Verse three of "The Flesh Failures/Let the Sunshine In" brings us to one of the most haunting parts of the song - Claude's death. As I mentioned last week, this song is often staged with the Tribe on stage behind Claude with their backs to him. This verse starts with a reference back to the first song Claude appears in "Manchester, England." In Act One, Claude fakes a British accent and sings this fun, energetic song about himself. He comes back to it here, as he's facing his death. The Tribe responds to him as they each turn around and Claude disappears. You can hear this section of the song here (it starts around 1:05).
James Rado, who co-wrote Hair and originated the role of Claude, is absolutely brilliant in this song. There's so much sadness and power in his delivery of this particular section of the song. I remember hearing this song for the first time without the context of the actual staging and still being completely moved by the energy and spirit of his delivery and how the Tribe ends the song (we're getting there - two more verses to go). When I saw the show earlier this month, I cried during this song.
I didn't know when I started this series with a series what would happen with the election and the energy around Kamala Harris and all the other stuff happening in the world. We're living in a time of intense social and political change not unlike what was happening in the 1960s when Hair originally premiered. We have a chance to change the world for the better with this election. To not go back.
Next week: We meet Sheila and Dionne.
Here's this week's piece:
 |
| July 21 |
 |
| July 22 |
 |
| July 23 |
 |
| July 24 |
 |
| July 25 |
 |
| July 26 |
 |
| July 27 |
 |
| Week 30 |
 |
| Weeks 1-30 |
 |
| Week 31's color is driftwood. |
 |
| Verses 1-3 |
WIP and a Visit from Frida
I started the second mushroom in my series Mushroom Farm Energy. I didn't get as much done on it this week as I'd like, but progress is being made. I hope to finish it over the weekend and set up the third and fourth pieces in the series. For this one, I'm embroidering first and then painting. I want to see if that helps with the watercolor bleeding. I also bought some fabric medium which is supposed to help. We'll see.
Keely and I have a visitor this week: Frida! My parents are in Detroit, so Frida is on a little vacation with me. She is such a sweet lady, but also a little weirdo. Keely's faces while she's doing things like moving her blankets around the entire house and sleeping in unusual positions are priceless.
 |
| Keely is saying "my human." |
Comments
Post a Comment