Bradley Benjamin News

Hampstead Theatre presents the world premiere of Fiona Doyle's The Strange Death of John Doe, inspired by real events. This powerful and poignant new play is a Hampstead Theatre commission and a finalist for The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize 2018. It will be directed by Artistic Director Edward Hall and the cast includes Damola Adelaja, Charlotte Bradley, Benjamin Cawley, Callie Cooke, Maynard Eziashi, Nick Hendrix, Rhashan Stone and Abigail Thaw.

Four-Time Tony Award Winner PIPPIN is heading to Europe with Broadway star Kyle Dean Massey to join in Amsterdam.

Four-Time Tony Award Winner PIPPIN is heading to Europe with Broadway star Kyle Dean Massey to join in Amsterdam.

There are some shows that tempt a reviewer to write a lengthy essay going into great detail about the many reasons why the show succeeds or fails. Other shows make a reviewer simply want to say, 'Just go see this show,' and nothing more. While there is, of course, much to say about the touring production of the Broadway musical Pippin, now at Providence Performing Arts Center, the production's merits can absolutely be summed up briefly: See. This. Show.

The extraordinary journey of the Broadway revival of PIPPIN began at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge a few years back, and now that triumphant Tony Award-winning musical, directed by Diane Paulus, is back in Boston via the national tour. While some tweaks have since been made to the production that had its Broadway tryout at the A.R.T., the show's exuberant joie de vivre and circus-inspired excitement are still intact. If anything, the show's politics and humor have been heightened in this iteration, thanks largely to its sensational cast.

The 1970's was an era of self discovery, rebellion and personal exploration. Broadway was morphing from the stock musical comedy formula towards the darker issues of life not usually seen on the musical stage . There was a young Stephen Sondheim delving into the deep interpersonal relations of marriage in COMPANY and FOLLIES, while Michael Bennett had gathered a group of young dancers who were exposing their inner demons and life stories in A CHORUS LINE. Meanwhile the composer Stephen Schwartz began his career with PIPPIN and would later write hit scores for GODSPELL and WICKED

The National Tour of PIPPIN is, hands down, the finest touring production to land at The McCallum Theatre during my tenure in the desert cities. Passionate. Polished. Near Perfection! It is a glorious spectacle of sight, sound and immaculate storytelling that, despite its mesmerizing visual feast of circus spectacle, remains honest and intimate and, at every turn, very human.

The "magic to do" in Broadway's "Pippin" owes as much to simple storytelling and relatable "players" as to actual magic tricks and acrobatic wonders. A knife-throwing act here, a disappearing act there, the grand circus tent concept that helped the musical win its Tony Award for Best Revival fits flawlessly. But a beautiful new conclusion and a quest for meaning set to Stephen Schwartz's spellbinding music also capture the soul of live theatre. On that count, nothing has changed since the show's 1972 premiere. Young prince Pippin searches for his "corner of the sky," dabbling in war, sex and politics as a "Lead Player" guides him toward one grand "finale."

Experience the thrilling 2013 Tony Award-winning musical PIPPIN - described as 'An eye-popping, jaw-dropping, VISUALLY STUNNING extravaganza. THE THRILL OF THE SEASON!' by NY1. PIPPIN will have a limited engagement at Sacramento Community Center Theater from Dec. 29 - Jan. 3. The cast includes Gabrielle McClinton as Leading Player; Brian Flores as Pippin; John Rubinstein, who played the role of Pippin in the original Bob Fosse-directed Broadway production, as Charles; Sabrina Harper as Berthe; Bradley Benjamin as Catherine; and Kate Wesler as Fastrada.

Happy Holidays! It's the last week to vote for the 2015 BroadwayWorld Seattle Regional Awards! Check out the latest live stats as of December 18. Nominations were reader-submitted and after the nomination period ended, BroadwayWorld's local editors proofed the list for eligibility and errors. Voting runs through December 31!

