My Replies are within your message:
On Oct 25, 2006, at 5:12 PM, The Hair Archives wrote:
——– Original Message ——–
Subject:Â Â Â How far can they stray from the work?
Date:Â Â Â Wed, 25 Oct 2006 18:52:50 -0400
From:
Dear Mr. Butler
I’m wondering if you saw the production at NYU?
No I did not see the production.
How far are you allowing productions to ‘stray’ from the original content… as in structural damage to characters because the songs assigned to them were given to other characters. Wolf’s song was given to another character…a woman. Frank Mills was sung by a man and the character who is ‘supposed’ to sing it never got to. Hud was a woman..they removed a strong Male character and his words and dialogue given to a woman, the original had strong men and women (I believe the same woman sang Abie Baby” We lost the strength of the African American man. by having one woman speaking for both.
I have no control over what the licensees do with the productions. This can only be done by the right holders (Rado, MacDermot, Ragni Estate). In fact, in the LA area, several requests for productions following the original book have been requested and turned down.
Characters were not being able to be understood as they sang, and a design concept that did not follow the words that were being spoken.
So I have heard.
At the post discussion session held a day after the play closed the Director kept saying he didn’t relate to the music so he had it changed to a type of music that he could relate to… what about the authors intent? New orchestrations made the second act sound as if it were written by Phillip Glass…
If the Director did not relate to the music , why would he relate to the book?I am surprized that Galt approved such. I am a great fan of Philip Glass. But with HAIR no way. Wonder if Galt was consulted. I would think that he and Jim Rado would not want such changes.
My question is, I suppose, do directors now get to decide to do…whatever the hell they want to the work in any way regardless of the published work or intent of the writers. Evidently the only way to keep control of what someone has written and the way someone presents it is to never die.
Many problems have arisen over adhering to the original work. I believe in staying with what made HAIR so beloved by the Baby Boomers. Changes are cheating them from memories that are presently so important to them. Also the young do so equate with the book in its original form.
Did you know they were doing all of this to a production that you produced originally…or because it was NYU did no body care, or was everyone so needful of cash that they didn’t care as long as they got the royalties?
No, I did not know about NYU. I did see the Navesink Tribe production in Red Bank, NJ put on by the Phoenix Company – it was great, and very respectful of original.
I’d love to hear your answer…
Well, now you have it. If I do another come and see it. I promise you will be happy.
MB
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