Pippin Non-Equity Tour

[nightnic001]

Posted: 8/8/16 at 2:36pm

I Just found some footage from the new tour, and wow, it looks very cheap. I know the original set wasn't much, but it looked high quality. This is 2 staircases and a cyc with lighting...

 

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dj9uefkEih0

 

[Alexander Lamar]

Posted: 8/8/16 at 2:44pm

Yikes. Acrobatics look...rough. Dancing looks pretty sloppy. And the hula-hoop is covered in...wrapping paper? Looks like a bad HS rip-off. 

[wish i were here2]

Posted: 8/8/16 at 2:48pm

Oh my god. This looks terrible. The set reminds me of that REALLY scaled back tour of Ragtime that played earlier this year.

Updated On: 8/8/16 at 02:48 PM

[ethan231h]

Posted: 8/8/16 at 2:49pm

wow that looked bad....but i just did some research...rehearsals start in december of this year so possibly this is just to build press before an official cast is set etc?

 

https://www.backstage.com/casting/pippin-2017-natlinternational-tours-109107/

Updated On: 8/8/16 at 02:49 PM

[nightnic001]

Posted: 8/8/16 at 2:51pm

ethan231h said: "wow that looked bad....but i just did some research...rehearsals start in december of this year so possibly this is just to build press before an official cast is set etc?

 

I don't think this footage will be getting any good press.

"

 

[RippedMan]

Posted: 8/8/16 at 3:12pm

It's likely the cast, and yes, it looks insanely cheap. I can't remember the background for the original revival, but it wasn't anything huge? Why not just use the circus tent motif. Wonder how it ends? Since there's no reveal here...

[trpguyy]

Posted: 8/8/16 at 3:13pm

It is the same physical package from the 1st national tour. The tent structure was obviously not put up for this press footage, and whether or not it will be used for the tour remains to be seen.

[trpguyy]

Posted: 8/8/16 at 3:15pm

RippedMan said: "It's likely the cast, and yes, it looks insanely cheap."

It's likely not. It appears that they're actors from the current Dutch Apple production of Mary Poppins. While totally possible that some of those actors will also be hired for the Pippin tour, this is simply press footage for the sake of press footage. It's standard practice for non-Equity tours.

[wicked4l]

Posted: 8/8/16 at 3:38pm

^^^ Correct. Final callbacks don't happen until next month. The tour will have a new cast and choreographer than what is seen in the promo.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 8/8/16 at 11:46pm

I was going to mention that final callbacks haven't even happened yet & the fact that the tour isn't starting until January 2017. So that's clearly not the cast, just some [bad] press footage. Hopefully the real thing won't look like that.

[BroadwayConcierge]

Posted: 8/8/16 at 11:47pm

[RippedMan]

Posted: 8/8/16 at 11:53pm

I've worked for Prather and have heard most of it is cast from the commercial/current productions. I'm sure they are still auditioning some people. 

And that's what it will look like. Why would you spend the money for a commercial and then have the production look BETTER than the commercial? That makes no sense. 

[Patti LuPone FANatic]

Posted: 8/9/16 at 6:45pm

Some of the performers seem to be a bit out of shape, is what I noticed.  

Updated On: 8/9/16 at 06:45 PM

[trpguyy]

Posted: 8/9/16 at 8:22pm

^ come on now, that's not terribly helpful. 

 

I for one am curious to see how much of the circus element holds up for this production. Anyone who is familiar with the Broadway production or 1st national knows that acrobats aren't really made in America, and they're very expensive to import. 

[ACL2006]

Posted: 8/9/16 at 10:44pm

Also, I find their schedule interesting. In the original casting notice it said the tour would play for 4 months in the USA, then tour Asia for 4 months, then return to the USA for 4 months. The tour has bookings from Jan. - June 2017 now. I'm guessing Asia maybe not be as long, maybe just 2 months now(July & August)?

[trpguyy]

Posted: 8/9/16 at 10:52pm

Maybe Asia got pushed back even more, or fell through. They play the Dutch Apple theater August-September 2017. 

[ACL2006]

Posted: 8/9/16 at 11:21pm

looks like the Asia stops may have gotten cancelled altogether. 

[Jakeevan942]

Posted: 8/9/16 at 11:38pm

The below text comes from an interview the staff from Prather did when they announced their season for the dinner theater in Lancaster, PA. It still mentioned the China run, even with the August-Spetember run at Dutch Apple. It also mentions their talks with Seven Digits to contract in acrobats for the tour. Though rare, some of the performers from the equity tour might actually wind up in this. I know on the non-equity Bring It On tour that 2 of the tour swings came from the Broadway company-I guess they dropped equity, since they were professional cheerleaders who didn't intend to keep doing theater. The same could be said for some of the acrobats from the Equity company of Pippin.

It's also worth saying that each of the tours that Prather has put out recently have been about 2 trucks. The current Pippin was 6, so it's going to be a physically cut down production, even if they are using the same base physical show package.

