Day 74-2/1/10

Show: Hair
Date: 9/2/09

Cast: Paris Remillard* (Claude), Will Swenson (Berger), Caissie Levy (Sheila), Ryan Link* (Woof), Darius Nichols (Hud), Sasha Allen (Dionne), Kacie Sheik (Jeanie), Kaitlin Kiyan* (Crissy/Black Boys Trio), Andrew Kober (Father/Margaret Mead), Megan Lawrence (Mother), Matt DeAngelis* (Hubert/Principal/Tribe), Jackie Burns (Black Boys Trio/Tribe), Chasten Harmon* (Tribe), Hannah Shankman* (Black Boys Trio/Tribe), Nicole Lewis (White Boys Trio/Tribe), Krystal Joy Brown (White Boys Trio/Tribe), Ato Blankson-Wood (Tribe), Steel Burkhardt (What a Piece Solo*/Tribe), Allison Guinn (Tribe), Michael James Scott* (Tribe), John Moauro (Tribe), Brandon Pearson (Tribe), Jay A. Johnson* (Tribe), Maya Sharpe (Tribe), Tommar Wilson (Tribe)
Type: Audio

I'm really loving Paris's Claude. His speaking voice is really really nice. Also Ryan's Woof was great. There wasn't anything super special he seemed to do, and he has a normal voice but he made it all work really nicely. I know that Katie's Crissy isn't that popular because Frank Mills just doesn't sound right for her voice, but I thought it was really pretty. At some parts it was a little weaker and you could hear the strain, but a lot sounded pretty, like a lullaby.
Also I kind of wonder who said "Tonto say white man die" because someone told me that Jay once did it kind of like a robot, and it sounded a little robotic here.

Day 40-12/29/09

Show: Hair
Date: 8/16/09
Type: Live
Cast:
Jay as Claude
Katie as Crissy
Allison G as Mother/Buddahdalirama
Hannah in Katie's Track
Briana in Allison G's track
Michael in Brandon's track
Why: Well, I'm afraid I didn't actually get the chance for a show, but I do have a review to share. It's not like I didn't see it.


Okay, here goes for my review:
DISCLAIMER: This is my first time seeing the show officially. Before this I'd seen clips and performances on TV. So I apologize if I'm not 100% accurate, I sort of just drew a lot of conclusions based on everything I've seen/heard/read before this(I also think I go out of order in some places)

