[Mb-hair] Re: HAIR'S "moon oysters"

[Sibley Smith]

Hey, thanks for the responses, Little Birdie, Leo, and richard (yeah, I somehow managed to fight my way through your literary style! : )  

But it appears we really haven't come any closer to the discovery of just what these "moon oysters" were that HAIR's stage directions instructed the Tribe to carry onstage, along with candles, incense and wind chimes.  

I doubt seriously (given these stage directions) that they were talking about actual shellfish, so, ...

I think we need to find some old hippie who used to operate a head shop back in the sixties heyday of hippyness to find out what these gizmos were.

They must've been either a sound maker, like the windchimes (or as Leo suggested, castanets [I used spell check, Leo!] : ), or a visual-effect maker, like the candles (could the moon oysters have glowed like moonlight?)

Because I find it hard to imagine that oysters-on-the-half-shell on a platter would've been considered any kind of counter-cultural-lifestyle-suggestive prop.

Eh?

So, it's still a mystery.  The search continues.

Who knows what HAIR's Moon Oysters were/are?

--Tioga

=================================================

Date: Thu, 23 Dec 2004 
From: "richard haase" <hotprojects at nyc.rr.com>

youre right
but there are many variations
its not that cut and dried
there are even those like myself
who update their productions to the present time of the production eg mine
took place in 1980 in 1980
hair is engineered for each production to do a lot of improvisition
eg the bridge in the long version of aint got no
which in our version
there was a passage
" persian gulf carter high school sex "
which in the original must have referred to nixon or lbj
one today might have a passage about
" iran iraq george bush the second "
etc
certainly the script scripts have huge places
and traditions in performance of improvisation etc
lbj took the irt
changing into tricky dick took the irt
etc
when he got there what did he see?
lbj on lsd
etc
so you are right
but its not that codified
and there are a near infinite number of variations
( eg ive got a still other one for my next production of hair when it
happens etc )

===================================================

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Little Birdie" <lbirdie at hotmail.com>
Sent: Thursday, December 23, 2004 

> Yes, that is exactly how it appears in the Broadway script, and it's still
> there in the 1995 revisions. It is gone from the 2001 revisions and has
been
> replaced with a short dialogue sequence between Berger, Sheila and Woof
that
> makes it clear that Claude has been missing. It seems to me that someone
> asked Jim about this a while ago (maybe around the time of the original
> discussion. Maybe John Michael Cox?) but that he couldn't help...but
perhaps
> I am remembering this wrongly?
>
> Nina

=====================================================

> >From: "Leo" <peacefreak at metrocast.net>
> >Date: Thu, 23 Dec 2004 
> >
> >Joe, first of all, great to hear from you again brother. I believe I
> >brought
> >up the whole moon oyster scene waaaaaaaaaaay back when. Specifically in
the
> >script it comes right after ELECTRIC BLUES  and immediately before OH
GREAT
> >GOD OF POWER and it's written in the stage directions as follows. "The
> >TRIBE
> >comes from the rear of the house, singing the following lyrics in a soft,
> >musical chant. THEY carry candles, wind chimes, moon oysters, and incense
> >sticks.............................................." I thought perhaps
> >they
> >were like castinettes (sp?) but never got a firm answer even from old
> >freaks
> >I had contacted. But you're right bro, I remember you went off on some
> >creative, tangent that was amazing.
> >
> >PEACE,
> >Leo

=================================================

> >  Date: Thu, 23 Dec 2004 
> > > From: "[Tioga Joe]" <sjsmith at njvvmf.org>
> > > Subject: [Mb-hair] HAIR's "moon oysters"
> > >
> > > Yo, fellow HAIR-heads,
> > >
> > > Many moon ago (like around September of 1999), there was discussion on
> >the
> >Jabberwocky HAIR List regarding a reference to "moon oysters" in HAIR's
> >script.
> > >
> > > Well, I must've chimed in with something (no doubt, stuff off the
cuff),
> >because back in September of THIS year, 2004, a college student involved
in
> >a production of HAIR, sent me a query about the topic.  Unfortunately,
I'd
> >started on my walkabout at about that time, so I never noticed her e-mail
> >until earlier this week (late December 2004).
> >...................................... Please remind me (those of you in
> >the
> >know), what is the precise context of the mentioning of "moon oysters" in
> >HAIR?
> > >............................So, if you've got the script, will you
please
> >transcribe for me that portion where "moon oysters" are mentioned, so I
> >(we)
> >can consider the context?
> > >
> > > Thanks.
> > >
> > > "Look at the Moon!  Look at the Moon!"
> > >
> > > --Tioga

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