July 30--"We've got magic to do," says the Leading Player in "Pippin," the eclectic and bizarre musical artifact from 1972 that retains a remarkably special place in the hearts of audiences, including those who were not born, or even conceived, when Ben Vereen first essayed the role with the great choreographer Bob Fosse writhing away at his side.
You could feel that enthusiasm for "Pippin" in the Cadillac Palace Theatre Wednesday night, what with oldsters talking about seeing Vereen, musical-theater geeks pre-humming "Corner of the Sky" and "No Time at All" and other hooting and hollering as the Leading Player, now essayed by Sasha Allen, made her entrance. Folks had assembled for the first Chicago stand of the national tour of Diane Paulus' Tony Award-winning 2010 Broadway revival, a show that I thought was far and away the best musical revival of that busy season.
I had some issues with this tour, but I'll get to those in a moment. Here's why the original production was so thrilling.
As the story of Charlemagne and his coming-of-age son Pippin told with metatheatrical frame and flourish, "Pippin" is one of those shows everyone thinks they know, but most have forgotten the details. This is not a young kids' show -- one woman in the row in front of me rushed a couple of pint-sized daughters out into the lobby during the part where Pippin sows his wild oats -- tastefully, but still. It's not a play that entirely conforms to current notions of political correctness. It can seem silly or cloying and, viewed from this chronological remove, naive.
But there still is a unique charm to "Pippin," a show with a score penned during the nascent years of pop Broadway and a much-imitated but rarely bettered suite of songs. There is something so fabulously aspirational in Stephen Schwartz's lyrics, all in service of a show that preaches the importance of living in the moment. That is a skill -- one that eludes me, for the record -- that is just as useful in 2015 as 1972. There is just something about the way emotion is expressed musically in this piece; Schwartz went on to write the songs for "Godspell" and "Wicked," of course, but I suspect he'd admit that there was a strange kind of alchemy in "Pippin" that he never was fully able to repeat.
Paulus sent the show to the circus. And why not? There is magic to do, after all, and the show is infused with the sense of visiting players dropping into town and unfurling their tent and then disappearing at first light, taking all their crowns and coronets with them. Paulus collaborated with the incomparable circus creator Gypsy Snider on all that, meaning that you don't get dancers doing the odd headstand or juggling three goblets, but full-on circus folks rippling through the ensemble, filling the stage quite spectacularly with color and the intense emotionalism that can come from this kind of endeavor.
This conceit -- for "Pippin" needs a conceit -- unifies the show and allows Paulus to explore both its frivolity and its yearning. The original writer Roger O. Hirson came up with a weird book, but it's certainly a high-stakes story (patricide and all), and when you put circus people on a stage, the stakes always rise. The acrobats might fall, after all, and thus they are a metaphor for our own lives and what "Pippin" is really about. All in all, the 2010 Broadway revival of "Pippin" was brilliantly conceived and executed; it embraced the show's complexity; it evoked the optimistic rush such people felt in 1972, as the world changed.
The best example of this is the most famous sequence of the show -- the moment when Pippin's grandmother (now played by Adrienne Barbeau) takes to a trapeze, a show-stopping sequence that reminds us that (some) older bodies still can perform great athletic feats. It is one of the most life-affirming moments I've ever seen on a stage; and yet the song, "No Time at All," is all about how fast life disappears.
That moment in the touring cast is replicated with all of its original beauty -- in fact, Barbeau, who is as elegant as she is funny, brings much that is new and wonderful. I'd say the same for Allen, who is far more relaxed and spontaneous than the intimidating Patina Miller, the original Leading Player. Allen offers a kinder, gentler way in to the tale.
Pippin himself is more of a problem. Sam Lips is a young actor who recently has taken over the role, but he's playing Chicago now and he needs to raise his game. Being a fine singer and a handsome presence does not do it. We're on a surrogate journey with Pippin and we have to see what life costs him as he goes. Lips feels invulnerable. Moreover, he lacks complexity in a role that is supposed to keep you guessing about its moral rectitude. This actor needs to take some risks so that we might feel something more real.
Much of Act 2 is about Pippin's relationship with Catherine, played by Kristine Reese, and these crucial scenes also lack much of an emotional vocabulary. Nobody seems to really need anybody and the connection between the pair feels almost nonexistent. Enough coasting already. Someone needs to stop by this tour before it loses its heart.
The production vales of the tour are adequate. No solution was found, alas, for the final sequence where all the glamour of show business disappears and we're all stripped naked. The set half-disappears; cheaper that way, no doubt. If you did not see the show on Broadway, you'll likely be fine. But if you did, you'll be disappointed. The effect is just not there.
I still recommend "Pippin." It is one of the most innovative Broadway revivals of the last decade. It serves the material beautifully and yet breaks new ground. I guess I had some dreams for the tour that ... well, maybe they'll all read this and go a bit deeper by the time you hit the tent.
Chris Jones is a Tribune critic.
cjones5@tribpub.com
REVIEW: "Pippin" at the Cadillac Palace in Chicago
3 STARS
When: Through Aug 9
Where: Cadillac Palace Theatre, 151 W. Randolph St.
Running time: 2 hours, 25 minutes
Tickets: $27-$105 at 800-775-2000 or www.broadwayinchicago.com
