PIPPIN
The first show of Academy Players 55th season is Stephen Schwartz's "Pippin".
The show premiered on Broadway on October 23, 1972 and ran for 1,944
performances before closing on June 12, 1977. It starred Ben Vereen as
the leading player and John Rubenstein as Pippin and was directed and
choreographed by Bob Fosse. What is a boy to do when his father is Charlemagne,
the Holy Roman Emperor? There is always the university or war or
love or politics. But if one feels unsatisfied by books, repulsed by blood,
exhausted by delights of the flesh and idiotic as a conspirator, one
has a problem. And Pippin, oldest son of Charlemagne and heir to the Holy
Roman Empire, is in such a dilemma. "Pippin" is an 8th century quest for
fulfillment which finds itself finally and happily in peaceful domesticity.
He first decides to become a soldier but sees the horrors
of war, Pippin then visits his grandmother who tells him to live his
life to its fullest, having as many sexual encounters as possible. When
he realizes Charlemagne is back to his usual slaying of thousands, decides
to kill him but since this show is an anachronistic fairy tale, the
king comes back to life. Pippin then meets an average ordinary woman,
Catherine who picks him up off the street. Eventually Pippin is charmed by
this woman with a small boy and a large estate. But still thinking
that love isn't complete fulfillment, leaves her and with nothing
else to try the show reaches its climax.This show is well directed and
musically directed by Scott Morency who chose the best 19 people for
all these roles as well as having taught them all the glorious melodies
and intricate harmonies of these songs while Alex Garcia supplies the
choreography to enthrall the crowd. This duo delivers the goods with their
cast for a fantastic rendition and they are rewarded with a standing
ovation at the close of the show.
Scott injects the show with large doses of humor and makes it into a romp
of sexual escapades and innuendos with a cast of topnotch vocalists
and excellent dancers. Scott not only plays the keyboards
for this show but also conducts a 6 piece orchestra. The
choreography by Alex is breathtaking and contains many different
styles including ballet, jazz and soft shoe. (She does double duty
in the show, dancing as the Leading Player) The gorgeous set design is
by Amelia Smith who also is one of the players in the show. She does a superb
job with the bright colors of the sets which include the flame set, Catherine's
estate and the two story stairways which are moved
around the stage with ease. Costumes are by Lori Vermilye with
the lighting by Renee Surprenant and sound by Nick
Allard. Hard working stage manager Rachel Nadeau keeps things moving beautifully
on stage and backstage all night long.
Brad Kirton as Pippin is a joy to watch and listen to. His first
entrance is when Alex comes into the audience to choose him to play
Pippin. He has a wonderful tenor voice which soars in "Corner of
the Sky" where he sings about his dreams of an extraordinary life and
starts his search for meaning in life. Brad's other songs include a verse
in "War is a Science" when he wants to hurry up to get to
war, "With You" where he discovers sex during a dance orgy and
learns that relationships without love leave you empty and
unfulfilled, "Morning Glow" where he learns it isn't easy to be the
Emperor, "Extraordinary" where he plugs his own self importance
and doesn't want to work on Catherine's farm, (He enters the audience
for this song, too) and the gorgeous ballad "Love Song" with
Catherine where he finds meaning in life. Terry Shea is
excellent as the Leading Player, who invites the audience to
join the performers in a story about a boy prince searching for
fulfillment. (He learned this huge role in one week.)The show opens with
"Magic To Do" sung beautifully by Terry with 17 dancers swirling
around the stage. His other songs include "Glory", where he leads the
troupe in a mock battle. (It is really a song about the horrors of
war written about the Vietnam protest back in the 1970's), "Simple Joys"
about how Pippin travels through the country and relaxes at his
grandmother's home, and "On the Right Track" with Brad where he
inspires Pippin about finding his way in life with the both of them doing
an energetic jazz dance. His argument scenes with Catherine and his
controlling ones of Pippin are excellent, too. Terry played this role
with Scott as Pippin back at RIC in 1991.
Charlemagne is excellently played by Gerry Maynard with regal authority.
His character has an eye for the pretty girls. He
uses his topnotch voice in "Welcome Home'' where he asks Pippin how
things are but ignores what he says. His "War is a Science" stops the
show while the warriors do an excellent march to this number. He
has many funny one liners including my favorite, "Lewis is an
asshole." His evil second wife Fastrada is played by Bethany Giammarco Oliveira and
their bloodthirsty dimwitted son Lewis is played by James
Lambert. Bethany's fabulous voice sells "Spread a Little Sunshine" while
she does a sexy dance to it. Bethany wears a sexy low cut red dress as the
character. Fastrada plots the overthrow of Charlemagne trying
to get her son to be the king. Bethany's one liners are
very humorous, too. James is very funny as the egotistical son
who loves himself. Both of them brighten up the stage during their scenes.
He is wonderful being able to play a stupid, dummy who makes his
lewd and lascivious behavior laugh out loud moments. An extremely comic
performance is given by Laura Leach as Berthe, Charlemagne's mother.
She steals the show in her "No Time at All'' number dressed in a black leather
outfit with a whip as a sexy dominatrix. It's an interactive
song with the audience while she tries to convince Pippin to enjoy
his life because she certainly did and still does.Two other talented stars
in this show are Alison Marchetti as Catherine, Pippin's girlfriend
and Eric Halvarson, plays her son, Theo. Ali, a pretty
brunette, has a lovely voice belting out "Kind of Woman" where she
tries to seduce Pippin, "Love Song" where they finally admit their love and
the gorgeous earnest ballad, "I Guess I'll Miss the Man, my favorite
song in the show, where she laments their break up while she plays
the piano on stage while singing it.Nine year old Eric, wins the
sympathy of the audience with Otto, his duck. This young actor makes
the most of his limited stage time, playing the comic death of the
duck scene, the humiliation scene and handles this role with ease. Kudos
to the other singers and dancers rounding out the cast. So for a splendid
look back at the wild and wacky happenings in the time of Charlemagne, be
sure to catch "Pippin" at Academy Players before it dances out of town. (I
was lucky enough to see John Rubenstein and Ben Vereen in the show back in
1974 on Ben closing night as the Leading Player.)
PIPPIN ( 6 to 15 November, 2009)
Academy Players, East Greenwich High
School Auditorium, 300 Avenger Drive, East Greenwich,RI
1(401)885-6910 or www.academyplayers.org