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[Interview with Galt MacDermot : raw footage]

Title: [Interview with Galt MacDermot : raw footage] [videorecording] / [directed by Michael Kantor]
Publication: New York, 2003.

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Status	Format	Access	Call Number	Item Location
Request Appointment Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Performing Arts Research Collections to submit a request in person.	Moving image	Restricted use	NCOX 2195	Performing Arts Research Collections - TOFT

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Description

1 videocassette (VHS) (49 min.) : sd., col. SP; 1/2 in.

Summary

Raw interview footage used for the documentary Broadway, the American musical. Pianist, composer and writer for musical theater Galt MacDermot discusses the rock musical Hair, for which he wrote the music. Subtitled The American tribal love-rock musical, Hair was written during the anti-war movement and youth-sexual revolution of the 1960s. With book and lyrics by James Rado and Gerome Ragni, the show debuted Off-Broadway at the Public Theater, where it was produced by Joseph Papp and directed by Gerald Freedman. The production opened on Broadway at the Biltmore Theatre in April 1968, produced by Michael Butler and directed by Tom O'Horgan, where it ran for 1,873 performances. MacDermot discusses how he came to write the music for Rado and Ragni's show; his view of the show as being about "kids trying to deal with living in America and the draft"; what he liked about Rado and Ragni's work; his birthplace in Canada and his three years living in Africa and studying its music; the musical sources for Hair in a variety of rhythm based styles; the theater backgrounds of Rado and Ragni; MacDermot's feelings about coming to New York in the 1960s and being part of the music scene; his lack of awareness of the Vietnam War at the time he wrote the music for Hair, despite the fact that the draft is a major plot point in the show; producer Joseph Papp's admiration for the show and its score, and his decision to produce it as the inaugural production for his new theater; the show's Broadway director Tom O'Horgan, who possessed an avant garde style; how the show was cast; the company astrologer who played an integral role in guiding the production; the "breaking of the fourth wall," in which performers interacted with the audience at several points during the performance; the attempts to close the show (which depicted of the use of illegal drugs, sexuality, profanity, seeming irreverence for the American flag, and a nude scene) in Boston, and the Supreme Court ruling which directed authorities to let the show run; the themes of the show and what he sees as its message; the structure of the show as a revue rather than a traditional "book" musical; MacDermot's favorite song in the show, Ripped open by a metal explosion; why trained Broadway singers were not desired for the production; Hair's impact on Broadway; whether or not the show is shocking; his lyrics to songs like Hashish and Sodomy, which contained words that made some uncomfortable; the idea to include nudity in the show; his writing of the song Aquarius, which became a number one hit, as well as an anthem for the generation; the song Let the sun shine in, which was recorded by the Fifth Dimension and also became a hit; the decision to let the whole cast sing during most of the songs, which gave the musical a choral sound; the show's debut at the Public Theater, where it became a hit; the creators' desire to take the show to Broadway, and the selection of the Biltmore Theatre as its venue; the decision to feature a fully racially integrated cast, a groundbreaking move at the time, and the inclusion in the show of racial jokes and songs which MacDermot wrote to address the issue of racism; the songs Prisoners in Niggertown and Ripped open by a metal explosion, which MacDermot says addressed the Vietnam War; Hair's legacy in spawning a new generation of performers, and in its influence on popular music; drug culture and its relationship to the show; Hair's presence at the 23rd Annual Tony Awards ceremony in 1969; how he views the 1996 musical Rent in comparison with Hair; Hair's Broadway audience; the use of improvisation in the production. Interview is followed by ca. 2 min. of audio only discussion in which MacDermot reiterates the names of the people involved in Hair's Off-Broadway and Broadway productions.

Alternative Title

Broadway, the American musical
Broadway: the American musical

Subject

Genre/Form

Documentaries and factual works.
Musicals.
Unedited footage.

Note

This interview is one of a group of interviews with 90 individuals used in making the documentary Broadway, the American musical. The completed production is available on NCOX 2058.
Credits for completed production from pbs.org: A film by Michael Kantor ; produced by Jeff Dupre, Michael Kantor and Sally Rosenthal ; written by Marc Fields, Michael Kantor, Laurence Maslon, and JoAnne Young ; directed by Michael Kantor.
Time code on frame.
Contains various takes, at occasional brief intervals, audio continues without sound.

Credits (note)

Cameraman: Mead Hunt.

Performer (note)

Interviewer: Michael Kantor. Interviewee: Galt MacDermot.

Event (note)

Videotaped in New York, N.Y. on April 22, 2003.

Biography (note)

Broadway, the American musical, which aired on PBS in October 2004, is a documentary chronicling the entire history of a unique American art form, the Broadway musical. Each of its six episodes covers a different era in American theater history, and features the Broadway shows and songs which defined the period. The series draws on feature films, television broadcasts, archival news footage, original cast recordings, still photos, diaries, journals, first-person accounts, and on-camera interviews with many of the principals involved in the development of the genre.

Call Number

NCOX 2195

OCLC

162536867

Title

[Interview with Galt MacDermot : raw footage] [videorecording] / [directed by Michael Kantor]

Imprint

New York, 2003.

Credits

Cameraman: Mead Hunt.

Performer

Interviewer: Michael Kantor. Interviewee: Galt MacDermot.

Event

Videotaped in New York, N.Y. on April 22, 2003.

Biography

Broadway, the American musical, which aired on PBS in October 2004, is a documentary chronicling the entire history of a unique American art form, the Broadway musical. Each of its six episodes covers a different era in American theater history, and features the Broadway shows and songs which defined the period. The series draws on feature films, television broadcasts, archival news footage, original cast recordings, still photos, diaries, journals, first-person accounts, and on-camera interviews with many of the principals involved in the development of the genre.

Local Note

Gift of Broadway Film Project, Inc. and Thirteen/WNET, 2005.

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Request Access to Theatre on Film and Tape Archive Special Collections material

Local Subject

Theater and rock music.

Added Author

MacDermot, Galt, interviewee.

Kantor, Michael, 1961- interviewer.

Kantor, Michael, 1961- director.

Hunt, Mead, cameraman.

Broadway Film Project, Inc, donor.

Thirteen/WNET, donor.

Research Call Number

NCOX 2195

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