5/25/11 at 6:31pm

Caren by far is the weakest link of the show. Too old,terrible actress and terrible voice. Anyone who gets to see either of her understudies is lucky.

[purple1793]

Posted: 5/25/11 at 7:04pm

I completely agree with everyone on Caren. I saw the tour when it was in Tempe and I loved everything about it except for Caren. Her rendition of "Easy to be Hard" was awful and when I went on stage for the dance party I saw her and she looked much older than Sheila is supposed to be.

[mee.who]

Posted: 5/25/11 at 7:34pm

It makes me a little crazy that there are always complaints about Caren's age (google claims she's 33) when they had Will Swenson playing a high schooler for years. I loved Will in the show, and Caren's singing is hit or miss with me (I have no problem with her acting) but the age thing is definitely nothing new for this show.

[lovepuppy]

Posted: 5/25/11 at 11:57pm

In fairness to Caren, I saw the touring cast twice in Chicago 2 months ago, and they were all incredible, so it might just be wear-and-tear from the tour. Cut the girl some slack, she might need a few nights off.

(Where was Steel on the tour in Tampa, as his understudy was noted in the original post? Taking a night off, obviously. Is he sick? He's fantastic. I never saw the revival, but I've seen clips of Will. They're both hot, and talented, charismatic actors, sure. IMHO, Steel has a less musical-theatre-y, more manly, mischievous way about him, and voice and personality than Will, better befitting a "Berger.")

But I digress. Caren does have talent, but did look a little "off" compared to the rest of the leads, ever-so-slightly. But I also think it's because of what also was implied elsewhere in this thread: This cast is full of scene-stealers, and it works, most of the time. So maybe in comparison, that's why she's getting criticism. She was in fine voice, acting and energy on both nights I saw the show, here.

As for the "age" thing, I also read an interview with Steel, dated from about a year ago, in which he was asked about the issue. He said since the characters are obviously in their early to mid-20s, he at first wondered if it was passable that he was singing a song about being expelled from high school. Then he relayed a story about how he was on the subway and overheard some girls talking about a 25-year-old in their school who had been held back and back and back, and was finally kicked out, so he realized it could be played exactly that way. It happens. It's not the first time older actors have played young folks: think "Rent," "Grease," or even the old "Fame" TV series, "Glee," and countless others.

In any case, I can't wait to see it again in NY this summer!

Updated On: 5/26/11 at 11:57 PM

[florida theatre kid]

Posted: 5/26/11 at 12:04am

With Caren, it may be a personal taste. She definitely has a very unique, raspier voice than Caissie Levy, who I am so used to hearing on the cast recording. A review in one of the Tampa papers said Caren had the best voice in the cast. Like I said, may be a personal taste.

I am not sure if Steel is on vacation or sick this week. However, like I said in my original review, Nick Belton was amazing as Berger! I also mentioned Sara Ruzicka being a stand-out in the ensemble: I would absolutely love to see her go on as Shelia. I will always remember the haunting image of her stomping during "Three-Five-Zero-Zero". I would also like to see Marshal Kennedy Carolan (another stand-out, whose "What a Piece..." is beautiful) go on as Claude.
Updated On: 5/26/11 at 12:04 AM

[lovepuppy]

Posted: 5/26/11 at 12:15am

True, Caren really was one of the only women allowed to really belt it out. When her instrument is good, she's very very good. I don't live in Tampa, but I'd guess she's tired. Kacie's "Air" intentionally sounds cartoonish to sound like helium, and she's in the "Buddha" number in a small group in the hallucination, and that's cartoon-voice as well. I've seen clips of her in fundraisers with the cast, doing modern numbers, and she has a beautiful voice she's not allowed to use in this show, except for ensemble numbers. Whoever is playing Chrissy lately was good in Chicago, too--beautiful "Frank Mills." Other than these and the wonderful Phyre Hawkins, the rest of the noteworthy numbers are sung by men (and Josh, solo-ing while playing a woman, that is. :) ).

She definitely sounds different than Caissie on the OBC recording, but...so what? Speaking of whom, what is Caissie Levy up to, these days?

