While Pippin’s kinda a poor man’s version of Leonard Bernstein’s Candide (built on Voltaire’s classic coming of age story), opening night brought acrobatic and visual enchantment galore in the colorful and gracefully athletic production playing at Playhouse Square’s Connor Palace through February 15.
The magic (this production won four 2013 Tony Awards) comes from the energetic cast directed by Diane Paulus plus acrobatics courtesy of the impressive, physically adept Montreal company Les 7 Doigts de la Main. The uniformly good ensemble cast laughs, marches, dances, and glides onstage as needed to tell the story of young Prince Pippin (Sam Lips), who learns that being a king isn’t all the fun he thought it would be.
Set in a fantasy mash up of the Middle Ages plus Circus Pop, here’s little reality here, which is a good thing, since shortly after Pippin kills his father, his wish to have him back is granted. Who arranges this miracle? Leading Player (glamorous Sasha Allen) who can do anything. Lips and Allen play off each other well: he’s a convincing bumpkin; she’s a dancing cynic (tho Allen sometimes seems too sweet to be that mean).
Priscilla Lopez’s wonderful Berthe, our hero’s trapeze-swinging granny (Lopez also played the role on Broadway), brought the house down with her wonderfully over-the-top rendition of “No Time at All” that eventually involved the whole audience.
Energetic dancing with attention to even little details in the large numbers showed vibrant commitment. Once, when the stage was full of dancers dressed like farm creatures, even the two chickens who clucked near my seat seriously rocked–they had chicken moves down pat. Warning: Don’t take anything to heart here: nothing is sacred. The storyline is that of a satiric farce and everyone and every ideal gets laughed at and belittled.
Bottom line: But who cares? The magic is seriously good.
[Photo by Joan Marcus]
Laura Kennelly is a freelance arts journalist, a member of the Music Critics Association of North America, and an associate editor of BACH, a scholarly journal devoted to J. S. Bach and his circle.Cleveland, OH 44115