[Mb-hair] Long time, no write...plus -- THE RETURN OF THE HAIR MUSEUM (minus the stuff that made others antsy)

[Gibson Vendettuoli]

A lot's happened since I last wrote here. I'm glad I still see some old friends are on the list.
And of course, some new people I don't know who apparently have directed HAIR revivals before.

I'm still intrigued by the idea of a HAIR Museum...it could work, like the thing at Ellis Island
where all the immigrants were processed and they have a 'living history' thing. Anybody remember
the snit I caused over that? Well, it could still be a workable idea, just without publishing
anything (as I so unwelcomely and stupidly suggested). What follows is a reworked proposal that's
not (really) stolen from anybody...not that it has to be followed through, not telling anyone what
to do (hey, more power to you guys anyway, right? --- you were there long before I was).

-- PROPOSAL PROPOSAL PROPOSAL PROPOSAL PROPOSAL PROPOSAL PROPOSAL PROPOSAL PROPOSAL PROPOSAL --

Jim has a collection, the Archives are obviously where they are, somebody has all of Earl Scott's
stuff, the Lincoln Center Performing Arts library has some stuff, Tribe members have stuff they
can contribute, why don't we at least collect and give something a try? Hand it over to Jim, Galt,
Michael, John Cox (representing Ragni), and Tom (O'Horgan) to coordinate for the public. I should
think they'd be able to at least make decisions, but if they don't have time, that's okay; a
well-coordinated board of Tribe members could help.

All the scripts, the vocal scores Glenn Lucas turned up, etc., could be in the Writing Room, free
for people to look over and page through under the watchful eyes of a "Script Guardian" (Jim could
do this easily...LOL...just kidding). One thing that would soon at least be on display there (if I
ran things) would be the annotation of HAIR's script (with the line explanations/derivations,
relevant essays, and production support) that Nina and our Archival Tribe friends have been
working on, so people can see what HAIR really was and how to do it in different, interesting
ways.

The video and audio collections could be combined into an audio-visual section. In that case, with
the permission of UA, we'd have to include the 'film' in that section (it's just as much a part of
HAIR history as anything else). Photos would be included as part of the exhibits, too; Dagmar
could do quite a few good exhibits on this stuff. Maybe a guest lecturer post isn't too far off in
my proposal, I'm still developing this, but with the right people, it could really, really work.

There'd be a Master Cast List-specific room, with the huge list on the wall and the (hopefully by
then assembled) chronologies for lead roles in the major companies on bookshelves. At this point,
we'd also make the room very cast-specific by including the HAIR alumni contact list; hell, we
could work in a HAIR Alumni Association 'dinner hall' of sorts (Berger dances on the table twice a
night bi-quarterly at the HAIR Alumni Dinner...LOL), once Nina sorts that out.

Exhibits...those are important to talk about for a museum proposal. I'd say we could parlay the
Voices of the Tribe project into a long-running, very good exhibit, possibly as part of the
audio-visual section, since audio and visual are what it would mostly consist of, by all accounts.

Then, there's the question of money. Not all of us like to face it, but there it is. Besides
admission, what money could be made? I'm glad you asked (even if you didn't, just keep
reading)...a book/music/film store, centered on HAIR and the Sixties. It could sell Jonathon's
book, Lorrie's book, Ms. Horn's book (these two specially printed for the museum -- OOP is so
annoying), Scott Miller's book, maybe the vocal selections for HAIR, the cast recordings, the
film, all sorts of Sixties stuff, all available for purchase. Also, Dagmar once mentioned on her
website that she was assembling a portfolio of vintage HAIR photos; if she included all of them,
mass-produced portfolios of the photos could also be sold in the store. The store might also be a
part-cafe, with a place to stop for a bite. I know some of us can get ravenously hungry at times.

Just put it all in one place (preferably The House Where HAIR Was Built, on the floor where HAIR
was built, in the rooms where...you get the idea -- sure, it might take over the whole building,
but it would be worth visiting). The only issue would be making it public. An announcement to the
New York Times and a few other reputable newspapers (TIME, LIFE, etc.) could provide some
publicity and a good amount of coverage, not to mention interested visitors (think -- the Richard
Frankel tour starts this fall, it could all be prepared by then and be released to catch interest
at its highest, plus possibly sell tour merchandise, not to cash in, but to catch interest).

And it's not just HAIR; we've seen that the Archives has stuff to cover DUDE and RAINBOW (and when
Jim gets his new RAINBOW production, now known as BILLY EARTH, going, we can include stuff from
that, too). SUN is also a distinct possibility, and if anybody remembers what YMCA (Cox knows what
it is) and JACK SOUND AND HIS DOG STAR BLOWING HIS FINAL TRUMPET ON THE DAY OF DOOM were, we can
just as easily include those. All gathered in one place, showing the after-effects of the Sixties.

-- PROPOSAL PROPOSAL PROPOSAL PROPOSAL PROPOSAL PROPOSAL PROPOSAL PROPOSAL PROPOSAL PROPOSAL --

There, the proposal ends. If anyone likes the idea, they should start the action, start
collecting, make the donations, and get this show on the road! HAIR is as relevant today as it
was...now it's about...38 years ago. We need to prove this to people and provide a history to the
waiting public who will clamor to see the Richard Frankel tour and want to learn more about the show.


	
		
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