"Hair" to play Wichita, following 43-year ban . . . .
4xoddic
Posts: 372
Anyone else exposed to "Hair" in 1970? I was, although I had to drive into Wichita from Andover (pre- Tornado, stop light & liquor store Andover) to catch a bus at LawrenceDumont Stadium (primarily used for baseball, and the home field of the Wichita Wingnuts; the team was called the Aeros back in '70 = remember we're talking Air Capital of the World back then).
A local radio station sold tickets on the bus & show in sinful Kansas City (MO?). I remember driving into the parking lot in my '70 MG Midget, a little on edge at age 17. I was relieved by the site of a bearded hippie pulling up in a Bugeye sprite. Hey, it's cool.
I caught a whiff of something on the ride up to KC. That's likely why I can't remember if it was KC, KS, or KC, MO . . . . I do recall that IF you concentrated hard enough, you could make out through the haze & colorful lighting that some numbers were au naturel. I don't recall that anyone passed me a spliff. But again, that was 43 years ago & I'd been on the bus all the way to KC. I seem to recall there was a similar odor on the trip in the dark back to Cowtown, er Wichita.
I did get the opportunity to attend the 1971 showing of Hair @ Wichita Century II. As it was running at the time, I again drove my Midget. I'm sure I was wearing wire-rimmed glasses & bell bottoms, but I don't recall if I was in sandals. I distinctly remember I had a date . . . . I believe she said something about not knowing I smoked a pipe.
A few years back, the wife & I attended a KSU McCain Performance Series show of a 3rd-world drumming/singing/dancing troupe. Following a brief intermission, the lights dimmed & the troupe came back out on stage to an intensive drum beat & chanting. Lo & Behold, the performers were bare-chested. Both sexes. In Kansas. I'm sure this occurred, because no one passed me a spliff. Yes Toto, we're Home.
IF you're not from KS, you likely aren't aware of the Great & Powerful Sheriff/DA/AG/Guber Candidate Vern Miller. I'm certain he was responsible for Hair NOT playing in Wichita in 1970. I believe he was also responsible for me missing the first showing @ WSU of the 2nd Annual New York Erotic Film Festival; causing us to stand around outside to catch the 2nd showing. He & his ilk, are also responsible for me missing the first showing of The Stewardesses in 3D @ the Orpheum Theater in 1969. These great cultural landmarks of film history had to be reviewed by the DA & the police department prior to being unleashed on Wichitans. Vern also put a stop to planes & trains serving alcohol in/over Kansas. Maybe you've heard CAPTAIN BOBBY STOUT (Lane Tietgen) Sharp-Gannon Music by the Jerry Hahn Brotherhood, 1970? The Captain was a protégé of Vern Miller. Vern is also responsible for the notorious Life Magazine spread of a University of Kansas nude drug bust.
http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2013/de...ps-out-car-tr/
Hair will play at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday (Mar. 18-20, 2014) in Century II Concert Hall as the third of four offerings from Theater League this season. It will be a far different reception than the one that greeted the show when it first tried to play there in 1970.
Prodded by outraged local conservatives, Wichita officials voted to keep the show out of city-owned facilities and police threatened to arrest performers on any local stage if they dared to bare it all. The ensuing ballyhoo made Wichita the brunt of national jokes, and the Wichita stop was canceled.
But the following year, the tour did play Century II along with the much more explicitly nude Equus and Oh, Calcutta without incident. And in a sign of the times, Wichita State University theater students performed a 40th anniversary production of Hair complete with nudity in 2008 with nary a peep from the community."
http://theaterleague.com/wp-content/...hita-Eagle.pdf
A local radio station sold tickets on the bus & show in sinful Kansas City (MO?). I remember driving into the parking lot in my '70 MG Midget, a little on edge at age 17. I was relieved by the site of a bearded hippie pulling up in a Bugeye sprite. Hey, it's cool.
I caught a whiff of something on the ride up to KC. That's likely why I can't remember if it was KC, KS, or KC, MO . . . . I do recall that IF you concentrated hard enough, you could make out through the haze & colorful lighting that some numbers were au naturel. I don't recall that anyone passed me a spliff. But again, that was 43 years ago & I'd been on the bus all the way to KC. I seem to recall there was a similar odor on the trip in the dark back to Cowtown, er Wichita.
