BWW JR: Trapped But Happy At PIPPIN

If I didn't know that Pippin was written by two men in the 1970's, I might think it was a message from a 2013 mother to her child about finding happiness. I personally missed the original Broadway production which closed when I was four years old (stop doing math!), but enough high school productions (featuring a different version of the book) made me miss what makes this show so universally appealing and meaningful: What began as an allegory of a young man in search of himself presents, for people my age, as a reflection of our sacrifices and triumphs as parents who may have given up loftier dreams for the deeper sense of satisfaction that comes from raising children. Meanwhile, for kids, the show may be about the constant hunger young people feel when they are chasing ambitions and deciding who they will be. Stephen Schwartz and Roger O. Hirson were writing about a young man aspiring to find his purpose, while I felt the show was a perfect documentation of my current midlife crisis. Universally appealing.

OK, that's getting a bit heady. Let's go back to how my evening began. I was yelling at my daughter. Because we were late for the show. And I've REALLY been looking forward to seeing this production since it opened last spring. And as we were finally heading out the door, my Young Lady casually mentioned that she hoped the show wasn't too scary and did I know that she is scared of clowns? And Kings and Queens? And Fire? WHICH ARE ALL IN THIS PRODUCTION? Nope. Didn't know that.

As the performance began, any hesitation on her part was quickly replaced by amazement. My Young Lady, who (did I mention) recently made the gymnastics team was blown away by the cirque style display of acrobats, dancers and aerialists while I reminisced about the days when my spine used to be bendy. The spectacle factor here is through the roof and by staging the show in a fictional circus and making the story-telling troupe circus performers, director Diane Paulus' boundless imagination has exploded all over the stage. The result is breathtaking. A few minutes in, as Leading Player Patina Miller was setting up the story, my daughter became confused. Was this a Kingdom or a circus? I had to explain to her that it is meant to be a troupe of circus performers telling the tale of Pippin and his kingdom. Sort of a play within a circus within a play. And the lines get blurred as the show goes on, most notably when Catherine, Pippin's love interest (and the self-sacrificing mom I identified with) is dreading the end of a scene even as she plays it. This sparked an interesting discussion between my Young Lady and I about whether or not the actors were all in agreement about what was real and what was story and where the lines begin to blur. And you see that? I'm getting heady again.

In terms of appropriateness, there were certainly a few borderline moments, but nothing a theatre-savvy child over age eight shouldn't be able to handle. There is a scene where Pippin is discovering his sexual identity but it's told through suggestive dance and moves quickly. There is no nudity or literal eroticism, just the suggestion of something my daughter didn't fully understand but got the gist of.

In the original production, after Pippin gives up his lofty ambitions for a life with Catherine and her son, she asks him how he feels. "Trapped," he answers, "but happy." While this is pretty on the money for many of us parents, I like this new ending much better. It's more circle of life and gives us another wash of explosive circus awesomeness. But that's all I'll say. No spoilers at Broadwayword Jr.

@BroadwayWorldJr