Venues
Events
VideoTheater
Hair-raising Celebration
Shear Madness celebrates 30th anniversary
A hilarious whodunit send-up that asks its audiences to participate, Shear Madness is a play based in and around a hair salon. In order to make that world come alive onstage, a set-designer, director and prop master would have to have a slew of set pieces and props: barber chairs, brushes, hair products. But Shear Madness isn’t normal play. In fact, it is the longest running play in the history of the American stage. Through its three decade history, Shear Madness has gone through nine barber chairs, 96 blow dryers, 270 bottles of stage blood, 198 hairbrushes, 1320 cans of hairspray, 1560 bottles of nail polish, and more than 13,000 cans of shaving cream.
On January 29, 2010, Shear Madness will celebrate its thirtieth anniversary in Boston, an honor that safely secures its place in the Guinness World Record books. Set in present-day Boston, Shear Madness follows the murder mystery of a famous concert pianist living above the Newbury Street Shear Madness unisex hairstyling salon. The show invites its audience members to participate as armchair detectives to help solve the murder—a technique that offers fresh opportunities each performance. “We love to be on the cutting edge,” said director Michael Fennimore. “Our goal is to have 30 new jokes and clues in the show for this special night. Our actors are such talented improvisers they love to create something fresh and funny at every show.”
Now in a continued effort to involve its loyal audience, producers Marilyn Abrams and Bruce Jordan have announced an on-line joke writing contest. According to Jordan, “We’re looking for the things about Boston, its institutions and its people that might evoke laughter from locals and out-of-towners alike.” A committee of actors and associate directors will select five “joke writers” who, along with a guest, will win free tickets to a show to have a chance to see their ideas performed onstage. Entries must be submitted by January 15, 2010.
On January 29, 2010, Shear Madness will celebrate its thirtieth anniversary in style by donating all proceeds from that night’s performance to the Actors Fund of America. So the little show that could, that’s been produced in 40 cities in the United States and has had 85 international productions, been translated into 15 foreign languages and has been seen by a worldwide audience of 9 million people with over 1.8 million attending the Charles Playhouse production alone, is ready to celebrate at home on The Charles Playhouse Stage II.
For more information or to purchase tickets, please visit www.shearmadness.com. To enter the online joke contest submit via email to 30thanniversary@shearmadness.com.