• ピピン (Pippin), 9/3/22 (Sat)

This is a reproduction of Diane Paulus’ imaginative Broadway revival of a few years back with a mix of Japanese actors and foreign acrobats. The Paulus rendering was a big success in both its touring version and the Japanese adaptation two years ago, so it’s no surprise to see it revived. The leading player is again played by half-black pop singer Crystal Kay, thus keeping the basic idea of a black lead. (The role in the first Japanese production years ago was taken by Suzuki Papaya, a comedian whose only black connection is his trademark afro wig.) They’ve also managed, intentionally or not, to find another performer with foreign blood for the title role, with the half-Spanish Shirota Yu replaced by the Japan-raised Burmese musical actor Morisaki Win. An American woman reviewing the Kay-Shirota version marveled that biracial performers were cast in both of the main roles, seeing this as an earth-shattering sign of growing diversity in Japan. She seems unaware of the many popular mixed-race or mixed-nationality performers that have appeared on Japanese stages over the years, such as Kusakari Masao, Miyazawa Rie, Okada Masumi and so on; the majority of the cast in a production of Rent some years back was half-Japanese. Japanese don’t make a big deal of it, and I wish Americans in particular would follow their lead.

The production still looks great. Paulus has managed to take a creaky show that was known mainly for Bob Fosse’s iconic staging and give it a new take that reinvigorates it. It’s still a relic of the flower-power generation, but it plays beautifully. The dancing and acrobatics remain extremely accomplished (despite a few slips in the routines, which the cast responded to ably), helped by members of the US cast imported for the occasion.

Win was terrific in the title role. He has a winning personality and bursts with energy. He looks like he’s enjoying himself, which is infectious. Crystal Kay needs acting help but has stage presence and strong singing/dancing skills, which is all that’s really needed for this role. The women playing Pippin’s mother and Catherine also did a great job. The Japanese rendering of Stephen Schwartz’s lyrics was questionable in many cases, most notably “Corner of the Sky”, missing the sense of fun in the original as is sadly par for the course in Japanese musicals. Nevertheless, the team acquitted itself well overall. A fun show.

I realized that I never posted my impressions of the Broadway run of April 2013, so here it is:

There was lots of good buzz about Pippin, a transfer from Boston that opened on Thursday to solid reviews. I was lucky to score a good seat for the Saturday matinee. The trouble with Pippin, making its first return to Broadway since the 1970s original, is that it was famously a weak hippie-dippy show that owed its entire success to the wildly inventive Bob Fosse production. It doesn’t help that the production was preserved on video with the incomparable Ben Vereen, starting with one of the most memorable opening numbers in Broadway history. Take away those white gloves and snapping fingers, and what’s left is a creaky piece with nice tunes about a boy, son of the Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne, in search of his identity, a moldy theme that is of its time. Any revival will thus have to deal with the legacy of the production itself, essentially having to out-Fosse Fosse, while avoiding an overly serious approach that would crush the feeble book. I was skeptical, especially when I heard it was done with a circus theme and female emcee, both of which sounded gimmicky. The only encouraging point was that director Diane Paulus was also the controlling force behind the period-perfect Hair three years ago.

The results were deliriously successful. The look and feel of the show remained Fosse-esque in its dances, outlandish costumes, and madcap touches like the severed talking head and the walking torso-less legs. What the director added, brilliantly, were Cirque de Soleil-type acrobatics and breathtaking stunts, fitted seamlessly with the Fosse style. The show needs to hit the ground running in the great “Magic To Do”, and did it ever: a massive dancing shadow appears on the curtains, a sexy emcee emerges and sings a chorus, and the curtains then open to reveal a range of performers all over the stage spinning, tumbling, flying, jumping through hoops and generally carrying on in a big splash of color and movement framed by a large circus tent. It set the stage perfectly for the winking presentation that the book demanded. I was concerned that this might become tiresome after a few scenes, but the director and choreographer seemed to have an endless bag of tricks that helped sustain the froth throughout. The ending trembled on the brink of self-importance (using the revised version, where the boy sings a brief “Corner of the Sky” reprise), which was disappointing. But that was the only less-than-super moment in a super production. Paulus again managed to make the show come alive for a modern audience without mocking the sensibility of the show’s era.

Patina Miller was fantastic here in every way as the emcee. She emanated a sly sense of fun topped with spectacular singing, dancing and movement. She was in total control of every scene she played. Given the unenviable job of reinventing an iconic performance, she passed with flying colors. This has Tony nomination written all over it. The Pippin (a British actor for some reason) did not have a strong singing voice but was a very appealing presence, and made it work on balance. Real-life hubbies Terrence Mann and Charlotte d’Amboise were reliably excellent as Charlemagne and his wife, and Pippin’s love interest Rachel Bay Jones was a big thumbs-up. Best of all, as usual, was Andrea Martin in a fantastic comic turn as Pippin’s grandmother, including some eye-popping moves on the trapeze. She was so manically irresistible that I found myself singing along to the bouncing ball in “No Time At All” in a rare concession to audience participation. That’s easily another Tony nomination in the bag for her and the show. The rest of the cast was fine, including the astounding acrobats. I can’t begin to imagine the casting difficulties with this show given the wear-and-tear on the performers and ever-present possibility of injuries, complicated by the fact that the acrobats have to sing and act in addition to their usual stunts. This might be one of the few shows that could work in Las Vegas. Will definitely catch it on the next go-round.