The work reflects the creators' observations of the hippie counterculture and sexual revolution of the late s, and 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. Hair tells the story of the "tribe", a group of politically active, long-haired hippies of the " Age of Aquarius " living a bohemian life in New York City and fighting against conscription into the Vietnam War. Claude, his good friend Berger, their roommate Sheila and their friends struggle to balance their young lives, loves, and the sexual revolution with their rebellion against the war and their conservative parents and society.
Ultimately, Claude must decide whether to resist the draft as his friends have done, or to succumb to the pressures of his parents and conservative America to serve in Vietnam, compromising his pacifist principles and risking his life. Since then, numerous productions have been staged around the world, spawning dozens of recordings of the musical, including the 3 million-selling original Broadway cast recording.
Some of the songs from its score became Top 10 hits, and a feature film adaptation was released in In , Time wrote, "Today Hair seems, if anything, more daring than ever.
Hair was conceived by actors James Rado and Gerome Ragni. The two met in when they performed together in the Off-Broadway flop Hang Down Your Head and Die , [4] and they began writing Hair together in late Their close relationship, including its volatility, was reflected in the musical. Rado explained, "We were great friends. It was a passionate kind of relationship that we directed into creativity, into writing, into creating this piece.
