Diane Paulus-Helmed PIPPIN Plays A.R.T. in December; Is Broadway Next?

American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) has announced that it will present the musical Pippin as part of its 2012 – 13 Season. The production will be directed by Diane Paulus with choreography by Gypsy Snider of the Montreal-based circus company Les 7 doigts de la main, also known as 7 Fingers. Performances will begin in December 2012 at the Loeb Drama Center, Cambridge.

Broadway buzz has surrounded the production since 2010, when a pre-Broadway stop at A.R.T. was anticipated. The production most recently had a workshop last summer starring Gavin Creel, Katie Finneran, Michael Cumsty and Tracie Thoms as the Leading Player, a role traditionally played by a man. (The original reading in 2010 also starred Gavin Creel and Tracie Thoms, alongside Natalie Cortez and Jayne Houdyshell. Momentum on the production waned when Schwartz decided to instead work on an "experimental" production of the show at the Menier Chocolate Factory in the UK).

The original production of Pippin, with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and book by Roger O. Hirson, premiered on Broadway in 1972. It was directed by Bob Fosse, won nine Tony Awards and four Drama Desk Awards, and ran for close to 2000 performances before closing in 1977. Pippinhas become a staple of the American Musical cannon, noted for many memorable songs 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.

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 Pocahantas 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 thePresident 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.

Diane Paulus is the Artistic Director at the American Repertory Theater at Harvard University, where her recent work includes The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess, a new production adapted by Pulitzer prize-winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks, and OBIE-winning composer Diedre Murray (now running on Broadway), Prometheus Bound, a new musical inspired by Aeschylus's ancient Greek tragedy, written by Tony and Grammy Award-winner Steven Sater (Spring Awakening) with music composed by Grammy Award-winning System of a Down lead singer Serj Tankian; Death and The Powers: The Robots' Opera a new opera by Tod Machover, in collaboration with MIT Media Lab and Chicago Opera Theater; The Donkey Show a disco adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream, which ran for six years Off-Broadway and toured internationally; Best of Both Worlds, and Johnny Baseball. Her other recent theater credits include The Public Theater's Tony-Award winning revival of HAIR on Broadway, and London's West End. Other recent work includes Kiss Me, Kate (Glimmerglass Opera) and Lost Highway (ENO co-production with the Young Vic.) As an opera director, her credits include The Magic Flute (Canadian Opera Company), Il mondo della luna at the 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 at the Chicago Opera Theater. Diane is a Professor of the Practice of Theater in Harvard University's English Department and was recently named one of the 50 Most Powerful Women in Boston by Boston Magazine, is a recipient of an Honorary Doctorate from Boston Conservatory, and will be honored with The Drama League's 2012 Founders Award for Excellence in Directing on May 18 of this year.

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. A graduate of Switzerland's Scuola Teatro Dimitri, Gypsy performed three seasons with La Compagnia Dimitri. Consistently developing her own amalgam of theatre and circus, she went on to perform internationally (Cirque du Soleil; Cirque Knie; Pomp Duck and Circumstance; Teatro Zinzanni). Impassioned since adolescence by directing and teaching, Gypsy is an invited teacher (San Francisco Circus Center, National Circus School of Montreal) and director (New Pickle Circus; Jamie Adkins/Cirque Éloize; National Circus School's Crime; special projects with Cirque du Soleil). 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, currently playing at the Union Square Theatre in New York City (nominated Outstanding Choreography, New York Drama Desk Awards, TOP 10 TIME Magazine in 2011, Special Guest in America's Got Talent).

The initial goal of Les 7 doigts de la main was to bring circus to a human scale. They began as artists on stage, creating collectively, and soon branched out, expanding their creative talents as directors, choreographers, writers and coaches, passing on theircollaborative and unique 7 doigts process to a new generation of circus artists. Out of this emerged 6 shows, Loft, Traces, La Vie, Psy, Fibonacci Project, and Patinoire, each offering a distinct setting and yet carrying the same 7 fingerprint. "Les 7 doigts de la main" translates literally as "the 7 fingers of the hand". It is a twist on a French idiom "les cinq doigts de la main," used to describe distinct parts united tightly, moving in coordination towards one common goal. The group was recently seen in Boston as part of the inaugural season of Arts Emerson.

Tickets for Pippin will be made available as part of the American Repertory Theater's 2012-13 Season and subscription series. Select single tickets will be available for sale to the general public on May 1.

The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) at Harvard University is one of the country's most celebrated theaters and the winner of numerous awards, including the Tony Award, the Pulitzer Prize and Elliot Norton and I.R.N.E. Awards. In May of 2003 it was named one of the top three regional theaters in the country by Time magazine. The A.R.T. was founded by Robert Brustein in 1980, who served as Artistic Director until 2002, when he was succeeded by RoBert Woodruff. In 2008, Diane Paulus became the A.R.T.'s Artistic Director. During its 31-year history, the A.R.T. has welcomed many major American andinternational theater artists, presenting a diverse repertoire that includes premieres of American plays, bold reinterpretations of classical texts and provocative new music Theater Productions. The A.R.T. has performed throughout the U.S. and worldwide in 21 cities in 16 countries on four continents. Since becoming Artistic Director, Diane Paulus has programmed innovative work that has enhanced the A.R.T.'s core mission to expand the boundaries of theater. Productions such as Sleep No More, The Donkey Show, Gatz, Porgy and Bess, Prometheus Bound and Death and the Powers: The Robots' Opera have immersed audiences in original theatrical experiences. The A.R.T.'s club theater, OBERON, which Paulus calls a "Second Stage for the 21st century," has become an incubator for local artists and has also attracted national attention for its groundbreaking model for programming. Through all of its work, the A.R.T. is committed to building a community of artists, technicians, educators, staff and audience, all of who are integral to the A.R.T.'s mission.

The Loeb Drama Center, located at 64 Brattle Street, Harvard Square, Cambridge, is accessible to persons with special needs and to those requiring wheelchair seating or first-floor restrooms. Deaf and hard-of-hearing patrons can also reach the theater by calling the toll-free N.E. Telephone Relay Center at 1-800-439-2370.

For further information call 617-547-8300 or visit americanrepertorytheater.org

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