BALTIMORE--MICA students, faculty, and staff will perform HAIR: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical, a play that celebrates the heyday of the 1960s hippie movement, Tuesday, April 14-Sunday, April 19 in BBOX, the performance space of MICA's new Gateway building, 1601 W. Mount Royal Ave.

The performances coincide with the Broadway revival of the iconic show, which celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2008.

HAIR is directed by Peter Shipley and produced, designed, and performed by a "tribe" of more than 60 MICA students, faculty, and staff--talented visual artists, singers, musicians, set designers, costume designers, and performance artists--under the umbrella of the student-run production company, Rivals of the West.

Audiences will experience the full transformation of BBOX into a colorful, joyous, uninhibited space, where the "tribe" will put a vivid art-school spin on the musical's 1960s sensibility.

HAIR, written in 1966 by James Rado and Gerome Ragni with music by Galt MacDermot, was the world's first rock musical. It also broke ground as a musical with a serious social conscience, preparing the stage for socially aware musical hits like RENT. The original Broadway production ran for 1,750 performances, followed by an even more successful London production and revivals worldwide. HAIR broke through traditional theater boundaries with its free-form narrative and confrontation of current political and cultural issues like the Vietnam War, racism, environmentalism, and the sexual revolution. It produced hit songs like Aquarius, Good Morning Starshine, and Let the Sun Shine In that reflected the freedom and pacifism of the hippie movement and provided a powerful anti-war voice.

HAIR is the first full-scale theatrical production mounted in BBOX, a multidisciplinary performance space. Successful participation in the musical fulfills 3 to 6 course credits for students enrolled in The Play's The Thing, a course devoted to the public presentation of a full-length play. It is taught by MICA's Christopher Shipley, current chair of the language, literature, and culture department and producer of HAIR.

Performances takes place Tuesday-Thursday, April 14-16 at 8 p.m.; Friday, April 17 at 7 p.m.; Saturday, April 18, special midnight show; and Sunday, April 19, 2 p.m.

Tickets: Opening night special, $5 for everyone; all other shows, $10, students with ID; $15, everyone else. Tickets are on sale at the MICA store, 1200 W. Mount Royal Ave. For more information, call Judy Lidie at 410-225-2350 or e-mail jlidie@mica.edu.

An opening night reception for HAIR is sponsored by the MICA Alumni Association.

Founded in 1826, Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) is the oldest continuously degree-granting college of art and design in the nation. The College enrolls nearly 3,500 undergraduate, graduate and continuing studies students from all 50 states and 57 countries in fine arts, design, electronic media, art education, liberal arts, and professional studies degree and non-credit programs. Redefining art and design education, MICA is pioneering interdisciplinary approaches to innovation, research, and community and social engagement. Alumni and programming reach around the globe, even as MICA remains a cultural cornerstone in the Baltimore/Washington region, hosting hundreds of exhibitions and events annually by students, faculty and other established artists.

Production Team

DIRECTOR and CHOREOGRAPHER: Peter Shipley

ASSISTANT CHOREOGRAPHER: Katie Morton

STAGE MANAGER: Ella Beyer

ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER: Maria Mendoza

MUSIC DIRECTORS, VOICE: Ginny Forni and Trudi Ludwig Johnson

MUSIC DIRECTOR, BAND: Trevor Shipley

PRODUCER: Christopher Shipley

GRADUATE TEACHING INTERN: Joe Letourneau

Cast

CLAUDE: Tommy Doyle

BERGER: Bobby English

WOOF: Ryan Dunne

HUD: Devon Brown

SHEILA: Jess Somers

JEANIE: Allie Stephens

DIONNE: Mika Eubanks

CRISSY: Michelle Pugliese

RONNY: Christina Kaputsos

Additional cast members: John Aquila, Alex Arnopol, David Brown, Amber Carroll, Alice Dennard, Susannah Dourmashkin, Maura Dwyer, Siobhan Feehan, Deunte Ford, Shannon Hovick, Dellonese Isaac, Jamie Kimak, Keloni Parks, Ellyn Stokes, Kristi Stoyko, Jess Sullivan, Liana Tuliau, Eric Varela, and Rachel Verhaaren.

Set

SET DESIGNER: Kel Millionie

TECH CREW/SET: Jess Cieply, Sky Friedlander, Eric Goldschmidt, Hope Myers, Adam Panasowich, David Petr, Roxana Shamsazar, and Omer Wasim.

Costumes

HEAD COSTUMER: Candace Steiger

TECH CREW/COSTUMES: Emily Do, Maya Graffagna, and Rebecca Ward.

Props

PROP MISTRESS: Emily Vollherbst

TECH CREW/PROPS: Kelsey Gocio and Elizabeth Laudenslager.

Publicity

HEAD PUBLICIST: Aimee Wang

TECH CREW/PUBLICITY: Charde Fuller, Emily Long, and Oliver Sarley.

Music

KEYBOARDIST: Vicki Ford-Strange

BAND: Spencer Compton, Adam Farkas, Quentin Gibeau, Sam Grossman, Kelsey Kilgore, and Paul Slupski.