Pippin's First Act is Amazing

11 years ago - #theater

I must have been in 5th grade when I first started hearing the music of Pippin. The sheet music had found its way into my sister's class at school. Her friends would come over to belt out "Corner of the Sky" or "Extraordinary" in our living room as Sis would accompany on the piano. I think someone brought over a guitar at one point. It took them a while to crack the harmonies for "Love Song," but when they got it, it was delicate and raw. I still think early Stephen Schwartz is best when it's a piano, guitar, and an unabashed teenager or struggling artist singing.

So for years, I practically avoided the show. I tried listening to the original recording a few times, but it was always missing that immediacy that I got from our living room performances. And the story always sounded so odd to me. Why would I care about the son of Charlemagne's journey of self-discovery? I had been holding out for a good production to introduce to me to Pippin.

I had heard good things about the current production on Broadway, so I figured that now is as good a time as any to finally see the show. I had heard from a friend that the first act is spectacular and the second act is not good but as good a staging as he has seen. A lot of shows have second act troubles, so I wasn't surprised to hear that there's a let-down in the second act. I figured as long as I set my expectations on the fact that the second act has problems, I should be fine.

David and I saw it pretty much as tabula rasas. We had no idea what to expect. The first act is ... hmm ... one of the most blatantly enjoyable acts of a musical I've ever seen. No exaggeration. Yes, the story is still odd and I can't say that I fell in love with any of the characters. But the performances were out of this world. There's an incredible use of magic, dance, and acrobatics in the show - unlike anything I've ever seen. The music has lost none of its charm since the 70's. And they are not afraid to pare down the orchestration on occasion and let the music shine with just a piano and the singers. About the time you get used to the fact that the ensemble is really amazing, Andrea Martin comes out for one big scene and whips the audience into a frenzy of pleasure.

The woman they cast to replace Ben Vereen is fantastic. She is a full triple-threat: acting, dancing, and singing her lungs out. She's got all the charm and panache that Ben Vereen was famous for.

We saw Pippin's understudy perform and apparently it was his first performance in the role. He was very good - especially considering the jumping, climbing, and intricate choreography that he had to perform - but he was slightly hesitant with the music at times. I'd like to see it with the original Pippin. It's one of the few Broadway shows I would love to see again - mainly because there is so much eye candy going on, you simply can't take it all in on the first viewing.

Then comes the second act. They do kind of a weird thing in the story in the beginning of the second act. I thought that was the big disappointment that my friend had alluded to. Nope. The second act was charming, but was clearly not living up to the show-stopping first act. So I thought perhaps that's what my friend was alluding to. Still nope. Then came the last 10 minutes of the show. It completely falls apart at the end. I spent most of the first act wishing that every bit had been a little longer. By the time we were in the middle of the final scene, I wanted them to just bring down the curtain and end it. When David and I left the theater, we had to kind of cleanse our memories of the terrible finale and remember the ecstasy we were in at intermission.

I went to the Wikipedia entry for Pippin and apparently they were trying to make a Brechtian musical. I can kind of see that, but they missed the forest for the trees. Brecht was trying to make a very intellectual theater experience devoid of being caught up with the romance of the character's lives. And this is really opposite. It's a revelry. And a very enjoyable one, too. Trying to tack a Brechtian ending onto a Broadway show doesn't work.

So go see Pippin. You will love the first act. Guaranteed. Even with a very unsatisfying finale, it's worth the price of the ticket.

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If you live in NYC, you should go see Wig Out! at The Vineyard Theater.
I often get asked what's currently running in the NYC theater scene, so I decided to put it in a blog post for anyone else that may be interested.
I saw the Roundabout Theatre's production of The Marriage of Bette and Boo. It was a great production and several days after seeing it, I'm still thinking of it quite a bit. It's one of the few plays I think I could see again and again.