HAIR

Gerome Ragni (1935-1991) From Pittsburgh PA, Gerome was the youngest of a large family with six sisters and two brothers. After four years as a medic in the United States Air Force, he began acting and was recognized by winning the Barter Theatre Award as Outstanding Young Actor. He appeared on Broadway in John Gielgud’s Hamlet featuring Richard Burton, and he starred off-Broadway in The Knack. He was involved with The Open Theater (which he named) studying experimental theater techniques with Nola Chilton and Joseph Chaikin. With James Rado he co-created the American Tribal Love-Rock Musical HAIR, and their lyrics were set to music by Galt MacDermot. A dynamic stage and life presence, he originated the role of Berger in HAIR. On his own, he authored the Broadway musical Dude, with score by MacDermot. He teamed up with another composer, Steve Margoshes, who wrote the music for the Ragni opus Jack Sound and His Dog Star Blowing His Final Trumpet on the Day of Doom. Soon thereafter, he and Rado rejoined forces to collaborate on a new musical they called Sun. A gifted actor and prolific writer and painter, he originated “paper-napkin art” and he wrote a volume of dynamic poetry under the pen name Virginia Miller. He passed in 1991. His son, Erick Ragni, is an innovative architect.

James Rado (1932-2022) was an actor, songwriter and co-creator of the characters, story, dialogue and lyrics of HAIR. His daydream, since he was a teenager, was to write a Broadway musical. He taught himself how to write lyrics from intense study of Rodgers & Hammerstein, Rodgers & Hart, Cole Porter, etc., as well as pop music from the 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s. In college, he wrote the music and lyrics for two shows: Interlude at the University of Maryland and Cross Your Fingers at the Catholic University of America.

After a two-year gig in the U.S. Navy, in 1956 he moved to New York to be an actor. Five years later he got his first Broadway break when the famed director and teacher Lee Strasberg plucked him from an acting class for a small part in June Havoc’s Marathon ’33 starring Julie Harris. This led to a string of acting roles in Luther, Generation, The Knack and, in 1964, Hang Down Your Head And Die, where he met fellow actor Gerome Ragni. He told Ragni about his daydream of creating a Broadway musical and proposed that they team up to write a show about the hippies and the antiwar movement which was happening all around them. Ragni came aboard with some of his exciting experimental poetry.

In 1966, in the midst of writing HAIR, Rado got a leading role as Richard the Lionhearted in the James Goldman play The Lion in Winter, starring Robert Preston, Rosemary Harris and Christopher Walken. By 1967, Rado and Ragni had a presentable script of HAIR, which they gave to the producer Joseph Papp. Papp liked what he read and decided HAIR would be the inaugural production of his newly-founded New York Shakespeare Festival at The Public Theater on New York City’s Lower East Side. HAIR opened on Broadway in the spring of 1968 and starred Rado and Ragni in the lead roles. The rest is theatrical history. In his later years, Rado continued working on two other pieces: American Rainbow and Sun.

James Rado photo by Marc B. Weiss.

Galt MacDermot (1928-2018). Two-time Grammy and Tony Award-winning composer Galt MacDermot is best known for the music he wrote for the Broadway scores of HAIR and Two Gentlemen of Verona. He garnered his first Grammy for the song “African Waltz” in 1960. His work spans the gamut of performing arts: musicals, ballet scores, film scores, chamber music, the Anglican liturgy, orchestral, poetry, drama accompaniments, band repertory and opera. His work encompasses a wealth of musical genres, crossing the boundaries of jazz, folk, funk, gospel, reggae and classical styles.

The son of a Canadian diplomat, Galt was born and raised in Montreal. He received a Bachelor of Music from Cape Town University, South Africa. Based on his traditional training, he wrote his own arrangements. He moved to New York in 1964 and, three years later, wrote the music for the landmark Broadway production HAIR, which he later adapted for the screen. He formed the New Pulse Band in 1979, which features his original music played by some of the world’s greatest musicians, including Bernard Purdie and Wilbur Bascomb.

Galt’s music is consistently sampled by hip hop and rap artists who find his rhythms perfect for setting their lyrics to, as in Run DMC’s Grammy Award-winning “Down With The King” and Billboard’s top chart-buster, “Woo-Hah!! Got You All In Check” by Busta Rhymes.

Galt MacDermot wrote more than 3,000 songs over his lifetime. His music is listened to and enjoyed in 179 countries worldwide, and HAIR has been performed constantly since its inception in over 40 countries worldwide.

Galt MacDermot is music.

Jerry Lee is Sierra Rep’s Artistic Director. He’s appeared in the SRT productions of Misery, Sunday in the Park with George, Elf The Musical, Shrek The Musical, Camelot, Cabaret, Route 66, Intimate Apparel, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Man of La Mancha, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s State Fair, and The Drowsy Chaperone. As an actor: I Love You…Change, Forbidden Broadway (California Musical Theatre); Life Could Be a Dream, A Christmas Carol (CenterREP); A Little Princess, The Fantasticks (Sacramento Theatre Company); West Side Story (Mountain Play); Orlando, An Iliad, A Tale of Two Cities (SacImpulse Theatre). As a soloist: Rodgers and Hammerstein Celebration (Sacramento Choral Society); Billy Bigelow in Carousel in Concert (Sacramento Philharmonic). As a director: Little Shop of Horrors, Mean Girls JR., Sh-Boom! A Christmas Miracle (World Premiere), Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella, Twelfth Night, Jersey Boys, Clue, Disney’s Winnie the Pooh KIDS, Elvis The Musical (West Coast Premiere), Dogfight, Disney’s The Little Mermaid, Steel Magnolias, Roald Dahl’s Willy Wonka KIDS, I Love You…Change, The Wizard of Oz, Holiday Jukebox, Irving Berlin’s White Christmas, The Robber Bridegroom (SRT); I Love You…Change (STC). Lee began his association with Sierra Rep in 2010 when he stepped in as a replacement in Guys and Dolls.

In 2019, Lee created SRT in Schools, a touring program that brings live professional theatre to Tuolumne County schools at no cost to the schools, students, or their families. In 2023, the program branched out to include Stanislaus and Calaveras counties.