Pippin: A Magical To-Do

First, I will commence by saying that clearly, I am not a professional reviewer of anything.  My review is my own opinion, uneducated though it may be.

Second, I will not reveal the "secrets" about the show, by which I mean all the wonderful surprises that happen throughout the show.  If you want to know about all the amazing tricks, athleticism, jokes, humor, etc., you'll just have to go see it for yourself.

Third, I will spoil the plot.  If you don't know what the show is about and want to go in with a clean slate, quit reading now.  I will mention it a few more times before I give my synopsis of the show, but you are forewarned:  I will give away the basic plot.  I won't tell you how it ends, but you can probably guess.

Ok, so here goes...  Some background.

Growing up, this record album was a common sight in my parents' record stack.  I suspect it was because of the bright purple cover and the clowns that my sister and I gravitated towards it.  My parents went and saw it on Broadway back in the 70's when it first came out, and I'm not sure but I think my mom told me she was pregnant with me at the time, so I feel like it was ingrained in me even in the womb.  My sister and I played this record a lot.  A really, really lot.  We just loved it.  When I was in middle school, someone from school wound up with a VHS copy of the production, which starred William Katt, whom I adored and still secretly do adore--my sole dip of the toe into the world of blonds, and Lesley Denniston who was on Guiding Light, my preferred soap opera, as well as featuring Ben Vereen reprising his role as the leading player.  My sister and I wore that sucker out.  (You can see the whole thing on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbIjn66sTr0 if you ever have 2 hours you don't know what to do with--it's genuinely worth watching.).  Fast forward to my twenties, and I'm getting married, and I desperately want the song With You to be our wedding song.  Mike vetoed it.  I believe it did make in on the CD we gave out, although I'm not sure.  But singing it to him and hearing it over and over again, I decided I wanted to see Pippin again.  Yet it was very difficult to get one's hands on a copy.  I finally was able to find one on Ebay, but it was the censored version (there's a fairly racy sex scene in the middle of the show).  Finally I tracked down an unedited version and purchased it.  It arrived in a dinged up clamshell, I watched it all the way through, the tape broke, and that was that.  But I didn't have the heart to throw it in the trash.  (It is now readily available on DVD on Amazon--OF COURSE!)

Fast forward a few more years, I'm living in Washington DC, and Stephen Schwartz (who wrote Pippin) is coming to the Kennedy Center to do a talk and introduce some singer/songwriters for some sort of something.  My sister was a member of the Kennedy Center, so we easily got tickets and hilarity ensued.  Stephen spoke for a good while, and sang Corner of the Sky (yes, I was quite sure I'd died and gone to heaven, as it's my favorite song from the entire show).  He talked about writing Pippin in the 70's and how it seemed to resonate with people, as everyone was trying to 'find themselves' back then.  They saw Pippin's quest to find meaning in his life and it touched a chord.  After we got done with the songwriter portion of the situation, everyone was allowed to line up to pay their respects to one of the kings of Broadway.  Just as we got to the front of the line, they announced it was done.  My sister was not taking no for an answer, given that we'd waited in line well over an hour and stepped forward, burst into tears and bowed as if she was meeting the king.  Judy has a history of losing her shit when her favorite celebrities are nearby--I suspect she possibly did nothing but giggle at Alan Alda--but this was epic even by her standards.  Then she wisely intoned with the most bizarre accent, "May I present (dramatic pause) my sister?" sweeping her arm in my direction with great flourish and while I attempted not to die laughing, I stepped forward and met an idol.  "May I present...my sister?"  is now something of legend between us.  Well, I had brought my battered Pippin VHS, and asked Stephen to autograph it.  Because he had recently written Wicked and the room was full mainly of high school students, I think he was genuinely touched that there was someone in the room who remembered and loved Pippin so much.  Unfortunately he had a black sharpie and most of the VHS cover is black, so I had him sign it on the inside, where only I know it is, but it's there. :-)

I've never stopped playing the soundtrack.  I'm pushing 40 now, and it's been the soundtrack of my life in a way nothing else, no other artist or album has ever been.  So now you know how much I love, absolutely love this show.

