James Radu, creator of ‘Musical Poetry’, dies at 90

Meanwhile, Mr. Radu and Mr. Rajni decided that their lyrics needed better melodies than those he had written, and set out to find a legitimate composer to improve the songs. The search yielded Canadian-born Galt MacDermot, a highly unlikely choice: he was slightly older than his bandmates and straight stock with an eclectic musical background but scant Broadway experience. Mr. MacDermot wrote the tune for versions of “Aquarius” and many other songs, in less than 36 hours. It immediately became clear that it was the perfect choice to adapt Mr. Radu and Mr. Rajni’s lyrical meditations into rock music.

Soon a demonstration broke out in Mr. Papp’s office, where Mr. McDermott sang and played the trio’s new songs. Mr. Bab announced his admiration that he will open the audience with the song “Hair”.

However, after guessing himself, he quickly canceled his show, only to reconsider after a back office audition, this time with Mr. Radu and Mr. Rajni doing the singing. In fact, Hare opened the public theater on October 17, 1967, with 32-year-old Mr. Rajni leading the cast as George Berger – the nominal leader of the Hippie tribe – but without the 35-year-old Mr. Radu who considered him the director Display is too old, Gerald Friedmanto play the doomed protagonist, Claude Huber Bukowski, although the character was almost entirely dependent on Mr. Radu himself.

“Poetry” — an almost impressionistic fairy tale about a flock of flower children on the streets of New York who take LSD, burn recruiting cards, shock tourists and make love before losing their disputed companion, Claude, in the Vietnam War — ran for eight weeks at Anspacher Theater new to the audience, giving rise to word of mouth and reviews that ranged from bewilderment to appreciation.

A wealthy young Midwesterner with political ambitions and powerful anti-war politics named Michael Butler steps in to move the show, first to Cheetah, a nightclub on West 53rd Street, then — much rewritten by Mr. Rado and his associates, and with a new visionary manager, Tom O’Hurgannow in charge – to Broadway, where Mr. Radu has been brought back to the cast as Claude.