Pippin

[porschesrule]

The American Repertory Theater production of Pippin, the Tony Award-winning medieval pop musical fable by Stephen Schwartz and Roger O. Hirson, will transfer to Broadway's Music Box Theatre in March, beginning Broadway previews March 23 towards an April 25 opening night. The musical first premiered 40 years ago at Broadway's Imperial Theatre Oct. 18, 1972, and ran for 1,944 performances.

I saw this show 40 years ago during it's original Broadway run. It starred Ben Vereen (The Leading Player) who was excellent in it and won a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical. Also starring in that production I saw John Rubinstein (Pippin) and Irene Ryan (Berthe). This show remains one of my all-time favorites. Great music!

http://www.playbill.com/news/article/17 ... his-Spring

[Todd]

The Music Box Theater is right next to the Imperial Theater as I recall, isn't it ? If so, it's about as close as you can get to Pippin "coming home."

I, too, love this show. It's one of the few shows I ran out and bought the cast recording to right after seeing it.

I keep hoping that someday, another one of Stephen Schwartz's shows - "Children of Eden" - will play on Broadway. The music in that show is similar to "Pippin" and "Godspell." It had a short run on London's West End, but has never been on Broadway. Mostly, it's played in regional theaters and high school productions. Nevertheless, it's my second favorite musical after "Billy Elliot."

For those not familiar with it, here's a good performance of the title song from a production at Brown University: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYMTlIrgu3g

Sorry for getting a bit off track . . . .and now, back to "Pippin."

[angelenroute]

The Pippin soundtrack has always been a favorite of mine, and I will definitely see this show when it comes to town. Besides the connection to the Imperial, another Billy Elliot connection will come with the supposed leading man and title character. Though Broadway casting sometimes changes a bit, Pippin will most likely be played by the same guy doing it now, former Spider-Man on Broadway, Matthew James Thomas, who I saw perform the role in 2011. And his connection? He's the little boy (all grown up now) who played Posh Boy in the original 2000 movie, Billy Elliot!!!



Posh Boy Pippin!

Sean

[porschesrule]

And the new Pippin marquee goes up at the Music Box Theatre:

https://twitter.com/DuncanStewart1/stat ... 44/photo/1

[atreyu]

Besides the connection to the Imperial, another Billy Elliot connection will come with the supposed leading man and title character. Though Broadway casting sometimes changes a bit, Pippin will most likely be played by the same guy doing it now, former Spider-Man on Broadway, Matthew James Thomas, who I saw perform the role in 2011.

It's official. According to the director, "In answer to questions from the audience, Paulus also indicated that the entire current cast will be transferring to Broadway with the show,"

From http://broadwayworld.com/article/BWW-Re ... e-20130110

I dropped by Cambridge this past week to see the show and will be posting a review soon. It isn't the easiest show to review and it has required a few days reflection. But anyway, be sure to mark a space in the calendar for this when it hits Broadway.

[porschesrule]

Broadwayworld.com has done one of its "Flash Specials" as Pippin gears up for its transfer to Broadway - a stroll down memory lane with videos from prior productions of the musical:

http://broadwayworld.com/article/FLASH- ... l-20130112

[angelenroute]

It isn't the easiest show to review and it has required a few days reflection.

Very acute observation, and I agree it's a show that can easily be done badly. I've seen high school and Off-Off-Broadway productions and loved them both, but I've also seen the DVD production of the stage show with Ben Vereen (love him) and I hated it! Couldn't even finish watching it. It just rides a line of silly and brilliant, and the cast is shouldered with the responsibility of wisely playing it to perfection.

I look forward to seeing this show when it arrives!

[atreyu]

First thing to be said is that I did not see the original Pippin on Broadway nor have I read much about it, so I may well be repeating well-established ideas. I am familiar with many of the songs, though, and they hold up well even after 40 years.

In many ways Pippin is the exact antithesis of BETM. With BETM we have a main character who discovers he has an incredible special talent and struggles with full resolve against the obstacles to fulfill that potential. With Pippin, we have a main character with no special talent meandering through life in search of purpose. So how does an actor portray and how does a director direct a production where the lead role is supposed to be nondescript? That is a major challenge with Pippin the musical. More than most other Broadway shows, even though Pippin is at the center of the action on stage, it's the background surroundings that stand out more than the star. And that's probably how it is "supposed" to be.

