After a successful Chicago run, back in New York City, Jerry and Jim were astounded by the emerging hippie atmosphere of the Village. They were inspired by the passions of the anti-war protesters in the city streets and identified strongly with the movements for liberation. Employing experimental theater methods as a jumping off place, they explored the form of the American musical. Over a 3-year period, 1965-1967, they created the story, characters, scenes, dialogue and lyrics for a show which they preposterously titled HAIR.
Musicals up to that time had scores of approximately 12 to 15 numbers. HAIR had 20 at the early stage of its development. As consciousness expanded, so did the score. By the time HAIR hit Broadway, it contained 33 songs.
From the start, the authors envisioned HAIR for Broadway and mainstream audiences. As they completed the manuscript, they realized what they needed next. Someone to set the songs to music, and a producer to put the show on the boards. They tried a couple of tunesmiths, but to no avail. Through mutual friends they were led to the composer Galt MacDermot. Galt had already had a pop hit in England of an instrumental he wrote called “African Waltz”. When Jim and Jerry heard the first of their lyrics set to music by Galt, they knew they had found a match. The songs ignited. Galt composed the score for HAIR in about 3 weeks.
