“My wife screamed and jumped and wouldn’t let me go,” he said. “She told our son, ‘Your Daddy was picked out of all the actors in New York!’ and he said, ‘I want Play Dough.’

“But when Brian D’arcy James was on TV, he yelled, ‘Shrek!’ and my wife said, ‘No! That’s Daddy’s competition. You sit down and listen to Daddy’s CD again!’”

The eight nominations for Hair was especially gratifying to the cast, who had struggled to garner enough money to make the transfer to Broadway. Boasting rave reviews and breaking box-office records, the show is both a critical and commercial success.

“I hope that somehow our circle of friends in the theater community will reach people who don’t go to the theater,” said Gavin Creel, nominated for Best Leading Actor in a Musical for his performance as Claude.

Creel credited the success of the show to his co-stars and the show’s band, saying, “I’ve never been a part of something that has meshed this way.”

The enthusiasm of the cast of Hair is shared by its team offstage, which was demonstrated by Diana Paulson, director of the show, when she said, “You look around and you think, ‘The theater is alive, God d*** it!”