Everything has its season... and this season, PIPPIN returns to Broadway for the first time since it first thrilled audiences 40 years ago! With a beloved score by Tony Award nominee STEPHEN SCHWARTZ (GODSPELL, WICKED) that includes the favorites "Magic to Do," "Glory" and "Corner of the Sky," PIPPIN tells the story of a young prince on a death-defying journey to find meaning in his existence. Will he choose a happy but simple life? Or will he risk everything for a singular flash of glory?
Direct from an acclaimed run at Boston's American Repertory Theater, PIPPIN is directed by DIANE PAULUS, director of the 2010 and 2012 Tony Award winners for Best Musical Revival (HAIR and THE GERSHWINS' PORGY AND BESS). This captivating production features sizzling choreography in the style of BOB FOSSE and breathtaking acrobatics by LES 7 DOIGTS DE LA MAIN, the creative force behind the nationwide sensation Traces. Join us... for a magical, unforgettable new PIPPIN.
The opening moments of 'Pippin' are the most thrilling since the humans and beasts of 'TheLion King' spilled down the aisles to the onstage savannah more than 15 years ago... Paulus's 'Pippin' is G-rated, frisky rather than sexy, the slick sweat of lust replaced by dazzling but vague innocence. That makes it a visual treat, but eye candy takes you only so far...Thomas has boyish charm, but Pippin hasn't changed by the time he chooses to settle down at the closing...Gorgeous Patina Miller...seems robotic here, another victim of the leeching of sex from the show. There's little here of what we need to feel in the gut from a musical. Only Andrea Martin's open-hearted turn resonates long enough to transport us, however briefly, way beyond the razzle-dazzle.
Does it come off? Up to a point. The circus performers are sensational, but their antics overwhelm Mr. Walker's dances, which are in any case devoid of Mr. Fosse's sly wit. Patina Miller, lately of 'Sister Act,' is the Leading Player, a role created four decades ago by Ben Vereen, and her in-your-face performance sets the tone for Ms. Paulus's relentlessly aggressive staging, which is big, noisy and mostly humorless, a 'Pippin' that looks as if it had been born not in Cambridge but Las Vegas.
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