Well, dear readers, once upon a time there was a show called Pippin, choreographed and directed by someone named Bob Fosse. It was, in its own way, a revolutionary show, in the structure but mostly in Fosse’s production. Taking his cue from the show’s brilliant opening number, Magic to Do, Fosse pulled out all the theatrical stops, aided and abetted by the incredible and clever sets of Tony Walton, the great costumes of Patricia Zipprodt, the lighting by Jules Fisher and the wonderful orchestrations of Ralph Burns. All that magic helped define the musical Pippin, with a book by Roger O. Hirson and music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz. It’s not much of a secret that there was acrimony between the writers and Mr. Fosse, but in the end the show was a triumph – some would say style over substance, but that would not be accurate, because the writing in Pippin is really top-notch, both from Mr. Hirson and Mr. Schwartz. Forty years later it became fashionable to knock the writing, but no one was really knocking it back in the day and audiences flocked to the show. Fosse’s “vision” was on the dark side, but it contained enough pizazz that it never overtook the musical theater aspects of the show. The production was iconic and was often imitated, but no one ever got close to what Fosse did with the show.
I saw it seven or eight times on Broadway – the original cast, for the most part, was gone – I saw Michael Rupert, Betty Buckley and Northern J. Calloway in the leads, and Patti Karr and Lucie Lancaster as Fastrada and Berthe. They were all great, and the ensemble was still had a few of the originals. I saw it on tour, too, but by that time it was getting sloppy and tired. I only saw one production subsequent to that, a rather horrifying one at Papermill Playhouse. Flash forward to 2013 and Diane Paulus’ brand new production. Her “vision” for the show was Pippin as circus. Other than the circus tent and various circus goings on, it’s really not that radically different in feel, which is interesting. The show was a critical darling and everyone praised the originality of the concept. Only, what few know is that the concept was hardly original. I auditioned for Pippin a year before the show ever got to Broadway – auditions were held in New York and LA. We were all told that the concept of the show was circus-like and asked if we could do various circus things, like tightrope walking, acrobatics and swinging. I was not an actor who lied about such things, so I said no. Somewhere along the way, Fosse went in his other direction and that was that. The national tour is currently playing in LA at the Pantages and last night I went and saw it.
So, first things first – the new production works very well. The circus stuff is well integrated and works in its own way just as Fosse’s take worked in its own way. The original Pippin ran two hours and ten minutes without intermission. I could never imagine the show with an intermission, but one was inserted at Papermill and I hated it – it literally stalled the show just when you needed to move to the next part of the story, and it never recovered because what was their act two was never compelling enough after the intermission, where as the original just kept moving forward with incredible energy and pace. This new version also has the intermission (following Morning Glow) but they have to have it, because they’ve added new dialogue, and a few longer parts of key numbers that add twenty minutes to the show, which now clocks in at two and a half hours not counting the intermission. I still feel it creates problems in the second act but it is what it is. The choreography by Chet Baker is one of those “in the style of Bob Fosse” things. I think he basically covers all the original steps in one way or another throughout the show. The one thing I didn’t think would make it into the show was the signature move on the word “ramble” in Corner of the Sky, but it’s there at the very end of the show and in the tour it actually has incredible resonance because the person doing it is John Rubinstein, who plays Charles and who, of course, was the original Pippin.
The production is very colorful and has some very clever things in it. Did it make me ever forget the original? Of course not. Well, actually it did – only once – and it’s the one place where this production bests the original and that is No Time at All. I have no idea how it works with anyone else, but Andrea Martin is just as great as you’ve heard – her timing is phenomenal and the staging of the number is just great – it’s more of a showstopper than it ever was in the original. I think this may be the first time I’ve seen the “Theo” ending and I have to say I like the original better. People for whatever reasons seem to have a problem these days with the original simple ending. But it worked perfectly for me, but I know they’ve changed it several times over the years.
The cast of the tour is a mixed bag. I accepted the gender change of the Leading Player, but the lady doing the role simply had no energy, was not a great dancer, had a very good voice but riffed way too much for my taste, so the dynamism just wasn’t there and it was harmful to the energy of the show. From everything I’ve seen of Patina Miller, she had the dynamism. We just missed the original Pippin, so we had to tour Pippin and while he was fine, he didn’t thrill me either in acting or singing. The Fastrada was fine, and John Rubinstein is clearly having a grand time as Charles, although Eric Berry’s original performance was absolute perfection (Mr. Berry played the entire run AND the entire tour). But the show belonged to Andrea Martin, who is barely onstage for twenty minutes, if that. What a treasure this woman is. The band was great (our bass player, Trey Henry is the bassist), although I wasn’t in love with the new orchestrations. The set and costumes were excellent, and the ensemble was grand fun and just right. There were some changes in the dialogue and not for the better and I believe I heard a snippet of a new few lines of a song. The audience loved it. In attendance was George Hamilton. So, all in all, a very entertaining evening and a job well done. I’d probably see it again if the opportunity arose.
Prior to seeing the show, I had to come on strong with the production manager of a huge commercial shoot up the street – these people just think they can do whatever they want and just be tough with anyone who might complain. While that may work with some, it does not work with me and he realized that instantly, at which point he offered me some dough, which I refused, and then came up with a way to make me happy, by coning off a parking space for me. Then I went to Dr. Chew, who happily said the tooth extraction had healed perfectly. He cleaned Ye Olde Teethe, and then I came home. I had a few telephonic conversations, I did a bit of work on the computer, had a brief visit from a local CD dealer and then was on my way to sup before the show.
My dining partner was stuck in hideous traffic and was almost an hour late, but we managed to have a couple of dishes designed to share – a small weird salad and some fried chicken bits and a waffle. It was fine, but very tiny.
After the show, I came back to the San Fernando Valley and had to eat an actual meal, so I had some eggs benedict and french fries.
Today will be devoted solely to the New York Kritzerland shows. There is much organizing to be done and a lot of details to work out. We’re only a week and a half away and if we don’t get at least thirty more people in for each of the four shows, this is not going to be pretty. So, please spread the word to your East Coast friends. I’ll also eat and hopefully pick up some packages.
Tomorrow will be more of the same, then I’m seeing some play. Then it’s even more of the same throughout the weekend and then I have to get everything prepared for the trip to New York.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, organize a lot o’ stuff, eat, hopefully pick up some packages, and organize more stuff. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Ask BK Day, the day in which you get to ask me or any dear reader any old question you like and we get to give any old answer we like. So, let’s have loads of lovely questions and loads of lovely answers and loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy to have seen Pippin redux.