Experience the thrilling 2013 Tony Award-winning musical PIPPIN - described as 'An eye-popping, jaw-dropping, VISUALLY STUNNING extravaganza. THE THRILL OF THE SEASON!' by NY1. PIPPIN will have a limited engagement at Sacramento Community Center Theater from Dec. 29 - Jan. 3. The cast includes Gabrielle McClinton as Leading Player; Brian Flores as Pippin; John Rubinstein, who played the role of Pippin in the original Bob Fosse-directed Broadway production, as Charles; Sabrina Harper as Berthe; Bradley Benjamin as Catherine; and Kate Wesler as Fastrada.

Time is running out to vote for the 2015 BroadwayWorld Seattle Regional Awards! Check out the latest live stats as of December 18. Nominations were reader-submitted and after the nomination period ended, BroadwayWorld's local editors proofed the list for eligibility and errors. Voting runs through December 31!

Voting is fully underway for the 2015 BroadwayWorld Seattle Regional Awards! Check out the latest live stats as of December 11. Nominations were reader-submitted and after the nomination period ended, BroadwayWorld's local editors proofed the list for eligibility and errors. Voting runs through December 31.

Voting has opened for the 2015 BroadwayWorld Seattle Regional Awards! Check out the latest live stats as of November 27th. Nominations were reader-submitted and after the nomination period ended, BroadwayWorld's local editors proofed the list for eligibility and errors. Voting runs through December 31.

Voting has opened for the 2015 BroadwayWorld Seattle Regional Awards! Check out the latest live stats as of November 27th. Nominations were reader-submitted and after the nomination period ended, BroadwayWorld's local editors proofed the list for eligibility and errors. Voting runs through December 31.

There are the warhorse musicals of Rodgers and Hammerstein, Cole Porter, and Irving Berlin; there are the lavish productions befitting Phantoms in opera houses and French revolutionaries and revisionist fairy tales (and you know the ones I mean); there are the Disney powerhouses; and . . . there are musicals of a quaint, mind-nudging nature that don't quite fit into any category. Certainly THE FANTASTICKS comes to mind, and -- at least in the previous productions I have seen -- Stephen Schwartz's PIPPIN. Somewhere in my video collection is a filmed version of the musical with William Katt, and just a few years ago PIPPIN was the first musical staged at the shiny, new Playhouse on the Square (with Alvaro Francisco stepping in for a sidelined Jordan Nichols). I sometimes think that small-scale musicals are better suited to venues less grand than the Orpheum; I needn't have worried, however, as PIPPIN has acquired the kind of theatrical, Cirque du Soleil-style atmosphere that perfectly suits the show's opening number, 'Magic to Do.'

Pippin brings the audience into a traveling circus who are performing a tale of Pippen a prince of a land who is struggling with finding himself. Pippen believes he is extraordinary and wants an extraordinary life but find out that an ordinary life may actually be the thing he has been looking for. The same can be said for this production. Pippin the musical really wants to be extraordinary when in fact it is just ordinary. The plot is just so so and none of the musical numbers are catching. There was one very big bright spot however and that was the circus acts.

This week, we go around our Broadway World to feature stories in New Hampshire, Cleveland, Melbourne and more.  Check out our top 10 stories around our Broadway World below, which include AVENUE Q at Seacoast Rep, OUR TOWN in Cleveland, and NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT in Melbourne, just to name a few.

Stephen Schwartz's "Pippin" is one of those under appreciated musicals. It definitely has its problems but if done well it can deliver the goods. Well, the current tour of the recent Broadway run certainly delivers those goods. Not only does it retain the dark edginess of the story but it's also infused with thrilling circus routines that make it a crowd pleaser on many levels.

'What is my purpose in life?' is a question asked by many people as they ponder the reasons for their existence. Finding one's raison d'etre could be the ever-elusive challenge, and should you never discover it, you are in good company. It is an existential question that lingers eternally for people who really want to have a life that matters. Now on stage at The Fisher Theatre is the musical PIPPIN, the tale of existential woe.