Hair the Musical to return to London in 2019

The recent revival of the rock musical Hair is set to tour the UK next year beginning at the New Wimbledon Theatre in March 2019.

Jonathan O'Boyle's production opened at the Hope Mill Theatre in early 2017 before transferring to The Vaults in London, where it enjoyed a three-month run.

Hair tells the story of the "tribe": a political group of hippies living in New York protesting against the Vietnam War. It has music by Galt McDermot, lyrics and a book by James Rado and Gerome Ragni, featuring songs such as "Aquarius", "Let the Sun Shine In" and "Good Morning Star Shine."

The UK tour will start at the New Wimbledon Theatre on 22^nd March 2019, running until 30^th March. The tour will then visit Cheltenham, Manchester, Cardiff, Plymouth, Birmingham, Sunderland, Dartford, Liverpool, Portsmouth, Edinburgh, Oxford, Sheffield, Brighton and Milton Keynes.

On bringing the show back for a UK tour, producer Katy Lipson told LondonTheatre.co.uk: "It's a show I feel is necessary to be on. With the times we're living in right now, to have a message like Hair does -freedom of speech, "Make Love Not War", acceptance - it's a unified message which is very dark and very euphoric".

During its run at the Vaults, audiences were offered the chance to attend a 'clothing optional' performance, where theatregoers could choose to watch a performance naked, if they so wished.

Asked about whether there might be a possibility of a return of this kind of performance, Lipson told us: "We're thinking about it... That performance was very well attended, so why not? It wouldn't work in every city, and nothing's confirmed, but we're talking about it. It's a great thing to offer."

The touring production of Hair will have choreography by William Whelton, designs by Maeve Black, lighting by Ben M Rogers, and sound by Calum Robinson.

Hair is at the New Wimbledon Theatre from 22^nd to 30^th March.

_{Photo credit Claire Bilyard}