"Hair," Broadway, and the N-bomb (Don't Miss Today's Weekly Blast!)
Does the use of N***** have the same effect it did on Broadway in 1968?
Here is a FREE preview issue of The Broadway Maven’s Weekly Blast. The full paid version is $5/month or $36/year.
Shalom!
This week, The Broadway Maven looks at Hair.
• On Sunday, November 13 at Noon ET and Monday, November 14 at Noon and 7 pm ET The Broadway Maven will look at the quintessential 1960s musical and its impact. Register here.
• On Tuesday, November 15 at Noon and 7 pm ET ALL-ACCESS Passholders will have a class on Mamma Mia!
• This Weekly Blast includes:
A) an ESSAY about the ways in which Hair uses the N-word and other racist language (included here FREE in this preview issue);
B) a REVIEW of a recent production of Carrie: the Musical;
C) a PIANO TALK about the musical genius behind The Music Man;
D) a “Silent Broadway” VIDEO QUIZ;
E) a SURVEY about when students and readers first saw a musical; and
F) LAST BLASTs about Show Boat, The Sound of Music, and Cabaret.
Hair is well-known for its shock value, including explicit discussions of drugs and sexuality. Today, though, songs like “Hashish” and “Sodomy” can seem positively quaint on stage.
Not so “Colored Spade” and “Three-Five-Zero-Zero,” with their inclusion of the N-word and other racial slurs. (In keeping with our in-class policy banning the actual word, this essay will use “the N-word” and “N*****” to refer to the offending term).
“Colored Spade” is similar to the other list songs in the show like “Ain’t Got No” and “Air” except that it addresses race and racism. Sung by the Black character Hud, it contains a list of slurs including the N-word (though not always pronounced in full) with the attempt to mock and reclaim the racist language he faced. The last three words of the song make the intent clear: “So you say.”
Just as shocking is the anti-war song “Three-Five-Zero-Zero” which uses the lyric “Prisoners in N*****town, it’s a dirty little war.” Given the racially disparate aspect of the draft, it makes an important point. But one thing that would never happen today is the selection of the song for the 1969 broadcast of the Tony Awards.
Several other shows use the same word, usually to the same effect: sucking all the air out of the room and calling attention to the slur. That’s, of course, usually the desired effect, but it’s hard to forget after a performance of Assassins, Big River, or Ragtime.
I’m certainly not suggesting the word be replaced (a change that would require the consent of the license holder anyway). But the ways in which the word is received by audiences marks changing values and perceptions regarding race in America; and the ways in which Broadway has come a long way since Hair - and how it has not.
Often considered the first "rock musical," Hair brought the hippies to the Broadway stage in an explosive and joyful fashion.
The beloved Sixties musical examined issues like war, racism, sexuality, drugs, the environment, poverty, and human dignity through passionate, thoughtful, and tuneful songs like "Ain't Got No"; "Hair"; "Aquarius"; "Frank Mills"; "Easy to Be Hard"; "The Flesh Failures (Let the Sunshine In)"; and more.
In classic Broadway Maven fashion, we'll look at lyrics, music, and book (such that it is) to explore meanings and themes that may not be immediately obvious. And course co-host Mateo Chavez Lewis will be on hand at his piano to demonstrate the genius behind this landmark show.
ALL-ACCESS Passholders do not need to register. Just show up.
For the Hair class, watch the "nude scene" video below and answer the following question: if you were directing Hair, how would you handle the nude scene?
Note: links to register for ALL classes are ALWAYS available at TheBroadwayMaven.com.
• Sunday, November 13 Hair (Noon ET, FREE)
• Monday, November 14 Hair (Noon and 7 pm ET, FREE)
• Tuesday, November 15 Mamma Mia! (Noon and 7 pm ET, ALL-ACCESS Only)
• Sunday, November 20 Les Misérables (Noon ET, FREE)
• Monday, November 21 Les Misérables (Noon and 7 pm ET, FREE)
• Tuesday, November 22 Gypsy (Noon and 7 pm ET, $5)
• Sunday, November 27 Hairspray (Noon ET, FREE, registration opens soon)
• Monday, November 28 Hairspray (Noon and 7 pm ET, FREE, registration opens soon)
Reminder: ALL-ACCESS Passholders do not need to sign up or pay for anything. Just show up!
LAST BLAST: Some Broadway shows have songs that are so effective and evocative that people are sure they existed for a long time before Broadway, even though they were written for the show. Here are three:
• “Ol’ Man River” from Show Boat sounds so much like an age-old Negro spiritual that many listeners are sure they’ve heard it before. But it was written by Jerome Kern (music) and Oscar Hammerstein (lyrics).
• “Edelweiss” from The Sound of Music is not an Austrian folk song. Yet it’s not unusual for people to claim they used to hear the song growing up, even though it was written specifically for the show.
• “Tomorrow Belongs to Me” from Cabaret sounds so much like a Nazi anthem that many fans of the show are convinced that it is one. It’s not. It was written by Kander & Ebb specifically for the 1966 Broadway show.
The Broadway Maven, David Benkof, helps students further their appreciation of musical theater through his classes, his YouTube Channel, and his Weekly Blast. Contact him at DavidBenkof@gmail.com.