Saturday, September 27, 2008

"Hair" - Astrological coincidences?

From a list of events which have occurred on 27 September through the years, I noticed that the stage musical "Hair" opened its London run on 27 September 1968. There had been a total solar eclipse five days before, at 29 Virgo. During the eclipse, and the period between the eclipse and the show's opening, Uranus (ruler of Aquarius) lay at 29 Virgo the degree hit by the eclipse. As the show's best known song is "Age of Aquarius", and its message overall is very Aquarian/Uranian, it's a remarkable coincidence.

The dates of the show's US off-Broadway premiere and its debut on Broadway show other interesting coincidences, or astrological pointers:

Off-Broadway premiere: 17 October 1967 - There was a lunar eclipse the next day, (@ 24 Aries.)

Broadway opening: 29 April 1968 - There was a line-up of planets around the 25 degree mark in several signs: Venus 24.43 Aries. Mars 23.12 Taurus. Jupiter 25.54 Leo. Uranus 25.34 Virgo. Neptune 25.37 Scorpio. Which means that Venus & Jupiter were in harmonious trine - could be translated as a lucky time for the publication of loving musical messages (which does describe "Hair".) Mars, Uranus and Neptune were in either trine or sextile, helpfully blending imagination and energy into the Uranian message put out by the show. Of course, as well as harmonious trines, some of these planets also formed challenging squares, Mars/Jupiter for example, representing the controversy the show brought forth in some circles.

"The musical's profanity, its depiction of the use of illegal drugs, its treatment of sexuality, its irreverence for the American flag, and its nude scene caused much comment and controversy"

Wikipedia entry here.

I've seen only the movie version of "Hair", which I think was a much modified and sanitized version. Available YouTube videos of stage versions aren't very good quality, so instead I've chosen a clip from the beginning of the movie, featuring 'that' song.


4 comments:

anthonynorth said...

A marvellous show with some great music. And an important part of spreading New Age culture, too.

Twilight said...

Yes, AN ! Interest in astrology certainly seemed to blossom around that time. :-)

Zenobia said...

I'm sorry that you did not see the staged version. The film, in my humbled opinion, was not as powerful. With the direction of Tom O'Horgan along with Jim & Gerry's book, Galt's music, Julie's choreography...its importance still runs through my veins. Zenobia, former Tribe member, L.A., Broadway, National Tours. 1970-1976

Twilight said...

Zenobia ~~ Hello! Thanks for stopping by and commenting. :-)
"Hair" is one of two musicals I'd love to have seen on stage (Les Miz is the other) - I've never been in the right places at the right times, sadly.

Nice to hear how powerful memories of "Hair" still are for you.