Pippin is a show that I’ve long associated with my childhood. Every year, my cousins and I would perform selections from Pippin for our parents and grandparents as pre-dinner entertainment before our big Thanksgiving feast. I was obsessed with the Leading Player, even dressing up as this character for Halloween one year (and nobody having any clue what my costume was). As the optimistic child, I always thought Pippin was about seizing the day and getting as much as you can out of life.
In 2013, the Drama and Dance Department took a professional development trip to see the revival production of Pippin on Broadway. We were all mesmerized with the concept of the circus and vibrant colors that filled the stage and implored symbols of abounding youth, all representations that remind Pippin, and us, of the magic of youth. Watching the show as an adult also gave me the realization that my interpretation of Pippin as a kid was entirely wrong. The true message of the show is that, although no one thing is completely perfect, many things we can experience in life are still quite wonderful.
After spending nearly a year analyzing and rehearsing the script in preparation for tonight’s performance, I am not quite sure that that is it either. The reason the material is so extraordinary and still so difficult is due to the fact that there are so many points of entry for understanding the play, so many ways this story and these songs can hit so close to home. And that might be what Pippin is about after all. Like life, you see it a little differently every time you look; every angle you turn reveals new meaning, unexpected challenges, and joyous surprises.
Steven Schwartz wrote the original version of Pippin when he was an undergraduate student at Carnegie Mellon University in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. But it wasn’t until the success of his show, Godspell, that producer Stuart Ostrow agreed to present Pippin in New York, bringing in Roger Hirson (an RCDS alum) to rewrite the libretto and Bob Fosse to direct and choreograph the show. Fosse’s “reinterpretation” of the musical included casting out any real sense of “period” or history, for that matter, except for the fact that there was a Charlemagne and he did have a son who was renamed Pippin. Fosse included vaudevillian and commedia dell’ arte elements coupled with his signature choreography in his reworking of the musical. The show was written during a time when the U.S. was involved in a seemingly never-ending war in Vietnam, and it revolves around a young man who is trying to find himself and happiness as he learns about war and social causes. Sound familiar? It seems to resonate with people today as much as it did with that era when it was originally written.
This performance has been created as a stylized piece of theatre that is unique and fresh by shifting the setting to a thriving 1940s Hollywood movie studio where a group of actors and crew invite the audience to catch a glimpse of magic as they film their new movie, Pippin. It has been a joy to work with this committed cast of powerhouse singers, dancers, and actors who all perform with such heart and verve. On behalf of the entire cast and crew, we thank you for joining us on this magical journey!
-Jay Gerlach, Director
