Breaking News: A.R.T.'s PIPPIN is Heading to Broadway in March!

Producers Barry & Fran Weissler and Howard & Janet Kagan 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). Beginning January 8 Audience Rewards members will have access to an exclusive pre sale. For more details, visit www.AudienceRewards.com.

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 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.

Set design for the A.R.T. production of Pippin is by Tony Award-winning designer Scott Pask, costume design by Dominique Lemieux, lighting design by Tony Award-winning designer Kenneth Posner, and sound design by Tony winner and A.R.T. Resident Sound Designer Clive Goodwin. Orchestration is by Larry Hochman (Tony winner for The Book of Mormon), Music Supervision by Nadia Di Giallonardo, and the Music Director is Charlie Alterman.

Royal heir Pippin is spurred on by a mysterious group of performers to embark on a death-defying journey to find his "corner of the sky." The original production of Pippin, directed by Bob Fosse, premiered on Broadway in 1972. It won five Tony Awards and five Drama Desk Awards, and ran for close to 2000 performances before closing in 1977. Pippin is noted for many Broadway standards including "Corner of the Sky," "Magic To Do," "l Guess I'll Miss The Man," "Glory," "No Time at All," "Morning Glow," and "Love Song."

ABOUT THE CREATIVE TEAM:

Roger O. Hirson was nominated for a Tony Award for both his books of Pippin and Walking Happy. He has written extensively for original television anthology series episodes since the 1950s, including contributions for the Dupont Show of the Week, Philco Television Playhouse, Armstrong Circle Theatre, Kraft Television Theatre, Hallmark Hall of Fame, Alcoa Hour, and Goodyear Television Playhouse, among others.

Creator Stephen Schwartz has contributed music and/or lyrics to Godspell, The Magic Show, The Baker's Wife, Working (which he also adapted and directed), Rags, Children of Eden, My Fairytale, and the current Broadway hit, Wicked. He collaborated with Leonard Bernstein on the English texts for Bernstein's Mass and wrote the title song for the play and movie Butterflies are Free. For children, he has written songs for two musicals, Captain Louie and My Son Pinocchio. For films, he collaborated with Alan Menken on the songs for Disney's Enchanted, as well as the animated features Pocahontas and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and wrote the songs for the DreamWorks animated feature The Prince of Egypt. He has released two CDs of new songs entitled Reluctant Pilgrim and Uncharted Territory. His first opera, Séance on a Wet Afternoon, premiered with Opera Santa Barbara in the fall of 2009 and was recently produced by New York City Opera. A book about his career, Defying Gravity, has recently been released by Applause Books. Under the auspices of the ASCAP Foundation, he runs musical theatre workshops in New York and Los Angeles, and is currently the President of the Dramatists' Guild. Mr. Schwartz has recently been given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Other awards include three Academy Awards, four Grammy Awards, four Drama Desk Awards, and a tiny handful of tennis trophies.

Director Diane Paulus is the Artistic Director of the American Repertory Theater at Harvard University in Cambridge, MA. At the A.R.T.: The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess (winner of Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical, nominated for 10 Tony Awards including Best Director), Prometheus Bound, Death and The Powers: The Robots' Opera, The Donkey Show, Johnny Baseball, and Best of Both Worlds. Her other recent work includes Amaluna, Cirque du Soleil's newest creation which had its world premiere in Montreal in April 2012; The Public Theater's Tony-Award winning revival of HAIR on Broadway (2009 Tony Award winner for Best Revival of a Musical, nominated for 8 Tony Awards including Best Director, Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Circle Award and Drama League Award for Best Revival of a Musical), and London's West End; Kiss Me, Kate (Glimmerglass Opera) and Lost Highway (ENO co-production with the Young Vic.) Her opera credits include The Magic Flute (Canadian Opera Company), Il mondo della luna (Hayden Planetarium in New York); Don Giovanni, Le nozze di Figaro, Turn Of The Screw, Cosi fan tutte, and the Monteverdi trilogy Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria, L'incoronazione di Poppea, and Orfeo (Chicago Opera Theater). She is a Professor of the Practice of Theater in Harvard University's English Department, and recipient of an Honorary Doctorate from Boston Conservatory. Paulus received The Drama League's 2012 Founders Award for Excellence in Directing.

Gypsy Snider cofounded Les 7 doigts de la main in Montreal in 2002 with 6 other co-directors. Born into the circus ring as daughter of the founders of San Francisco's Pickle Family Circus, Gypsy began her artistic career at age four. She has been performing ever since. She performed internationally (Cirque du Soleil; Cirque Knie; Pomp Duck and Circumstance; Teatro Zinzanni). An original performer in Loft, Mistress of Ceremonies in Cabaret des 7 doigts de la main, co-creator of Loft and co-director of Traces (nominated Outstanding Choreography, New York Drama Desk Awards, TOP 10 TIME Magazine in 2011, Special Guest in America's Got Talent). She teaches and directs at multiple circus centers.

Choreographer Chet Walker was a close collaborator of Bob Fosse, co-created and choreographed the Tony and multi-international-award-winning musical Fosse, and appeared in Fosse's musicals The Pajama Game, Pippin, Dancin', and Sweet Charity. Other Broadway credits include Lorelei, The Ambassadors, and On the Town. He is the recipient of the L.A. Dramalogue Award for Best Choreography for Best Little Whorehouse in Texas; Sweden's equivalent of the Tony Award for Best Choreography for Annie Get Your Gun; and Chicago's Joseph Jefferson Award for his co-choreography of Pal Joey at the Goodman Theatre. He has also choreographed and directed works for Cirque du Soleil, Compania Internacional de Teatro Musical in Buenos Aires (where he is co-Artistic Director), Jacob's Pillow (where he serves as Director of the Jazz Program), for television in the US and internationally. He is also Artistic Director of WALKERDANCE, a nonprofit Musical Theatre Dance Company.

For more information, visit www.PippinTheMusical.com.

Photo Credit: Michael J. Lutch