Interview with HAIR producer, Michael Butler

Here's my exclusive (well it's not really that exclusive - it's not like he only does certain interviews) interview with HAIR producer, Michael Butler. Butler, who served as Special Advisor to Senator John F. Kennedy on the Middle East, Chancellor of the Lincoln Academy, Commissioner of the Port of Chicago, President of the Organization of Economic Development in Illinois and Personal Assistant to Governor Otto Kerner, will share some of his thoughts as HAIR turns 40 this month.

“Good morning, this is Jeff with my special guest, Michael Butler, the original producer of HAIR, the tribal rock musical that he was responsible for bringing to Broadway from an Off-Broadway venue in New York City – The Public Theatre. I had the pleasure of meeting Michael briefly when I was in the cast of HAIR at the University of Iowa (one of three non-students). It was a big thrill for me and he has graciously agreed to talk with me this morning from New York.”

Jeff: How are you Michael?

MB: I’m very well, thank you.

Jeff: Great. When you first saw HAIR at the The Public Theatre what was the impetus for saying, “I want to get involved with this.”?

MB: Politics and the anti-war statement it made.

Jeff: Do you remember when you took it to The Cheetah and then to Broadway if there was a point in time when you said, “Boy, we’ve really got something here. We’ve got something that people are going to remember.”?

MB: I don’t know – I think it was more that I believed so strongly in what I was doing that I really wasn’t concerned whether…that is not what a producer should be. A producer should not be combing the market saying, “This is good for the market”. A producer should produce something he believes in and if the rest of the people believe in it…why, then it succeeds.

Jeff: So often you hear people comment that HAIR is dated. There are musicals that I suppose one could say are as dated as HAIR – Miss Saigon, Les Miserables, Mary Poppins, Camelot, Hello Dolly, My Fair Lady, West Side Story. Why do you think people say that and why don’t you think it’s dated?

MB: Well, number one I know very few people that say HAIR is dated. The latest HAIR that we’ve done on the West Coast had about nine reviews and everyone one of them has been positive. The interesting aspect of that is that HAIR is dated from the point of view that is a historical piece. But what makes it so lively is that everything that HAIR says in pertinent today, and also the music is timeless. So the music helps to carry it along but the message of HAIR is, unfortunately just changed from Vietnam to Iraq and you're right back in the same place.

Jeff: I agree. So many people don’t realize that if they’re not a fan of the musical, they’ve heard a lot of the songs on the radio – five songs were Top 4 songs on the Billboard charts by other artists so the music is truly timeless.

MB: It’s the most recorded score in the history of musical theater.

Jeff: Is it really?

MB: Yes it is.

Jeff: I wasn’t aware of that. Since 1968 you’ve been involved in producing HAIR all over the world. Most recently you had a 40th anniversary show in New York and you’re involved in the production that’s going on in Los Angeles. Are there any particular things about the show that have changed since 1968?

MB: Not really. Nothing that I’m involved with has changed because I don’t believe that HAIR should be changed. I think HAIR should be done as it was done on Broadway. Now the show that was done in Central Park late September was something done by the Public (Theatre) which was more of a concert than the show itself and that was more pertinent to the Public production, which was quite different than my production.

Jeff: How often do you talk to James Rado?

MB: Not very often.

Jeff: He’s still involved with productions, is he not?

MB: Yes, yes.

Jeff: I think that’s it, Michael.

MB: Very good.

Jeff: It was a pleasure – and while I’ve got you on the phone I want to thank you, James Rado, Gerome Ragni and Galt McDermott for doing what you did with this musical. If you talk to anyone – particularly anyone who’s been in the show – we always say, “Once a member of the Tribe always a member of the Tribe”. We thank you for giving us an opportunity to be a part of HAIR, and it will be with us always – as it is with you. Thank you very much.

MB: Thank you.

(Listen to a portion of this interview on GABCAST - on the right panel of this blog.)