I did get the opportunity to attend the 1971 showing of Hair @ Wichita Century II. As it was running at the time, I again drove my Midget. I'm sure I was wearing wire-rimmed glasses & bell bottoms, but I don't recall if I was in sandals. I distinctly remember I had a date . . . . I believe she said something about not knowing I smoked a pipe.
A few years back, the wife & I attended a KSU McCain Performance Series show of a 3rd-world drumming/singing/dancing troupe. Following a brief intermission, the lights dimmed & the troupe came back out on stage to an intensive drum beat & chanting. Lo & Behold, the performers were bare-chested. Both sexes. In Kansas. I'm sure this occurred, because no one passed me a spliff. Yes Toto, we're Home.
IF you're not from KS, you likely aren't aware of the Great & Powerful Sheriff/DA/AG/Guber Candidate Vern Miller. I'm certain he was responsible for Hair NOT playing in Wichita in 1970. I believe he was also responsible for me missing the first showing @ WSU of the 2nd Annual New York Erotic Film Festival; causing us to stand around outside to catch the 2nd showing. He & his ilk, are also responsible for me missing the first showing of The Stewardesses in 3D @ the Orpheum Theater in 1969. These great cultural landmarks of film history had to be reviewed by the DA & the police department prior to being unleashed on Wichitans. Vern also put a stop to planes & trains serving alcohol in/over Kansas. Maybe you've heard CAPTAIN BOBBY STOUT (Lane Tietgen) Sharp-Gannon Music by the Jerry Hahn Brotherhood, 1970? The Captain was a protégé of Vern Miller. Vern is also responsible for the notorious Life Magazine spread of a University of Kansas nude drug bust.
http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2013/de...ps-out-car-tr/
Hair will play at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday (Mar. 18-20, 2014) in Century II Concert Hall as the third of four offerings from Theater League this season. It will be a far different reception than the one that greeted the show when it first tried to play there in 1970.
Prodded by outraged local conservatives, Wichita officials voted to keep the show out of city-owned facilities and police threatened to arrest performers on any local stage if they dared to bare it all. The ensuing ballyhoo made Wichita the brunt of national jokes, and the Wichita stop was canceled.
But the following year, the tour did play Century II along with the much more explicitly nude Equus and Oh, Calcutta without incident. And in a sign of the times, Wichita State University theater students performed a 40th anniversary production of Hair complete with nudity in 2008 with nary a peep from the community."
http://theaterleague.com/wp-content/...hita-Eagle.pdf
Post edited by 4xoddic on
Comments
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I was born & raised there, was born in 61. My mom had a Vern miller sign in the yard back then LOL
my Neighbor worked under him all of those years, though he preferred working for Sandburg I think?
btw WTG SHOCKER's on a wonderfully season 2 ch- Polk CRS+ * Vincent SA-31MK Preamp * Vincent Sp-331 Amp * Marantz SA8005 SACD * Project Xperience Classic TT * Sumiko Blue Point #2 MC cartridge
HT - Polk 703's * NAD T-758 * Adcom 5503 * Oppo 103 * Samsung 60" series 8 LCD -
My older brother played the lead of Claude in the Seattle production of Hair. We went to see it when I was 16 I think (1969 ish?). He later went on the road production after all the individual city productions were over.2 channel - Willsenton R8 tube integrated, Holo Audio Spring 3 KTE DAC, audio optimized NUC7i5, Windows 10 Pro/JRiver MC29/Fidelizer Plus 8.7 w/LPS and external SSD drive, PS Audio PerfectWave P3 regenerator, KEF R3 speakers, Rythmik F12SE subwoofer, Audioquest Diamond USB cable, Gabriel Gold IC's, Morrow Audio SP5 speaker cables. Computer - Windows 10/JRiver, Schiit Magni 3+/Modi 3+, Fostex PMO.4n monitors, Sennheiser HD600 headphones
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I figured it was a "small world" on clubpolk . . . but maybe not this small.
Yes, very proud of the Shockers. I've only attended 3 games between my years @ WSU, KSU & ESU. I was paid to attend all of them, working in media services & photographic services.
I spooled cable out behind an ABC camera unit for a WSU football game. That really dates me, doesn't it!