The major change with this production is the circus troupe and they certainly are a spectacle. I saw Bring It On the Musical (a very decent show, believe it or not) and thought the cheerleading acrobatic routines there were a fine additional dimension. By comparison, that effectively represents the sideline distraction to supplement the main attraction on field. The only complaint I have about the circus environment is that there is so much going on simultaneously that the audience doesn't know what to focus on. Everyone performing impressive stunts at once may be the nature of a circus in the panorama of a big tent, but the Broadway stage is a different venue. I suppose that means I'll have to see the show again and fully intend to do so, although I may well wait for the Broadway transfer and see the adjustments, if any.

I suspect there will be some change necessitated by the facility. The A.R.T. theatre is small and intimate, allowing for close interaction between the Players and audience. There is one song where this happens directly, when many of the Players come down the aisles and provide lucky audience members a special experience. In another number, the audience is actually invited to sing along. The Music Box isn't large, but not as intimate as the A.R.T.

That brings me to the Players themselves and this review has gone too long without mentioning the dynamic Patina Miller as the Leading Player. As I understand, this was a Ben Vereen Tony-award winning character in the original producion and those would be big shoes to fill. But it sure seems to me that Patina displays the chops for her performance to hold up well on its own. Others will be the judge of that.

Speaking of chops, Andrea Martin brings the house down in her one featured scene. A Grandma's song, as it were, and as much a showstopper as Expressing Yourself.

One item of special interest to BETM fans is a feature dance sequence performed by Fastrada that I guarantee will evoke the same reaction across the board: OMG! Missy, you really need to spend some time at Billy school. Or watch a real professional like Drew Minard to see how that routine is supposed to be done. Okay, maybe it's a little unfair to compare Fastrada to a well-trained ballet Billy, but the presentation makes it unavoidable.

Oh yeah. There's Matthew James Thomas too. He may well have Tony-award caliber abilities, but it's hard to tell from this role. Or maybe this was that talent on display. Pippin is a character of limited skills and awkward. And that comes across throughout the show. Which may well be great acting; I'm not saying it was bad. But neither does it stand out. Plus there were a few times when I got to speculating if another actor might handle certain things differently. Perhaps that's another BETM effect, a different lead actor every performance.

Matthew gets only one brief flash of dance moves to demonstrate he possesses skills in that department. The Fosse-esque choreography is wonderful, but Matthew doesn't get to participate. He has to keep those skills in check in order to remain in character. I get to wondering if the show could tolerate just a little more Matthew/Pippin ability without sacrificing the search for purpose theme.

Vocals are similarly intriguing. Matthew is fully capable of performing the songs. But.... When juxaposed against some powerful Broadway belters like Terrence Mann, Andrea Martin and Patina Miller, the contrast cannot be missed. It would be unfair to characterize it completely as Nick Jonas as Marius in Les Mis 25, but once again, that can't be avoided either, what with Terrence Mann being Broadway's original Javert. Here too, I think this is the way it is meant to be.

So there you have it. Pippin is a show worth seeing, but a little quirky. Sure makes you think, though.

[CJ-Rochester]

Thanks for the review Atreyu. Another friend of mine also saw the show in Cambridge this past weekend and enjoyed it. I am hoping to see "Pippin" on a visit in April.

It sounds like this revival could easily become another "Chicago", in terms of using celebrity casting in various roles to keep it running for a long time.

[angelenroute]

First thing to be said is that I did not see the original Pippin on Broadway nor have I read much about it, so I may well be repeating well-established ideas. I am familiar with many of the songs, though, and they hold up well even after 40 years.

...So there you have it. Pippin is a show worth seeing, but a little quirky. Sure makes you think, though.

Thank you very much for the review! Pippin is definitely a strange one, and its strangeness can serve it well when done right. Perhaps the very fact that it's now a decades-old show and has been performed so many times in local theatres gives the current creators and cast more opportunities to seek out and improve it. I hope so at least. Matthew did an outstanding job singing and moving as Spider-Man on Broadway, so I suspect his fumbling is part and parcel for the role. I do hope he knows he should stand out, regardless, especially once he's back on a Broadway stage. He's really very talented (and a Billy Elliot movie alum) so I want to see him succeed! I'll definitely be seeing Pippin this spring. Thanks again for your review!

Sean