"Chicago Conspiracy" & "HAIR" - Flashback to 1968 and TWO Kick-Ass Theater Reviews

I didn't plan this on purpose, but this weekend was 1968 all over again. I saw two wonderful theater shows - Chicago Conspiracy, based on the 1969-70 Chicago Seven trial which covered events that took place in the summer of 1968 during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, and the smash musical, HAIR, which premiered on Broadway in 1968.

HAIR at The Met in Hollywood.

The "Tribe" - and Michael Butler, original producer of HAIR on Broadway.

Lee Ferris (Berger), James Berry (Claude) and Johanna Unger (Sheila).

"Claude" - looking like the torn, confused hippie he is.

If you haven't read this in previous posts, I'm a former Tribe member...Iowa Tribe/1995. Click on these links to read the background story on HAIR and my interviews with producer Michael Butler and co-author James Rado. You can also hear the interviews in my GABCAST audio widget - go to the right panel and scroll down:

http://jeffircink.blogspot.com/2007/09/blog-post.html - The Story Behind HAIR
http://jeffircink.blogspot.com/2007/10/coming-interview-with-hair-producer.html - Interview with Michael Butler, original producer of HAIR
http://jeffircink.blogspot.com/2007/10/coming-interview-with-hair-creator.html - Interview with James Rado, co-author of HAIR

I had never seen HAIR performed - and this was an excellent production. The director had put up previous productions in Moscow, among other places, and Michael Butler again produced this version. I was as emotionally vested in seeing this show, the story and the characters as I was when I performed in it 12 years ago. The staging was beautiful, But the thing I was struck with most is the character Claude and how he wrestled with his emotions and ideals - the ones he held as a hippie and the ones he held as an American when drafted into the Vietnam war. I struggled right along with him, unsure of how I'd react in his position. Powerful stuff - and often lost amongst the pageantry and music that has made HAIR one of the most popular musicals of all time.

I also had the great pleasure of meeting one of the co-founders of The Met - Paul Koslo, who coincidentally, was in the Broadway cast of HAIR in 1968 and has gone on to become a recognized character actor in film and television (do an IMDB.com search and you'll recognize him). Wonderful man. When I told him I was a former Tribe member, he treated me like a brother. Obviously, something you might not understand unless you performed in the show.

Chicago Conspiracy at The Odyssey Theatre in West LA.

"Our strategy was to give Judge Hoffman a heart attack. We gave the court system a heart attack which is even better." - Jerry Rubin

"Conspiracy? Hell, we couldn't agree on lunch." - Abbie Hoffman

(the following is from actual court transcripts)

ABBIE HOFFMAN: "Are you asking if I had those thoughts or if I wrote that I had those thoughts? There's a difference."

RICHARD SCHULTZ (asst. U.S. attorney): "It's a convenient difference, isn't it Mr. Hoffman?"

ABBIE HOFFMAN: "I don't know what you mean, I've never been on trial for my thoughts before."

The Chicago 7: Back row - Weiner, Dellinger, Rubin, Hayden. Front row - Froines, Davis, Hoffman.

In 1968, two anti-war groups met to discuss the upcoming Democratic National Convention in Chicago - National Mobilization to End the War (MOBE) and the Youth International Party (YIPPIES). In a nutshell, their intention was to disrupt the activities of the convention where publicity on a nation-wide scale could best benefit their interests. Things got out of hand - the police and National Guard were called in and mayhem erupted. Eight men - Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, David Dellinger, Tom Hayden, Rennie Davis, John Froines, Lee Weiner and Bobby Seale were arrested and indicted on violations that they violated the anti-riot law and committed conspiracy. What followed in the courtroom was a circus never before witnessed by anyone in judicial law. Seale was bound and gagged to a chair and then eventually removed and tried separately, so the Chicago Eight became the Chicago Seven.

George Murdock, a well-known character actor from film and television, played the role of Judge Julius Hoffman. With all due respect to Judge Hoffman and his rope, he was real douche bag. Murdock, on the other hand, had Hoffman down to a tee. (Sorry this particular photo is blurry - no cameras in the courtroom. One of my other "protests".)

Click on the following link for in-depth information on the events leading up to the trial and the trial itself: http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/Chicago7/chicago7.html

What follows in the play are the events in the courtroom taken from actual trial transcripts. It was informative and entertaining and enjoyed it thoroughly; I could have sat through the entire 4+ month trial to be perfectly honest. My actor-friend, Dave Parke, played one of the U.S. marshals and I had prepared some Yippie pamphlets I wanted him to find on me as he searched me when entering the courtroom. He didn't recognize me when I handed him my ticket (?) because he was paying attention to my ticket and seating me and it wasn't until I came up to him after the show did he even realize I was there (so much for our U.S. marshalls, eh? - kidding, Dave). Being an actor myself, I couldn't resist played around a bit during the show - refusing to stand when the judge entered the courtroom on two occasions or bringing "illicit" contraband into the courtroom (my Yippie pamphlets). I felt, in some way I was doing my part to protest the idiocy and the insanity of the trial.

Funny story - I talked to the actor who played Tom Hayden (Jane Fonda's ex and former Californian politician). He told me the real Hayden attended the show twice - once with his daughter. Upon entering the courtroom, Hayden was frisked by a marshall (how cool is that...the real Tom Hayden) and while the marshall is padding him down, Hayden turns with a smile and says, "Take your fucking hands off me, you asshole." I would've paid a week's salary to seen that (Hayden spoke to the audience for a half hour after the show on one evening).

Some YouTube stuff you might wanna check out.
1.) Chicago 10 - a live-action/animation documentary: http://youtube.com/watch?v=M9uJL7lWdFg

2.) Abbie Hoffman, then and now: http://youtube.com/watch?v=eTJ6Jw63_hA
3.) Jerry Rubin, then: http://youtube.com/watch?v=FTS-DZ5aSnE

John Pollono as Abbie Hoffman, my friend, Dave Parke as a U.S. Marshall and me.

I'm a historical buff and I LOVE this period in our history - the anti-war protests, the music, the personalities. The acting for the most part was great and the likeness the actors had to their real-life counterparts was uncanny.