Review Roundup: Broadway-Bound PIPPIN

As BroadwayWorld reported last night, producers Barry & Fran Weissler and Howard & Janet Kagan will present the American Repertory Theater's 40th Anniversary production of Roger O. Hirson and Stephen Schwartz's Pippin, directed by Diane Paulus, on Broadway in the Spring of 2013. Pippin will begin preview performances on Broadway on Saturday, March 23, 2013 and officially open on Thursday, April 25, 2013 at the Music Box Theatre (239 West 45th Street).

The beloved coming-of-age musical Pippin, with a book by Roger O. Hirson, music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, is directed by Diane Paulus with circus creation by Gypsy Snider of the Montreal-based circus company Les 7 doigts de la main (also known as 7 Fingers) and choreography by Chet Walker in the style of Bob Fosse.

PIPPIN is currently playing through January 20, 2013 at the American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) in Cambridge, MA, where Diane Paulus serves as Artistic Director. The show just opened in Boston and you can check out excerpts from the first review below!

Jeffrey Gantz, Boston Globe: But just as "Pippin" teeters between "Extraordinary" (Pippin's temper tantrum about wanting to be special) and the "Ordinary Life" he shares with Catherine and Theo, the ART production melds extraordinary circus acrobatics and magical illusions with "ordinary" virtues like accomplished acting, singing, and dancing plus a refreshing lack of cynicisM. Miller is an infectiously inviting host, smart, sassy, and swivel-hipped, with a voice that, in "Glory," soars over the chorus. Thomas brings a gawky energy to the title role, and an innocent earnestness that allows him to sing "Corner of the Sky" without the usual Disney overtones. He and Rachel Bay Jones go well together; her long-tressed, squeaky-voiced Catherine is all tender practicality, and in their "Love Song" duet they suggest that love itself is extraordinary. They make good parents for Andrew Cekala's sweet and spunky Theo. Jones also displays fine comic timing in her exchanges with Miller, as Catherine tries to keep Pippin down on The Farm when the plot calls for him to go out in a blaze of glory in the Grand Finale.

"Pippin" has two endings: This is the newer, and better, one, in which, as Pippin, Catherine, and Theo slip offstage to resume their ordinary life, Theo, unable to resist the lure of stardom, sneaks back and is taken in hand by the Leading Player and the rest of the troupe. You can't blame him: anyone who's seen this production knows how magical the theater can be.

Check back later for more reviews!