Review: PIPPIN at Broadway Palm

Broadway Palm fittingly kicked off its 25th season of delivering theatrical magic with Pippin. The opening number led by Leading Player Mara Lucas assured us the cast had magic to do. And boy did they.

I was astonished by the sheer athleticism displayed by these performers. The choreography owes far more to Cirque du Soleil than it does to Bob Fosse, the choreographer of the original Tony Award-winning show. Performers in a musical usually need to be triple threats-able to sing, dance, and act. Those in this production are quadruple threats also able to do gymnastics. They didn't 'just" sing and dance, they did so while hanging from trapezes and standing on each other's shoulders.

The afore-mentioned Lucas is sometimes Greek Chorus and sometimes Stage Manager as she slithers and bumps around a bewildered William James Callahan as Pippin, desperately trying to find his place in the world. He temporarily trades his gray T shirt to don the chain mail of his illustrious if bloodthirsty father Charlemagne. Being king turns out to be harder than it looks. Giving land to the peasants annoys the nobles and doing away with taxes leaves no money for an army to fight off encroaching Visigoths. Sound familiar? Shows at Broadway Palm, whose owner Will Prather is a card-carrying Liberal, often take a sly poke at current politics.

The sweetly simple "Love Song" of Callahan and Savannah Sprinkle as Catherine sums up the answer to Pippin's dilemma. After the costumes, scenery, and lighting are stripped away, it seems all he needed was the love of a good woman. And a boy with a duck. Conquering the enemy is not what it's cracked up to be.