Everything has its season... and this season, PIPPIN returns to Broadway for the first time since it first thrilled audiences 40 years ago! With a beloved score by Tony Award nominee STEPHEN SCHWARTZ (GODSPELL, WICKED) that includes the favorites "Magic to Do," "Glory" and "Corner of the Sky," PIPPIN tells the story of a young prince on a death-defying journey to find meaning in his existence. Will he choose a happy but simple life? Or will he risk everything for a singular flash of glory?
Direct from an acclaimed run at Boston's American Repertory Theater, PIPPIN is directed by DIANE PAULUS, director of the 2010 and 2012 Tony Award winners for Best Musical Revival (HAIR and THE GERSHWINS' PORGY AND BESS). This captivating production features sizzling choreography in the style of BOB FOSSE and breathtaking acrobatics by LES 7 DOIGTS DE LA MAIN, the creative force behind the nationwide sensation Traces. Join us... for a magical, unforgettable new PIPPIN.
Does it come off? Up to a point. The circus performers are sensational, but their antics overwhelm Mr. Walker's dances, which are in any case devoid of Mr. Fosse's sly wit. Patina Miller, lately of 'Sister Act,' is the Leading Player, a role created four decades ago by Ben Vereen, and her in-your-face performance sets the tone for Ms. Paulus's relentlessly aggressive staging, which is big, noisy and mostly humorless, a 'Pippin' that looks as if it had been born not in Cambridge but Las Vegas.
There are shows that revive aging material through revisionism. And there are productions that prefer to celebrate the pull of nostalgia, especially when the songs are great. 'Pippin,' the brilliant Diane Paulus revival of the fantastically playful musical by Stephen Schwartz and Roger O. Hirson, with a special place in the theater-loving hearts of many, somehow combines the best of those two approaches, at once re-energizing this 40-year-old musical with freshness, vitality and eye-popping exuberance without ever making it feel like the crucial sweetness and naivete of the piece has been undermined or exploited.
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