If I'm right (and I think I am) this weekend was the 40th anniversary of woodstock, so a really cool time to see the show. My mom got tickets that morning from the half-priced box office. She said the guy practically laughed at her when she asked if there were any orchestra seats. But we ended of with aisle seats in the mezz.
I knew Jay would be on as Claude, but I was really excited to see on the board about Kaitlin and Allison.
My mom said it looked like a full house. By the way, I have to say that it's really cool how different the theaters I've been in this summer are. I'm not sure if it's always the same, but there was so much love in the audience, lots of applause when the the show began and when Sasha walked out.
Aquarius was great. Sasha was stellar as usual. I took a second to notice Kaitlin's Crissy in the beginning. While Allison's is very smiley and (I'm stealing someone else's word here) perky--like people have said she is--I thought Kaitlin seemed more spirited with more varied expressions.
I know the basic's of Will's speech, and I thought I knew how it would go until the improv bits. But (to be honest) I was lucky and people were late.
"Hello, late people"
Will gave them a hard time for missing Aquarius (as they deserved);
"You just missed a great song. She sang the shit out of it."
there was tons of applause after that. I'm assuming that one of the late was pregnant, because he continued with
"Why were you late? Were you smoking? Nah, you can't smoke, you're pregnant. Is he the one who got you pregnant?.....I love having sex with pregnant people because you won't get them pregnant..."
I believe the two names he had this show were I-always-arrive-to-shows-on-time-Berger and I-don't-get-other-people-pregnant-Berger.
Will didn't get any money, but he got a hug.
Donna was good, not really anything to say. Except, I enjoyed watching everyone in the background. Especially Kaitlin and Jackie (I totally understand why people talk about her so highly, she's really entertaining)
When Bryce was introducing himself "I'm Neil..." some of the audience responded "Hi Neil" which reminded me of an AA meeting. (not that I've been)
Sodomy and Colored Spade were both good.
Jay's "accent" was so different than Gavin's. As it was pointed out, Gavin's is a little better because of Mary Poppins. It honestly didn't bother me much, because it's supposed to be a little fake. Although the accent was very different, his energy was basically the same (really fun.) Also Manchester, England was quite different. Sophie said that he did it in an american accent, I didn't really know that's what it was because I hadn't really heard his voice normally.
I'm Black/Ain't Got No was great.
I'm just going to say this part now so I don't have to try to bring it up again:
Jay's voice seemed quite different from Gavin's, but he sounded great anyway. And from where I was sitting he looked pretty comfortable.
Caissie was great in I Believe in Love, her voice is really strong.
Ain't Got No Grass was really fun. Usually when I'm at performances or concerts I don't like clapping along because I think it's annoying and disruptive, but the cast sets the mood so well.
Kacie was great in Air, I think she's really talented. I also really liked Kaitlin and Sasha in it. I like the scene after it a lot.
The scene with the parents is so good, Jay was great. and Andrew and Allison were both quite funny.
I thought Jay was excellent in I Got Life.
One question, During the "I'm gonna spread it around the world..." part, does Will always say "I love it when he spreads it!" ?
I've always loved Hair (the song.) it was the first song I recognized on the CD from when I was like....4. And I've always loved the performances of it that I've seen on T.V. Anyway, it was really great. One thing is, Jay and Will's chemistry is so different than Gavin and Will's. Like Sophie said, it seemed more like a cousin-ly or brother-ly relationship.
So I knew that they go out into the audience during Hair, but I didn't know precisely what they do with the audience members. But Briana was making her way up my aisle and touching people's heads and hair as moved. Then she got to me, and saw my really long hair and looked excited and started touching and playing with it. I shook my hair a little for her.
I love how well Andrew switches from the Dad to Margaret. He was great and really funny. And good in My Conviction. His "aaaaa..." was really good and he had to wait while there was applause to finish.
But, before he started I love how Kaitlin stood and announces "She's gonna sing" and she said it so simply and looked quite upset/disappointed after being shooed away.
I liked Going Down, but I wasn't so crazy about Josh's principal.
Absolutely loved Caissie's Easy to Be Hard. But I totally wasn't surprised.
I know Sophie said she didn't like Frank Mills, but I thought it was good. The this is that it was SO different than the Allison's. I'm not exactly sure what it was but the pitch and speed (or tempo, I'm not sure) seemed different.
Hare Krishna was good, I really love the dresses in this scene. So pretty!
Jay's Where Do I Go was really good, I saw the At This Performance clip which was good. I think it was even better.
Another thing I liked about Jay was that he looks more the right age for the character
Electric Blues was also really fun. I learned in the beginning of the show that it was really fortunate that I was in an aisle seat. Because I'm pretty tall and I couldn't fit my legs straight in front of me (I had to be slightly turned towards the aisle so my legs could have room) anyway, Anthony was coming down my aisle, goofing around with people (He took someone's hat and put it on someone else) when he got to me he grabbed/tickled my foot.
Oh Great God of Power was good, I love how well they use the flashlights
Kacie and Bryce are both so great in the scene where Jay gives his stuff out. I love how Kacie's so happy when he gives her the tambourine, despite him being mean to her before. And then how she tells him he's still a good person. And Bryce with the poster's just hilaropus
Loved Black Boys/White Boys. All the girls were great.
Another question:
Who's usually the third in Black Boys other than Jackie and Megan?
Walking in Space was so great, all the vocals were excellent and the lights were so cool.
I didn't know Saycon was leaving, but she was excellent as Abe.
I loved Allison's Buddahdalirama. She reminded me a little of one of those creepy bobble heads, but in a good way.
3500 was also awesome as well.
I really wish I had known about Saycon leaving, because I would have payed more attention during Good Morning Starshine. I really like Flesh Failures, it was so emotional and everyone was great.
I decided to dance onstage at the end, because I'm never going to see it again. It'd be a once in a life time opportunity.

I also waited at the stagedoor for awhile and met some of the cast. Jay said that it was his 18th show or something. I thought he was really great for his 18th.

