Tribal Musical ‘Hair’ Gets Covered in Brea Revival : O.C. Theater: The young, clothed cast gets some perspective on the ‘60s in an attempt to focus on the play’s challenges to the status quo.

BREA —  Reviving “Hair,” the counterculture musical that heralded the dawning of the Age of Aquarius with profane lyrics and onstage nudity, is presenting an age-related challenge at Brea’s Curtis Theatre.

Producer Mary Engwall and director Gary Krinke have avoided controversy by cutting the famous nude scene at the end of the first act. Now their main task will be persuading audiences that Generation X actors from the politically correct, safe-sex 1990s actually are members of a hippie tribe from the rebellious, sexually liberated 1960s.

“We want them to be the ‘60s when they perform it,” said Engwall, as opposed to “a bunch of kids pretending to be hippies.”

Most actors in the production, which opens a four-week run tonight in the 199-seat playhouse, weren’t born when the “tribal rock musical” premiered off-Broadway more than a quarter-century ago. To them, “Hair” initially was little more than a colorful period piece, a nostalgic look at a chaotic decade when their parents were young.

Krinke said the long hair, hippie garb, lava lamps and psychedelic music of the flower children prompted the young cast members to ask: “What were they doing?” And the actors “just howled,” he said, when directed to simulate a ‘60s-style orgy by rolling around on the floor.

“It’s amazing to talk to them about the ‘60s,” said Krinke, chair of the theater arts department at Fullerton College. His job as director, he said, is to dig back into the decade and make it relevant for the actors.

A member of the original off-Broadway cast, Danny Miller, provided those actors with some perspective on the turbulent ‘60s and the purpose of “Hair.” Miller, a hippie turned drug and alcohol counselor, contacted the show’s producers when he heard they were reviving it. Among the tips he gave was that they focus not on the musical’s sex and drugs but on the way it attacks the status quo.

Some themes explored in “Hair,” such as pollution and the tragedy of war, are as current now as they were three decades ago. Krinke pointed out that the musical’s celebration of peace, love and understanding took on special meaning recently for audiences in war-torn Sarajevo, who braved sniper fire to reach a bombed-out theater.

“It’s a very contemporary statement,” Krinke said. “When (Sarajevo actors) do ‘Let the Sunshine In,’ it’s a prayer for them. It takes on a whole new meaning.”

As for the decision to drop the nude scene--the only thing that many people remember from “Hair”--that was an artistic choice, Krinke said, not a concession to community values in Brea.

“(Nudity) was put in the Broadway show, I feel, to sell tickets,” Krinke said. The musical “obviously stands on its own,” he said, even if the actors won’t be standing around in the altogether.

Krinke and Engwall have fielded a lot of questions about the nudity issue, they said, including calls from a few actors with an exhibitionist streak; they refused to audition if they couldn’t take off their clothes on stage.

Although the nudity is gone, Krinke and Engwall are retaining the profanity and the satirical references to religion and middle-class morality that made “Hair” stand on end.

“We’re staying true to the script,” Engwall said. Promotional material for “Hair” cautions that the musical contains “adult language and mature subject matter.”

“It’s amazing what some people find offensive,” said Krinke, who regards the content of “Hair” as “very tame” by today’s standards. Nevertheless, Krinke and Engwall predict that some of the musical numbers, such as “Hashish” and “Holy Orgy,” will still raise some eyebrows.

But that’s what they’re hoping, because choosing to bring “Hair” to the stage is making a statement about their new professional theater group, Prism Productions. Their goal is to challenge Brea’s cultural establishment.

“It will alert the community as to what we’re about,” said Engwall, formerly of the Cultural Arts Commission and who has collaborated with Krinke for 12 years on theater projects.

Prism wants to “add to the possibilities” of stage offerings in Brea, he said, rather than play it safe with traditional fare such as “Oklahoma!” and “The Music Man.”

“I just am not after the standards,” said Krinke.

Engwall promises that “Hair” will take the audience on an “emotional roller-coaster ride” as they relive--or discover--the turmoil of the 1960s through a series of 26 musical numbers, including such hit songs as “Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In,” “Good Morning Starshine” and “Easy to Be Hard.” The slim plot line follows Claude (played by Brean Rod Burton) as he wavers between a hippie tribe and the military.

Engwall said she hopes this production of “Hair” will be viewed by audiences as chronicling the youth rebellion of the ‘60s, not as an endorsement of illegal drug use or promiscuity.

“It brings you back to that time,” Engwall said. “It makes a report on an era. That’s what happened, that’s the way it was.”

* Prism Productions presents the musical “Hair” at the Curtis Theatre, 1 Civic Center Circle, Brea. Performances continue Fridays-Saturdays at 8 p.m., Saturdays-Sundays at 2 p.m. Through Nov. 20. $7 to $15. (714) 990-7722.