While I was researching my trip to NYC for other reasons, a little sidebar ad came up advertising the Pippin revival.  It won several Tony awards last year, and my sister swears she told me all about it, but I honestly don't remember any of that.  So when I saw it had been revived, and with a woman as the Leading Player, I was surprised and extremely skeptical.  I talked to Judy about it and she said she wouldn't go because Pippin was wearing boots (more on this later), but that she had heard great things about it.  I'm not sure what possessed me, but I thought, "Well, we'll just see about this!" and I secured myself a ticket.  And then I went back to pretending it wasn't happening, until yesterday, which was the big day.

**SPOILER ALERT.  HERE'S WHERE TO STOP READING IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS**

For anyone who doesn't know, a bit about the show. Pippin is a highly fictionalized account of the life of Pippin, oldest son of Charlemagne.  Yes.  That Charlemagne.  Holy Roman Empire Charlemagne.  The story is led by a character called Leading Player, a role which made Ben Vereen famous and earned him a Tony award, and is now played by Patina Miller, who also won a Tony for the role.  This made Tony history, as it was the first time two people of opposite genders won Tonys for the same role.

Pippin has recently graduated school and has come home, determined that his life have meaning.  He's not sure what exactly he should do, and he speaks to his father.  In the course of that conversation, he determines he will join the army and fight for his father alongside his half-brother Louis.  Louis is "an ideal solder: strong and stupid".  Louis's mother, Fastrada, is Charlemagne's second wife and a typical doting mother who wants her son to be king.  Charlemagne reluctantly allows Pippin to come to war with him.  War is not what Pippin expected and he is exhausted and sickened from the bloodshed.

He flees to the house of Berthe, his grandmother.  She tells Pippin to quit worrying and start living.  She is quite a saucy old lady--originally played by Irene Ryan of Beverly Hillbillies fame, and in the link I posted, by Martha Raye.  Pippin agrees with his grandmother's philosophy and turns to women, aided by Leading Player.  This is where the orgiastic sex scene comes in and there is some indication of drug use going on, although in the version I just saw, I felt the scene had been toned down to be somewhat more appropriate for younger audiences (if such a thing is possible).  Pippin finds that this string of 'relationships' has also left him feeling unfilfilled, and soon hears of his father's tyranny from Leading Player.

Encouraged by Fastrada, Pippin decides to overthrow his father and kills him.  He then assumes the throne, but quickly learns that being king is extremely difficult, there are no right answers, and he begs Leading Player to bring Charlemagne back to life, which is done.  Pippin then tries his hand at art and religion, neither of which is explored in any detail beyond a couple of snappy punchlines, and then he collapses in despair in a heap on the stage, lamenting that he will never find fulfillment.

Pippin is found by Catherine and brought to her home.  Catherine is a widow with a foot fetish (hence why the boots in the new version are a problem) and a young son, Theo.  She is thrilled to have Pippin on her estate.  He is put to work helping with gardening, farm chores, home repairs, but eventually he and Catherine confront the feelings in their blossoming relationship.  This makes Leading Player extremely unhappy, as s/he has plans for Pippin, and when Catherine suggests Pippin sit at the head of the table, Pippin flees from domestic life as refusing to give in to a common life and believing it can offer contentment and fulfillment.

The Leading Player offers him an alternative in a finale, and Pippin must make a choice between "the most perfect act ever" or accepting and choosing what made him truly happy and fulfilled: life with Catherine and Theo.


So I suppose I should first talk about the show.

All my skepticism was misplaced.  The show absolutely blew me out of the water.  It was so good that I forgot to sing along even in my head.  Several times I began to applaud even though I was the only one applauding. 

They have dressed the stage to look like a giant circus tent.  The players are still made up like clowns and acrobats.  I was a bit concerned when I heard someone utter "They made it into Cirque du Soleil" when I entered the theater, because although I would very much like to see Cirque du Soleil, I don't generally find it to be a high energy type thing, I think of it as more ethereal and swishy.  Bob Fosse originally choreographed Pippin, and so I want to see serious moving, not riding around on ribbons and sashaying across stage in a giant bubble.

I was not disappointed.  The choreography was top notch.  It was quick and fun and interesting.  There was a good bit of circus type stuff involved--tons of acrobatics, gymnastics, that kind of thing--but in ways that kept up with the music and made sense.  You can see a montage of the show at http://www.pippinthemusical.com/ on the homepage and get a sense of what it actually looks like.  At 2:04, you'll see how they created "PIPPIN" using their bodies and props to resemble the original record cover, which I thought was a great tribute to the original.

