Gerome Ragni

Gerome Ragni, born Jerome Bernard Ragni on September 11, 1935, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was an American actor, singer, and songwriter who became best known as a co-creator and original star of the groundbreaking musical Hair. One of ten Italian-American siblings, Ragni grew up in suburban Scott Township, where he participated in school productions before going on to study at Georgetown University and The Catholic University of America. At Catholic University, he discovered a serious interest in theater and began training as an actor under Philip Burton. His professional stage debut came in 1954 in Washington, D.C., where he played Father Corr in Shadow and Substance.

Ragni continued pursuing acting work throughout the late 1950s and early 1960s. In 1963, he appeared in the New York production of War at the Village South Theatre, earning the Barter Theatre Award for Outstanding Actor. The following year, he joined the Broadway production of Hamlet at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre as an understudy for the role of Horatio in the Richard Burton-starring production. He also appeared, uncredited, as the Messenger in the 1964 Warner Bros. film version of that same production. Also in 1964, Ragni made his Off-Broadway debut in the anti-capital punishment musical Hang Down Your Head and Die at the Mayfair Theatre, where he first worked alongside actor James Rado. The production, which had previously run in London's West End and featured future Monty Python members Terry Jones and Michael Palin among its original cast and writers, opened and closed on the same night in New York — October 18, 1964 — after a single performance.

In 1965, Ragni played Tom in The Knack, which opened at the New Theatre, and later joined the production's touring company alongside Rado. During the Chicago run at the Harper Theater, the two actors began developing a working creative partnership, attempting to revive Hang Down Your Head and Die from memory and exploring new material with musicians Corky Siegel and Jim Schwall of the Siegel-Schwall Band. Those plans were ultimately abandoned when the touring company returned to New York. Ragni had also been involved with The Open Theater since its founding as part of the Living Theatre in 1962, and in 1966 he took a leading role in Megan Terry's Viet Rock, which opened at the Martinique Theatre in New York.

The experience of experimental theater, combined with immersion in the counterculture of New York's East Village, inspired Ragni and Rado to collaborate on a musical about hippie culture. The two conducted research by spending time with young people who were dropping out of mainstream society and evading the draft, and by reading widely about youth culture. They wrote lyrics to thirteen songs and completed a first draft of what would become Hair, then brought the project to producer Nat Shapiro, who in turn introduced them to composer Galt MacDermot. MacDermot took the script and returned three weeks later with music for the songs Ragni and Rado had written. After their agent, Janet Roberts, was unable to sell the show to Broadway producers, Joseph Papp of the New York Shakespeare Festival agreed to produce it at his new theater on Lafayette Street, with Gerald Freedman directing. Hair opened at The Public Theater on October 29, 1967, with Ragni playing Berger and Rado playing Claude.

Producer Michael Butler subsequently purchased the rights from Papp for $50,000 and mounted a revised Broadway production directed by Tom O'Horgan, with choreography by Julie Arenal. The show had an interim run at the Midtown nightclub Cheetah before opening at the Biltmore Theatre on April 29, 1968, with Ragni and Rado reprising their original roles. The Broadway cast album, released on RCA Records, reached the top of the U.S. Billboard charts and remained there for a year. Songs from the show became hit singles recorded by artists including Liza Minnelli, The 5th Dimension, Three Dog Night, The Cowsills, Quincy Jones, Barbra Streisand, and others. A 1970 album, DisinHAIRited, collected songs that had been cut from the revised production. The show earned Ragni a Tony Award nomination for Best Musical in 1969.

The Broadway run proved personally turbulent for Ragni. His marriage ended, he joined a cult, and he contributed money to the Black Panther Party and the Yippies. He and Rado traveled to Los Angeles, where they performed their original roles in a production of Hair for five months, making ongoing changes to the show. Upon returning to the Broadway production, Ragni's habit of spontaneously altering the show created conflict, and at one point he and Rado were arrested after walking nude down the aisle during a performance. The dispute was eventually resolved by incorporating Ragni's changes into the official script, after which he rejoined the company and later played Berger in the touring production across multiple cities.

In 1969, Ragni, Rado, and Andy Warhol superstar Viva appeared in Lions Love, a film directed by Agnès Varda and shot in Los Angeles. Ragni subsequently wrote the book for Dude, another Broadway production, extending his career as both a performer and writer. On June 18, 2009, he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Ragni died on July 10, 1991.