Day 34-12/23/09

Show: Hair
Date: 10/17/09
Cast: Krystal Joy Brown as Dionne
Type: Audio

Krystal was a great Dionne, sweeter voice than Sasha. The whole show was awesome, and everything I could say would be reiterating last time and the time before. Black Boys was fierce, 3500 was crazy good, Let the Sun Shine In was emotional as hell. I slept from the middle of Walking in Space until Roll Call. So I missed Abie Baby so I don't know how Krystal's understudy did.
This was my first time hearing Vanessa Ray as Crissy and it was awesome, she sounds so sweet and out of all the Crissy's I've heard she has the most power. What I mean is she sings strongest even on the high notes she doesn't go weak.
Hmm. I think I'm done.

Day 16-12/5/09

Show: Hair
Date: 9/4/09
Type: Audio
Cast:
Dionne ... ... ... ... Sasha Allen
Berger ... ... ... ... Will Swenson
Woof ... ... ... ... Paris Remillard*
Hud ... ... ... ... Darius Nichols
Claude ... ... ... ... Gavin Creel
Sheila ... ... ... ... Caissie Levy
Jeanie ... ... ... ... Kacie Sheik
Crissy ... ... ... ... Katie Kiyan*
Mother/Buddhadalirama ... Megan Lawrence
Dad/Meade ... ... ... Andrew Kober
Hubert/Booth .. ... ... Josh Lamon
Abe Lincoln ... ... ... Krystal Joy Brown
TRIBE:
Ato Blankdon-Wood, Krystal Joy Brown, Steel Burkhardt, Jackie Burns,
Matt DeAngelis*, Briana Carlson-Goodman*, Allison Guinn, Andrew Kober,
Josh Lamon, Megan Lawrence, Nicole Lewis, John Moauro, Brandon Pearson,
Megan Reinking, Michael James Scott*, Hannah Shankman*, Maya Sharpe,
Tommar Wilson

Everyone seemed really on. And the understudies were great too. Paris sounded really good in Sodomy, he held some notes beautifully and it was great. I feel the same way about Katie's Frank Mills as I did last time. One thing I found really cool was that this was recorded in the front row, which you can tell whenever someone's standing near it sounds like they're talking directly to you. I don't remember thinking a lot of things special about this one. Typical awesome Hair.

Day 2-11/21/09

Show: Hair
Date: 9/27/09
Type: Audio
Cast: Sasha Allen (Dionne), Will Swenson (Berger), Jackie Burns (Sheila), Gavin Creel (Claude), Kaitlin Kiyan (Crissy), Megan Reinking (Jeanie), Rachel Bay Jones (Mom/Buddhalirama), Andrew Kober (Dad/Margaret Mead/Lancaster), Darius Nichols (Hud), Bryce Ryness (Woof), Josh Lamon (Hubert/John Wilkes Booth), ATO BLANKSON-WOOD, KRYSTAL JOY BROWN, STEEL BURKHARDT, HEATH CALVERT (in Anthony Hollock's track)*, BRIANA CARLSON-GOODMAN (in Megan Reinking's track)*, LAUREN ELDER (sings Jackie Burns' part in Black Boys), CHASTEN HARMON (in Jackie Burns' track)*, JAY ARMSTRONG JOHNSON (in Allison Guinn's track)*, NICOLE LEWIS, JOHN MOAURO, BRANDON PEARSON, PARIS REMILLARD, MICHAEL JAMES SCOTT (in Maya Sharpe's track)*, HANNAH SHANKMAN (in Katie Kiyan's track), TOMMAR WILSON.

