Rock On!

In late April, the theater arts department under the direction of Frank Borrelli produced Hair, the musical. This was the first musical for AIC’s Theater Arts Director Borrelli.

Hair depicts the birth of a cultural movement in the 1960s, telling the story of the tribe, a group of politically active, long-haired hippies living the flower child, free spirit lifestyle in New York City. The controversial play deals with issues of race, gender, free love, peace, protest, vulnerability, and finding oneself.

The production broke new ground in musical theater as a rock musical. According to Director Borrelli, “This is a play about a richly diverse group of people. In addition to our talented and diverse group of theater arts students who performed, we had several AIC alumni who returned to join the cast. We wanted to reach out to the community in casting the musical. The production featured live music under the direction of Michael Rheault. This was new and very exciting for us.”

It was an exciting experience for the appreciative audience too. Nearly 1,000 people attended the three night run, ending each performance with a standing ovation!