The Economy May be Hairy, But "Hair" Helped with a Food Drive

With many raises cut, jobs in question, and unemployment up in New York, donations to food pantries and shelters are down in this less-than-stellar economy. So the New York Daily News/City Harvest food drive found a unique way to chip in yesterday—aspiring performers auditioning at an open casting call of the musical “Hair” were asked to bring canned goods along with their resumes.
Glossy headshots, pages of sheet music and cans of baked bean, soup and other staples were a common sight at the Public Theater on Friday, where the tryouts were held. By 8:30 am, more than 960 actors had already lined up for their chance to belt out 16 bars of a song and hand over their cans.
But New York, don’t despair if your singing chops weren’t up to par and you weren’t possessed by that renegade-counterculture hippie spirit—you can still donate food.
Donations are accepted at all police and fire stations across the city; Modell’s sporting-goods stores across the five boroughs; and the lobby of The New York Daily News (450 West 33rd Street in Manhattan).
The latest incarnation of “Hair” opens on Broadway on March 9.
So come on, New York, grab a can of pasta fagioli or black bean soup, and get yourself to your nearest police or fire station. Or combine a trip to buy sneakers for little Bobby with a drop-off that’s seriously needed.
Hair, hair!

For Way-Out-There Theater in New York, Go Under the Radar

The “Under the Radar” Theater Festival has kicked off at the Public Theater as well as venues around New York City, so get ready to see 20 productions from seven countries, or, at least, some of them.
The Festival, now in its sixth year, celebrates contemporary theater and had its debut at the St. Ann’s Warehouse in 2005. It has since become an outlet for new theater from around the globe.
This year, the Festival includes such works as “Space Panorama,” in which British director Andrew Dawson recreates a documentary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. The catch? He uses only his hands and a black-draped table. (January 7-17 at the Public Theater, 435 Lafayette Street.)
You can also catch "Silver Stars,” which features a community chorus of gay men (January 8-16, also at the Public); and (at the far end of the out-there spectrum); “Chekhov Lizardbrain,” presented by Philadelphia’s Pig Iron Theatre Company. The…event? play? spectacle? combines neuroscience and Russian Melodrama. Really. (It's at the CSV Cultural Center; 107 Suffolk Street; January 7-17).
Fans can meet at the LuEstehr Lounge at The Public after the shows for drinks and discussion.
You can check undertheradarfestival.com for more information, or at the phone numbers for the individual venues. (The Public Theater can be reached at (212) 967-7555.
So get your adventure on--where else but New York, after all?