This is just an audio, so I can only judge by my ears.
Sasha started the show incredibly fierce, as always. I feel like Will's opening scene was only about 85%. He seemed a little more energetic in Donna, but there was a note that he kind of missed. One of the big notes, he just didn't reach it. I don't get Hashish, how exactly does it do anything for the plot? But really how does anything do anything for anything in this show. Sodomy sounded kind of high, and at the last note Bryce sounded like he was about to crack and instead hit this super high note. When he started talking he coughed a lot. The track is titled "Woof gets a hairball" and then he started off talking a little quieter. Maybe something just went down the wrong pipe. I find it kind of odd that people say "Hi Neil" I don't know why, maybe it's just too much. Darius is a rockstar, Colored Spade was a nice dose of familiarity of the CD. Gavin's accent was really funny, sometimes it was obviously fake other times it was a little more legit sounding. Manchester England is a fav song of mine just because of the funness of it, Gavin played it real nice. Something really sounded a little off with Bryce in Ain't Got No, his voice was a little less powerful and higher.
So we all know how I raved about Jackie so much yesterday. The first thing my ears noticed in I Believe in Love is that her voice is her voice sounds higher than Caissie's. It also seemed slightly less strong, but the pitch was quite gorgeous. And the pledge part sounded really pretty, like you could definitely see her singing the Anthem somewhere.
My other rave, Kacie was out this time. Megan first off sounded pretty good. This was her first time, so that must be pretty nervwracking. She didn't put on a voice the way that Kacie does, making it much more of a comparable sound. Not saying she didn't sound great. She also sounded like she was loosing breath every now and then. But really, she was good. Her scene after Air was a little less overjoyed than Kacie, also seemed a little more sensible. She doesn't exactly know what's going on, but she's a little less off than Kacie's Jeanie.
The new mom wasn't exactly a fave. I feel like she didn't quite know what the character she would go for was. The pity was she brought down Kober in this scene.
When Gavin began singing there was something wonderfully familiar. He sounded quite nice, and was definitely pretty riff-y. He sounds like he gets a little out of breath during the jumping, I guess that could be expected. I love Going Down/Expulsion but I did prefer Theo's Prinicipal.
Kober is love of course. He pulls off a drag voice very well.
I love how Hair has a ton of amazing energy, even in an audio. It makes me want to dance even though I want sleep really bad.
When Jackie's Sheila is telling the story of D.C. she has the same emotion as Caissie, simply with a different voice. I do feel like there is a younger touch to her voice and more sensitivity when fighting with Berger. Berger was atrociously jackassy.
Like I said, Jackie uses the emotion very well but she does hit the big notes a little fainter than Caissie does. I absolutely love her voice in some parts, sounds really sensitive. One thing I also noticed was sometimes it sounded like there were a little parts being rushed ever so slightly.
Megan's "This is the way it is...." monologue is fine, but it doesn't seem to have the same personality as Kacie's. Megan seemed a little more exasperated/disappointed than Kacie.
Also Megan's "Are you going to come to the be-in like a human being?" line didn't make as much of an impression as Kacie's. When Kacie says it in a way that stands out and kind of makes you laugh, while Megan sort of just said it.
I find the idea of Katie as Crissy maybe a little better than the thing itself. First off, she's one of the youngest tribe members and she's pretty good at acting as Crissy. But it sounded like Frank Mills was too high for her so she sang it lower or something. That being said, her voice is amazing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuRySC4tCPs
Gavin's Where Do I Go was so wonderful, but sometimes it sounds a little choppy like he doesn't have a lot of breath.
Black Boys was entirely understudies, and it pretty fierce. It was Lauren, Briana, and Hannah. Briana sounded great with the "clearly crazy..." part.
Hannah sounded amazing with Katie's line in Walking in Space. As did Megan with Kacie's.
Walking in Space altogether sounded truly wonderful.
Jackie/Sheila/Washington was good, sounded a little bit like Caissie, but good.
I liked Hannah's "Little Beaver say white man drop dead." but I liked Katie's more.
Nicole's Aretha is so amazing, almost sounds like the real thing.
Last time I saw Saycon as Abe, but now its after Krystal replaced her. I think Krystal sounds a lot like Saycon did, I mean really good. But kind of similar.
Not a fan of Rachel's BUDDHADALIRAMA I thought it just sounded pretty weird.
Megan and Jackie both sounded great in their 3500 lines. We all know I love this song, and it sounded great.
Can't say I was so crazy for What a Piece of Work Is Man. I didn't like the way it sounded with too guys, and Michael James Scott singing Maya's part was a little weird.
Jackie's Good Morning Starshine was really beautiful, except at times I wished it was just a little stronger.
Aquarius/Ain'tGot No/Yip Up The Sun is absolutely heartbreaking. Which makes Flesh Failures/Let the Sun Shine In BEYOND heartbreaking. Gavin sounded great and some of his long notes were beyond perfection. Jackie also sounded wonderful, fraught with emotion. The whole cast sounded wonderfully emotional.

That was fun, see you tomorrow!