REVIEW: Pippin

The first time I saw a production of Pippin, I was in high school.  I remember it being quirky and irreverent, but I got confused, fell asleep part way through and didn’t think much about it for twenty years.  Then I heard about the Broadway revival and that it was coming to Minneapolis.  I knew it was a big deal, especially since I had become a fan of Steven Schwartz through his subsequent success with Wicked.  The opening chords that ring out as the curtain goes up, and the affection for minor keys keep reminding you that Schwartz’s hands are all over this broadly entertaining musical.

The nationally touring revival takes the show to a whole new level.  The score has been punched up with a larger orchestra and the visuals keep your eyes darting across the stage to keep track of the action with actual acrobats and tumblers interspersed throughout the cast.  Some of these acrobats are clearly only on stage to perform high-wire feats and not sing, but there are definitely some who bridge the gap (although I won’t spoil the surprise by telling you who).

Pippin plays an interesting (if not altogether groundbreaking) trick in that it is really a play within a play.  The main character is not even given a name, but is merely dubbed the “Leading Player”; who keeps reminding the audience that they’re really watching two shows at once.  The story is about a directionless young man who comes home after college and drifts about from job to job as he mopes through a quarter-life crisis in a search to live up to his potential.  You could be taken aback by how well Schwartz and book writer, Roger Hirson, predicted the rise of an over-protected, over-praised generation 40 years before anyone started talking about Millennials, but as much as they are maligned in the media these days, the show demonstrates that their plight really isn’t all that unique to our time.

Played by the phenomenally talented Sasha Allen, the Leading Player is the real star of the show.  She can dance, she can sing, and she truly owns the stage whenever she’s on it.  The crowd went wild with excitement when Tony-winning John Rubenstein, who played the original Pippin when it debuted on Broadway in 1972, appeared as Charlemagne, Pippin’s irascible father.  Other memorable players include the sassy Sabrina Harper as Fastrada, Pippin’s step-mother, and Kristine Reese as Catherine.  You can immediately guess which role Reese played in the recent tour of Wicked when you hear her sing her first note.  I didn’t know that the actor playing the role of Pippin, Sam Lips, was not originally cast to play the role on the tour.  Kyle Selig, who we recently saw when The Book of Mormon was on tour here last year, is in all the online press materials, but was not even mentioned in the program.  I was thoroughly disappointed with Lips’s performance.  His vocal range in last night’s performance was limited and you could tell he was struggling with what should have been easy notes to hit in Pippin’s signature song, “Corner of the Sky.”  It makes me feel like a bad person to say this, but I hope that Lips was just sick and that he will turn the corner for the remainder of the show’s run. 

The Orpheum, as I have come to expect, continues to struggle with getting its sound balances right.  The orchestra’s backing wasn’t as overblown here as in other shows, which I appreciated, but Allen’s mic seemed to be running hot, drowning out many of her words, as did others’, but it was most noticeable with Allen’s booming alto.  Whenever we go to a show here, the volume is cranked up so loud that, rather than humming the tunes as I leave the theater, all I can hear is the ringing in my ears.

Pippin is at the Orpheum Theatre through February 22, 2015. Tickets start at $39.

DEAL ALERT: Student/Educator Rush will be available for all performances of Pippin.  Policy: 2 tickets per valid ID; $25 per ticket, cash only; available only at the Orpheum Theatre Box Office beginning 2 hours prior to the performance; rush line forms outside of theatre; student/educator must be present with valid ID at time of purchase; resale or transfer of rush tickets is strictly prohibited and all tickets are subject to availability.

Photo by Terry Shapiro