Up Bear Creek 1313 ... The musical Hair

Sixties extravaganza draws crowds

to Telluride's Palm Theatre

HURRAY FOR HAIR … Sasha Sullivan has done the unbelievable. She’s pushed Telluride theater into the next generation … A friend confided in me before the play, “I hate musicals.” But there was nothing to hate in the finale production of Telluride Theatre’s Hair Sunday night, and everything to like. Especially for a long-haired paleohippie like me … Heavy doses of peace and love, some unbelievable singers, marvelous dancing and acting, great staging, lighting, live music, and choreography that was over the top … To single any one person out would be unfair to an amazing cast, top to bottom. And truly, Hair is an ensemble piece, a puzzle in which – if all the pieces fit – it works beautifully … Suzan Beraza was in the audience the night I saw it. She’d played a big part a dozen or so years ago in Telluride’s first production of this paean to “Hippie Power” (which, as a bumper sticker, still flies its flag on my 300,000+ mile Honda Civic) … “It was wonderful to sit in the audience,” she laughed. “I felt like I was watching the torch pass” … Some of us were still dancing coming out of the Palm, and I was whistling show tunes all the way up Norwood Hill.