It’s 1968, and Hair has just brought a story about identity, hippie culture and war to the musical theatre scene. Cut to nearly 60 years later, and the same cultural movement is making its way through Australia, capturing the audience with an emotion-fuelled tribal ritual.
This tribal love rock musical is hinged around 60s counterculture, highlighting what it means to be young and carefree in an ever-changing world. Its narrative adopts a beautiful, wholesome energy, following a group of hippies living the bohemian lifestyle and fighting the practice of conscription during the Vietnam War. While poignant, deliberate and sentimental in its approach, this is a musical that while resonating with a majority of the audience, sat firmly outside of the tone of musical that I gravitate to.
While narratively and musically it didn’t resonate with me, there are a number of elements of the production that shone brightly. First, the staging, set design, and props, while minimal, work well for the nondescript New York setting. There’s not so much of a specific location established for any scene, with the approach being one that goes more off vibes and atmosphere, but I liked this unique point of difference. It’s not concerned with where characters are physically; rather, it just makes sure the social and political context of the time they’re in is clear. There’s a lot of historical imagery and archive footage projected onto the stage throughout to give real-world context to the themes being explored on stage, and that works in giving the narrative a sense of authenticity.
The narrative may be concerned with very human, serious, touching subject matter, but that doesn’t mean it skimps on lighting the mood with silly comedic beats. Not every joke hits, but the bulk of the comedy is silly, random and quick-witted enough to garner a rumble of chuckles through the audience. Most bouts of comedy are funny one-liners that play off the hippie culture of the era, but there’s a few running jokes that incorporate or reference the audience, adding a sense of interactivity that’s fun and typically not capitalised on in many productions. One sequence involving two of the cast cross-dressing as an elderly couple is particularly hilarious. This sequence is narratively not as relevant, but provides a great moment of levity on an otherwise character-focused journey.
Musically this is a very emotionally-driven affair with plenty of meaning to be drawn from its songs, but that being said, there’s only a small handful of tunes that actually resonated with me on any level. The bulk of the musical numbers felt too tonally flat for me to be enveloped by them. I found myself hearing them but not really listening, losing the meaning behind the words. Objectively speaking, I can see the thought, themes and emotion driving the songs, but for me personally it was a lowlight of the production. On the soundtrack, the likes of “Aquarius” and “Where Do I Go” hit their mark and led to highlights within the production, but even then the songs I enjoyed aren’t memorable in the slightest. Having to conduct research in order to credit them in this review isn’t an ideal scenario.
Performance-wise there are a couple of standouts among the lead cast. Alex Cooper (Claude) is by far the shining light, with strong musical talent and alluring on-stage charisma. He’s let down by the narrative not giving him much of the spotlight in the first act, but the second act is where he’s placed front and centre. Then there’s Maxwell Simon (Berger), who commands the stage as the most eccentric hippie spirit in the production. His mannerisms, dialogue patterns and movements across the stage are all indicative of stereotypical hippie culture, and he plays the role perfectly. It’s extreme, but it works for the story being told. Then there’s Elizabeth Brennan (Sheila) who acts as a slightly more softer voice in the ensemble and balances out the energy of Simon and Cooper. She may not have too much of a memorable solo moment, but it’s the scenes she shares with the aforementioned duo where the chemistry creates some good moments.
Outside of those three, my issue is that the talents of the ensemble are spread very thin. With so many cast members, it’s almost like a ‘too many cooks’ kind of situation. The narrative does a decent job of giving each cast member a moment in the spotlight, but that’s all so many of them get – a moment. With no real exciting choreography accompanying many of the musical numbers, it feels like the bulk of the ensemble is floating across the stage waiting for their few solo lines. Having fewer cast members could give the remaining characters more time on the mic, leading to them having a greater impact on the overall experience.
Story-wise, similar to how I mentioned the vague New York setting, the narrative of the first act isn’t so much a play-by-play of these characters’ lives, but moreso a representation of the hippie movement of the 60s. It doesn’t feel like there’s a lead character, but Berger is certainly the one at the forefront most of the time, so I attributed him to that lead role. Then comes the second act, which delves heavily into Claude and presents him as the focus of the production, narratively. It’s a strange juxtaposition because I didn’t get ‘lead character’ energy from his journey through the first act – he’s certainly relevant, but no more than half of the ensemble. It’s a strange shift that didn’t feel smooth enough.
This is a musical production that is certainly a product of its time. While it may be a big draw for older generations or those who have emotional ties to that 60s-era love-rock hippie movement, to me it felt dated in its narrative, music and structure. There are saving graces in the form of effective yet sporadic comedy, good staging and convincing lead performances, but overall it’s not an experience that had me raving through the lobby of Melbourne’s Athenaeum Theatre. If a story centred around hippie culture, the love vs war debate and celebrating life as a carefree youth sounds enticing, Hair the Musical could be a joyful night out for you.
TWO AND A HALF STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
Hair the Musical is now playing at the Athenaeum Theatre in Melbourne through to November 30th, 2025. For more information and to purchase tickets, head HERE.
Reviewer attended on Friday October 31st, 2025
Photo credit: Ben Fon
