A spokesperson for the record label confirmed that the star-studded company from the recent concert — including "American Idol" contestant Jennifer Hudson — will record the sixties musical Oct. 1 at the Hit Factory. The single disc is expected to be released some time after the New Year on Sh-K-Boom's new imprint, Ghostlight Records.
Seth Rudetsky, the concert's musical director and conductor, also told Playbill On-Line that the recording will include "one extra surprise guest star who shall remain nameless. There's also the possibility of a bonus track as well."
The Sept. 20 Hair featured musical direction by Rudetsky, who conceived the concert with the Actors' Fund. Devanand Janki and Christopher Gattelli co-directed and co-choreographed the concert, which featured three onstage staircases and two above-the-stage screens with projected images. The creative team also featured Paul Weimer (scenic designer), Jeff Croiter (lighting designer), Scott Stauffer (sound designer), Michael Crowler (costume coordinator), Elaine McCarthy (projection designer). Gattelli, Janki and Tim Pinckney adapted the musical for this concert version.
The running order for the recent concert follows:
Act One
"Aquarius" (Lillias White)
"Donna" (Lea Delaria)
"Hashish" (Tribe)
"Sodomy" (Jai Rodriguez)
"Manchester, England" (Euan Morton)
"Colored Spade" (Chuck Cooper)
"Sheila Franklin" (Tribe)
"I Believe in Love" (Shoshana Bean)
"Chant" (Shoshana Bean)
"I'm Black"/"Ain't Got no Grass" (Tribe)
"Air" (Harvey Fierstein)
"Dead End" (Ana Gasteyer)
"Initials" (Laura Benanti)
"Don't Put it Down" (John Tartaglia/Christopher Sieber)
"I Got Life" (Adam Pascal/Nancy Opel/Michael McKean)
"Going Down" (Gavin Creel)
"Hair" (Raúl Esparza)
"My Conviction" (RuPaul)
"Easy to be Hard" (Jennifer Hudson)
"Hare Krisna/"The Be-in" (Tribe)
"Where Do I Go" (Julia Murney)
Act Two
"Electric Blues" (Toxic Audio)
"Black Boys" (Kathy Brier/Orfeh/Ann Harada)
"White Boys" (Brandi Chavonne Massey/Ledisi/Shanna Steel)
"Frank Mills" (Annie Golden)
"Walking in Space" (Tribe/dancers/Julie Garnye-soloist)
"Abie Baby" (Tribe)
"Four Score" (Billy Porter)
"Three Five Zero Zero" (Tribe)
"What a Piece of Work is Man" (Darius de Haas/Paul Castree)
"Good Morning Starshine" (Liz Callaway)
"The Flesh Failures (Let the Sun Shine In)" (Norm Lewis/tribe) In addition to the featured performers, the company of the Gerome Ragni-James Rado-Galt MacDermot musical comprised Meredith Akins, Aliane Baquerot, Jerad Bortz, Isaac Calpito, Stuart Capps, Kate Chapman, Brian Corey, Bobby Daye, Mary Faber, Jenifer Foote, Julie Garnyé, Chris Ghelfi, Lucia Giannetta, Brian M. Golub, Geoffrey Hemingway, MaryAnn Hu, Naomi Kakuk, Trent Armand Kendall, Evan Knapp, Kenway Hon Wai K. Kua, Jason S. Little, Julie Lyke, J. Elaine Marcos, Orville Mendoza, DeQuina Moore, Anisha Nagarajan, Darius Nichols, Craig Ramsay, Eliseo Roman, Nell Snaidas, Shanna VanDerwerker, Jessica Walker, Brooke Wendle, Jason Weston, Schele Williams, Gustavo Wons and Christopher Zelno. Harris Doran starred as Claude.
Hair focuses on a group of hippies — called The Tribe — in New York City in the late 1960's, and gives voice to their passions and frustrations in loose scenes and interactions, including a rant against war, an embrace of free love (including a group nude scene) and odes to nature, life, drugs and multiculturalism. Book and lyrics are by Gerome Ragni and James Rado, music is by Galt MacDermot. Tom O'Horgan was the original director. Heather MacRae, Melba Moore, Keith Carradine and Joe Morton were among performers in the early Broadway run of the show, at the Biltmore Theatre.
