"This, folks, is the Psychedelic Stone Age," says Claude, in the Broadway musical production, Hair. Claude opens the show by declaring that "… I'm a genius genius / I believe in Gawd / And I believe that Gawd / Believes in Claude / That's me that's me." Of course, Claude doesn't believe in Gawd—nobody does in the cast of Hair, because they are far too sophisticated, provided one understands that paganism is sophistication….

[A] great deal of energy—and talent—go into the production of this psychedelic extravaganza. It serves up everything from the shock-counter: boys love boys, American flags are desecrated, all those tired old four-letter words are used, there is male and female nudity, a leavening of sacrilege. The music and action are engagingly energetic, without having that frenetic feel which, like when Jimmy Durante starts breaking the piano, is a snakebite substitute for entertainment. The obscenities fail somehow to...