 

Article from Lancaster Online:

A highlight of next year’s schedule is a production of the circus-style, 2013 Broadway revival of the Stephen Schwartz musical, “Pippin,” which Dutch Apple’s parent company, Prather Entertainment Group, will also produce for a national and international tour.

“This is the biggest and most important, high-profile production that our two dinner theaters and this company and my family has ever produced,” Will Prather, Dutch Apple executive producer, said by phone from Florida, where his family also runs the Broadway Palm. “It’s a real big feather in our cap.

“We’re actually forming a new corporation (within weeks) — a new vehicle for the Prather family and the Prather brand to produce at a higher level,” Prather said.

The Tony Award-winning reimagining of “Pippin” is in its second year of a national tour, Prather noted.

“Our two dinner theaters have the first two regional-theater productions of ‘Pippin’ that are going to happen, post-tour,” Prather said.

The story of a search for the meaning of life by Pippin, son of King Charlemagne, the musical will run at the Dutch Apple Aug. 17-Sept. 23 of next year. It features such numbers as “Corner of the Sky” and “Magic to Do.”

The Prather Group has the 2017 national touring rights to the show, and also plans to tour it internationally to China.

“We will be rehearsing the entire production and building it right there in Lancaster at our brand-new scene shop, warehouse and rehearsal space,” Prather said.

Auditions for the production start this month in New York City for the singing, dancing and acting roles in “Pippin.”

The Prather group also is negotiating to work with the same Canadian company that designed the circus elements for the recent Broadway revival to provide six to eight “Pippin” performers with special skills as aerialists, acrobats and more.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 8/9/16 at 11:48pm

They had originally planned a non-eq Bridges tour as well, that fell through. And in the original post, I think it wasn't set in stone that it would go abroad, but rather an idea.

[trpguyy]

Posted: 8/10/16 at 12:21am

If 7 Fingers is still attached, I think it's much more likely that the acrobats would be fresh graduates from the École Nationale de Cirque rather than Pippin alumni. 

 

While unlikely that I'd be able to catch this tour, I am curious how it turns out, as this show is close to me. 

[gleek4114]

Posted: 8/10/16 at 3:45am

trpguyy said: "If 7 Fingers is still attached, I think it's much more likely that the acrobats would be fresh graduates from the École Nationale de Cirque rather than Pippin alumni. 

 

While unlikely that I'd be able to catch this tour, I am curious how it turns out, as this show is close to me. 

 

"

I feel the same way. I saw the revival on Broadway once, and three times on tour. I really didn't want to say goodbye, which makes me kinda want to see this even though I know it will be a pale imitation of the version I know and love. If the talent is there, I'll be at least entertained. It's coming within two hours drive of me, so I'm tempted to say the least. 

[ACL2006]

Posted: 8/10/16 at 10:22am

WOW! To scale this back from 6 trucks to possibly only 2. Uh-oh. It also sounds like it'll go straight from The Dutch Apple Theater in Lancaster right down to the Broadway Palm Theater in Ft. Myers, Fl. Maybe it'll be in Asia starting in Nov. 2017??

[Jakeevan942]

Posted: 8/10/16 at 11:14am

FYI They pulled the promo video off Youtube already-We probably scared them.

Most bus and trucks from the major companies (Networks, Troika, etc) are about 3 truck. Prather is smaller scale, booking almost entirely C and D tour cities-You aren't going to see one of their tours in a season alongside Mormon or Wicked.

 

Last year, they had Million Dollar Quartet on the road, which was 2 trucks as a Equity tour, so no more than 2 trucks, and the year before they bought Memphis from Networks for spring of 2015, which had been 3 trucks, and they cut from there.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 8/10/16 at 12:08pm

Outside of it's week in Wilmington, DE, it's basically one & two nighters for this tour. Many dates in May & June haven't been announced. The tour starts in Spokane, WA on Jan. 12.

 

Spokane, WA: Jan. 12-15

Springfield, IL: Jan. 18

Paducah, KY: Jan. 19

Lexington, KY: Jan. 20-22

Niceville, FL: Jan. 24

Columbus, GA: Jan. 25

Galveston, TX: Jan. 29

Baton Rouge, LA: Jan. 30

Lawrence, KS: Feb. 2

Sarasota, FL: Feb. 17-18

Gainesville, FL: Feb. 19

Lakeland, FL: Feb. 20

Norfolk, VA: Feb. 24-25

Wilmington, DE: March 7-12

Toledo, OH: March 16-19

Utica, NY: March 22-23

New Brunswick, NJ: March 24-25

Easton, PA: March 26

Elmira, NY: March 28-29

Worcester, NY: March 30 - April 2

Wilmington, NC: April 8-9

Bowling Green, KY: April 11

Bloomington, IN: April 12-13

West Lafayette, IN: April 15

Evansville, IN: April 17

Fort Wayne, IN: April 18

Green Bay, WI: April 19

Springfield, OH: May 2

Shippensburg, PA: May 3

Orono, ME: May 9

Brooklyn, NY: May 14

San Luis Obispo, CA: June 2

 

 

[Kylechristopherwest]

Posted: 8/10/16 at 12:22pm

Apparently the video has been removed...