Grab your tie-dye, your peace signs and your anti-war slogans - it's time to let your hair down and let the sun shine.
Florida Players, UF's student-run theater company, is putting on the epic American tribal love-rock musical, "Hair," this weekend at the Nadine McGuire Black Box Theatre.
The show - a story about a tribe of young hippies living in Central Park in the late 1960s - originally debuted in 1967 during the Vietnam War sending bold messages of peace, love, sexuality and racism across the country.
Director Jennifer Shorstein, a senior history major, said "Hair" is more relevant than ever today.
"There's so much going on now that is too similar to the scent that was in the air politically and socially back then," she said.
The show's relevance hasn't solely been noticed by UF, either, as the Florida Players' production is just one of the few that have popped up around the country.
Aside from currently playing on Broadway as a revival, Florida State University and theater companies in Jacksonville and Milwaukee have recently refreshed the moving piece.
Doug Sharf, a junior theater performance major, plays George Berger, the quintessential leader of the hippie tribe who drops out of high school and refuses to go to war.
Sharf said the show's relevance proves that "you can always stand up to what's going on," but more importantly, it instills love and hope that the world can change tomorrow, which is something America must have at a time of war.
"Everyone needs a little more love in their life, and love is the underlying reason to do everything," he said.
And with the recent 50th anniversary of the peace sign, hippie culture is more of a trend now than ever.
So, with the combination of lively rock music and bohemian-chic costumes, it's extremely relatable for today's pop culture offering a fresh piece to the standard happy-go-lucky world of Broadway shows.
"It's more than a fluffy musical," said Kaitlin Lawrence, a sophomore who plays Sheila, an NYU student who protests Vietnam. "It's not as sparkly as other shows because you see the scariness of war."
And in true hippie culture, the show has no rules. There's interaction with the audience, many drug references, people jumping around everywhere and even full nudity.
Show times are Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. The performances are free and open to the public. Tickets can be reserved through the Florida Players' Web site at www.floridaplayers.org.
