The Way In: Lisa Barnes

The fun revival of Hair on Broadway reminds me daily of the moment I drank the Kool-Aid. 1972 - Los Angeles, the mecca of divorce, drugs and too much sun highlighting my grand teen angst. I snuck into The Aquarius Theatre in Los Angeles with three other under-agers and found my purpose in life. They got my despair and gave me hope - and I knew I had to do for others what that experience did for me.
 
I sat on the steps of the theatre afterwards, sobbing. Deeply shy at the time, I found the courage to run up to the cast members as they left the theatre, hugging and thanking them all. Then the courage to get in front of up to 2,000 strangers and emote in hopes that someone out there might feel "gotten".
 
[Picture above: from a production of Well at Vermont Stage with member of the original Broadway cast of Hair, Dale Soules.]