Starring Treat Williams, Beverly D’Angelo and John Savage, the film failed to capture the period magic of the play.
Butler presented more than 30 productions of Hair over the years, including the latest: a planned 2021 edition at the El Portal Theater in North Hollywood that told Los Angeles Magazine “It could be the best production of Hair I did.” Original Broadway choreographer Julie Arenal was on board, but that show was delayed by “production challenges” and has not been rescheduled.
NBC was ready to broadcast live hair! in 2019, but plans for the show were scrapped shortly after its producer Craig Zadan’s death and the network decided to refocus on family musicals.
Butler also produced the Broadway shows. reggae (1980), coquelito (1979) and Lenny (1971).
Butler also produced the 1968 counterculture documentary. you are what you eat, which showed the Haight-Ashbury scene along with Los Angeles’s Sunset Strip and New York’s East Village. Butler also had a handful of on-screen credits including Harry and Tonto, Electra Glide in blue and televisions Guide light.
