How do the lyrics of “Easy to Be Hard” (from Hair) resonate today?
In Hair, it was a young person telling a young man who she’s in love with, “You take my feelings for granted and you treat me with no respect.” Whenever I do “Easy to Be Hard”…first of all it’s a beautiful song. If you listen to the lyrics, basically it says that you can’t preach about being a good person. You got to show it. You got to act it. The song is personal and it’s communal. The audience takes it as an inspirational message. When I say “Ronnie Dyson,” what comes to mind? My pal, Ronnie! When he came into Hair, he was still a teenager. He was a baby, but we were pals. I loved Ronnie. He had a beautiful, beautiful voice. I remember him doing a parody like he was Diana Ross. I just remember him being funny, playing and joking all the time. Ronnie was always doing something to make everybody laugh. If he was just with you, then you would make you laugh. I never saw him angry. How would you describe Lutibelle to someone who had never seen Purlie? (Laughs) Okay, well first of all
