"Hair' grabs gold ring

Scoop Slone, Casey Gensler and Ephie Aardema are co-stars in ReVision Theatre Company's production of "Hair," being staged at the carousel house in Asbury Park.
(Dennis Carroll)

August 19, 2008

by TOM CHESEK, Asbury Park Press

What a piece of work is "Hair: the American Tribal Love-Rock Musical" that caught Broadway with its pants down more than 40 years ago.

Welded to its Summer of Love origins, devoid of all but the barest-bones plot points, populated by the sketchiest of characters, the 1967 show created by James Rado and Gerome Ragni might have been little more than a vanity project for its writer-stars if it weren't for one crucial distinction — those songs.

Working with composer Galt MacDermot, the authors crafted a set of generational anthems, emotional ballads and satiric sing-alongs that stand very well on their own, even as they shoulder the entire weight of moving the show along. All this, without owing a thing to the conventions of Tin Pan Alley's Golden Age.

Along the way to revolutionizing the whole musical template as practiced in postwar America, "Hair" managed to shed a number of Broadway bugaboos — against sex and drug references, interracial romancing and liberal dropping of the f-bomb, to name but a few. Most of all, it's famous for the shedding of clothing, which the cast does during the "Be-In" sequence that forms the climax to the first act.

ReVision Theatre Company, the new professional troupe based in Asbury Park, has selected this unorthodox show as its first extended-engagement production — and they've opted to do it in an unorthodox venue, the Carousel building that adjoins the old Casino at the south end of the boardwalk.

Unless you're a recovering 1990s skate punk, you probably haven't been inside that historic roundhouse for many years; not since the hand-painted ponies of the old wooden ride stampeded out of state. Boardwalk developer Madison Marquette has done a tremendous job getting the unique structure up to speed as a live performance venue, a purpose it was never designed for.

Director Andy Goldberg (whose 1970s-retro tribute to the Aussie pop group Boney M was a smash on European stages) and the ReVision team have also worked hard in orienting this show to its unusual space, keeping the cast of 17 actors mostly above the audience on a central riser, side platforms and scaffolds.

As Claude, the conflicted "Tribe" member whose drafting into the Vietnam-era army forms the crux of the drama here, Casey Gensler shares the spotlight with Scoop Slone, who displays some solid rock-star cred as the Puckish, self-centered Tribesman Berger. If anything, however, "Hair" is an unusually democratic show in which pretty much everyone gets their turn to shine — with stand-out moments delivered by Kyle Taylor Parker ("Colored Spade"), Julia Arazi ("Air"), Mike Russo ("Don't Put It Down") and Ephie Aardema ("Easy To Be Hard").

Special kudos should go out to lighting designer George Hansel, who's met the considerable challenges of rigging and illuminating this oddball space with an effort that pays off in full during the extended "trip" and hallucination sequences of the second act.

Former Carousel House Now a Home for ‘Hair’ - New York Times

By GWEN OREL
Published: August 9, 2008



ASBURY PARK - THE Carousel House has been empty for years, but from Aug. 15 to 31, it will be filled with the sounds and sights of the Age of Aquarius. The recently restored building is the setting for “Hair,” the first fully staged production by the nonprofit ReVision Theater here.



ReVision’s founders, Tom Morrissey, David E. Leidholdt and Stephen Bishop Seely, came to know one another through the Genesius Theater Guild, based in Manhattan and started in 1995 by Mr. Morrissey, 52. ReVision became the new incarnation of Genesius this year. The three men, who share a house as well as the title of producing artistic director, moved to Asbury Park this spring.
They wanted to start a regional theater that could incubate work for Broadway, like the Barrington Stage Company in Massachusetts, where Mr. Leidholdt, 43, had worked as an associate producer. “We opened atlases, picking out cities,” said Mr. Seely, 35.



They sought a town that was developing, diverse and gay-friendly. Mr. Morrissey added: “All the other towns we looked at didn’t need us. We want to make an impact.”



The performance of “Hair” will be in the round; seats will be on risers and on floor cushions, with the cast performing on a platform and on three scaffolding towers. The director is Andy Goldberg, of “Bomb-itty of Errors,” the hip-hop Shakespearean play.



Built as part of the Casino entertainment complex on the Boardwalk, the Carousel House, which dates to 1929, had a carousel in place from about 1932 to 1990, according to Helen Chantal Pike, a historian and author of “Asbury Park’s Glory Days” (Rutgers University Press, 2005). Later occupants included a skateboard park and flea market.



According to Courtney Johnson, marketing director for the real estate company Madison Marquette, one of the owners of the Carousel House, it has been given a new roof and cupola, replacement glass and iron gates. Other performances and art exhibits will take place there in the future, she said.



ReVision’s plans include smaller shows during the year, a holiday show and summer musicals in a variety of places, with both new works and reimagined classics expected.



ReVision has a group, ReScript, that reads submitted plays and is run by Lou Liberatore, another Asbury Park resident. Mr. Liberatore also runs the Jersey Shore Writer’s Studio and was nominated for a Tony Award in 1988 for his featured role in Lanford Wilson’s “Burn This.”
ReVision’s three producers have other jobs: Mr. Leidholdt teaches at a summer theater camp in Manasquan and will be a producer for American Family Theater in Philadelphia in the fall. Mr. Morrissey teaches musical theater at Wagner College in Staten Island and at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York. Mr. Seely tends bar in Asbury Park.



At a pool party fund-raiser for ReVision, George Hansel, the lighting designer for “Hair,” said he was happy to see the group in the city. A resident for 25 years — “I’m a townie,” he said — he runs a local performing arts company called the Black Box Theater. Noting that a lot of “carpetbagger” types have come through Asbury Park, he said, “ReVision fills a niche of quality.”
Besides, he added: “They pay everybody, which is rare.”



“Hair” runs from Aug. 15 to 31 at the Carousel House on the Boardwalk in Asbury Park, 700 Ocean Avenue at Asbury Avenue. Information: (732) 455-3059 or http://www.revisiontheatre.org/.








LET THE SUN SHINE IN Cast members of “Hair,” from left: Martin Gould Cummings, Julia Arazi, Mike Russo, Marah Meese and Spiro Galiatsatos. (David Hunsinger for The New York Times)