I wasn't able to envision anyone but Ben Vereen as the Leading Player, and certainly not a woman.  30 years of watching Ben Vereen dance his heart out left an indelible impression on me, I suppose.  But Patina Miller was an absolute revelation.  She erased all my doubts about how anyone could fill Ben Vereen's shoes.  You literally cannot take your eyes off her, she commands the stage entirely. 

Michael James Thomas was an outstanding Pippin, probably the best one I've ever seen, and although he played it coy a bit when starting to dance, he really could dance very well and keep up with Patina Miller rather impressively.  I loved that he made the part his own--he sang the songs in his own way, and I thought he did it beautifully, particularly Corner of the Sky, which he made less of a ballad and more of a mission statement.  He sang it with a purpose and determination I'm not sure I'd ever heard before.

Charlemagne was played by Terence Mann, who my sister assures me is Broadway royalty, although I confess I've never heard of him.  His real-life wife, Charlotte d'Amboise, played Fastrada, and I suppose if I had to choose a weak link in the production, it might be her, but honestly it's only quibbling.  She did a great job dancing and singing her lines, but I didn't connect much with Fastrada.  Usually, I'd admire how cunning and devious she is, but this go-round, something didn't quite punch me in the gut about her.  Mann was a fine Charlemagne, if perhaps less 'rotund' than most I've seen.  His Charlemagne was quite serious, although jovial, and the cast did not mock him as I've seen before--he was treated with more deference.  Still, it felt appropriate to this particular production.

A very pleasant surprise was Berthe, Pippin's grandmother, played by Tovah Feldshuh.  I didn't think there was anyway they could make Granny any saucier, but in fact they did!  And what she managed to do was incredible.  It was a great honor to meet her in the autograph line afterwards.  She was absolutely amazing.  There was a moment when she sang to Pippin, "You are my time".  Maybe 2 seconds, but oh so poignant.  Made me think of my girl and I felt very emotional.  Feldshuh and Thomas managed to convey such lovely emotion in a song that is fairly upbeat and fun.  It was a 'blink and you'll miss it' moment, and I'm so glad I didn't miss it.

Although I knew in my head that Catherine was a widow and single mother struggling to support herself and her son, for obvious reasons, that character really struck a new chord with me this time.  Rachel Bay Jones played the role.  She has a lovely Carol Kane-esque voice that added a new dimension to Catherine's character--WITH JUST HER VOICE!  Imagine?!  Imagine being able to change a part with just your voice??  The Leading Player exposes and toys with her insecurities--she is getting older, she is scared, she is lonely--and Catherine manages to move beyond those doubts and fears to be who she is.  When she sang "I Guess I'll Miss the Man" and cried over how much she loved her husband, I fell into a brief despair.  Pippin isn't that man, Pippin can't be that man, Pippin may never choose to be that man, and Catherine is stuck in life with very few choices--we can only imagine far fewer choices than I have today in the same situation.  And yet, she allows Pippin to leave with a dignity that belies her feelings.  I have many lessons to learn from Catherine.

The show has been updated slightly to become more modern--Granny sings about 'tweeting', there is a crack about Louis's being gay, but nothing that felt forced or out of place.  For kicks, I played a couple of the songs from the old soundtrack back to back with songs from the new one, and apart from the update to War is a Science, which I thought was unnecessary, I thought they were all quite good and sounded fantastic.

I'll keep singing about finding my corner of the sky, taking the time to keep living, because ultimately, "All I Need to Know About Life, I Learned From Pippin".

1.  I want my life to be something more than long.
2.  It's smarter to be lucky than it's lucky to be smart.
3.  There's one thing to be sure of:  there's nothing to be sure of.
4.  If I just pitch in and do what's right, things will always work out.
5.  So many plans need making.  I think I will.
6.  Take it easy.
7.  There's no trick to staying sensible.
8.  Be conservative with a budget, liberal with a meal.
9.  Some men are heroes, some men outshine the sun, some men are simple good men, it's ok to love one who isn't one.
10.  It was here.

I hope everyone puts this wonderful production at the top of their list of shows to see and I look forward to seeing it again (and again!). :)