Updated On: 5/26/11 at 12:15 AM

[purple1793]

Posted: 5/26/11 at 12:36am

I don't have a huge problem with how old she is but on stage she appeared a little too old for the part in my opinion. I know that Will was to old to play Berger but to me his charisma and stage presence while playing the part more than made up for the age problem.

I really love Caissie Levy's voice so it was a bit of a shock for me to hear Caren sing it the way she did because I was so used to listening to the cast recording. I wanted to like Caren's Sheila but I just didn't.

Updated On: 5/26/11 at 12:36 AM

[purple1793]

Posted: 5/26/11 at 12:39am

lovepuppy- I saw her in early December so maybe she has gotten better since then.

Caissie Levy is in Ghost the Musical in London right now playing Demi Moore's character from the movie.
Updated On: 5/26/11 at 12:39 AM

[lovepuppy]

Posted: 5/26/11 at 1:37am

Shut the front door--"Ghost" has been turned into a musical? I had no idea.

(Does it...suck? Forgive me; I'm a purist and grew up on movies like that--when they were new. But if Caissie's attached to it, they must be serious. Wonder if it will come to the states. Good for her! Then again, wonder who's playing Whoopi's part...)

[(8) :D]

Posted: 5/26/11 at 2:32am

Ghost has been trying out in Manchester and getting some really good reviews! Check out the London page on here and you can see some photos! The set looks stunning.

[Steve2]

Posted: 5/26/11 at 6:19am

Thanks for the reviews. I will be seeing in Orlando next month!

[mee.who]

Posted: 5/26/11 at 6:21am

lovepuppy - That story about the subway was Will Swenson's, not Steel's. And I do think handwaving the age does work better with a mess like Berger than it does with someone who supposedly has their act together like Sheila.

I think the age complaints with Caren mostly still get a reaction from me cause the complaints have been happening since she played the role in the park WITH Swenson who, assuming my quick google search on Caren's age is correct, is several years older than her. (And okay, yeah, they did look a little like some creepy older couple out to seduce young Jonathan Groff at that point, but still.)
Updated On: 5/26/11 at 06:21 AM

[broadwayjim42]

Posted: 5/26/11 at 7:34am

My issues with Caren have nothing to do with age, only with voice. She lost me with "Easy To Be Hard," which she rushed through. Maybe it's a different take on the song, but it's such an emotional song and she did nothing with it.

[lovepuppy]

Posted: 5/26/11 at 4:58pm

Thanks for the "Ghost" info, um..."8!" I'll check it out.

Thanks also to whoever clarified that the interview was Will's. I knew it was one of them. :) And considering he's close to 40 and divorced with kids and dating also 40-something-divorced-with-kid Audra McDonald, Will is not nearly the age of a 20-something, the typical character in "Hair."

"Handwaving the age?" I don't know how to visualize that, but I get what you mean, comparing Berger to Sheila. That said, a) the "age" thing in theatre, tv or film is not unprecedented and b) there is no specific designation that I've found in terms of specific ages of the characters. Berger's in high school at 25 but there's no indication that the tribe came up through HS together, just that they're friends in their hippie community *now*. Sheila's "at NYU and she's a protester." Could she be at NYU as a grad student and therefore, closer to 30? Not specified. Who's to say there weren't 30-something protesters back then? I'm sure there were. Just because much of the '70s protesting happened on college campuses doesn't discount the rest of the population coming out and being activists, too (much like nowadays, for that matter. Look at today's news...the protesters are often middle-aged, not even young, like they used to be. But that's for another thread.).

But for the purposes of characters dating, yeah, that's a funny visual you painted, with Will-Caren-Groff, though. :) Still, stranger things have happened in both Art and in Life.

[bwayfan7000]

Posted: 5/26/11 at 5:11pm

Sort of to just echo everyone else, this is one of the strongest touring companies I've ever seen. Paris is phenomenal. I think Belton is a matinee alternate (I saw him at a matinee and he was also great). Not a fan of Caren, either, but when I saw it in February and noted that on here, someone claimed she was "sick".