Hair is a rock musical that was a product of the hippie counter-culture and sexual revolution of the 1960s. The musical tells the story of a group of politically active hippies living the bohemian life in NYC and fighting against conscription into the Vietnam War. The content of the show brought about many comments and controversy. Hair established new grounds in the musical theater industry because it defined the “rock musical” genre and used a racially integrated cast.
On this day, October 17th, in 1967, Hair premiered off-Broadway at the Public Theater in NYC. It ran for a short term of only six weeks, but was popular with the audience. Production of the show received “tepid critical reception” but it would go through several more edits and revisions before becoming a Broadway production that ran for 1750 performances.