Files

Download

Download the program (325 KB)

Description

Pippin was created by Stephen Schwartz (Godspell, Wicked) and Roger O. Hirson as a college project, it was a cute and sentimental story about a travelling theatrical troupe putting on a play about a young man finding meaning in his life. It was fairly innocent and innocuous – until Bob Fosse got a hold of it. It was Fosse who invented the Leading Player and embedded a dark Vaudevillian mystique to the piece, making it a Broadway sensation in 1972. For Fosse the piece was autobiographical, the two main characters representing the two opposing sides of his own personality: Pippin, the innocence and hope and the Leading Player the dark, lurid drives, requiring satiation. Fosse used Pippin as a vehicle for playing out many of his sexual fantasies and personal concerns (war, religion, power, politics).

The Theatre Sheridan production explored the themes presented through Fosse’s original staging and choreography. The group of players were placed at some point in the future. It asks the question: if our society and our consumptive need for entertainment and the mass media continues to grow, where will we be in the future? What forms of entertainment will be required in the future to satisfy our needs? What are we leaving for future generations?

Pippin, the character, in some respects is an extraordinary human being because he dares to ask the question – what will give meaning to my life? It is a celebration of the human spirit and the radical hope we can all possess. Pippin chooses life but he is no Pollyanna, he continues to ask extraordinary questions and finds hope in simple human connection.

A stage musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Roger O. Hirson. Bob Fosse, who directed the original Broadway production, also contributed to the libretto.

Director: Marc Richard

Choreographer: Robin Calvert

Musical Director: Stephen Woodjetts

Publication Date

2-18-2010

Production Year

2009/2010

Theatre Location

Studio Theatre, Sheridan

Cast

Pippin: Vaughan Harris, Wade Muir
Catherine: Jade Padua
Fastrada: Alexandra Herzog
Berthe: Jenna Warriner
Leading Player: Cameron Carver
Charles: Jordan Till
Lewis: Graham Parkhurst
Theo: Mia Van Wyck-Smart

Ensemble
Jacqueline Burtney, Natalia Gracious, Julianne Hobby, Miranda Jary, Miranda MacDonald, Kelly McNamee, Emilee Nimetz, Diana Oliveira, Oliver Bailey, Sam DiGiuseppe, Will Lamond, Colin Noel-Baldwin, Travis Seetoo

Keywords

Pippin, Theatre Sheridan, musical theatre

Terms of Use

Terms of Use for Works posted in SOURCE.

Disciplines

Theatre and Performance Studies

Faculty

Faculty of Animation, Arts & Design

School

Department of Visual and Performing Arts

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Original Citation

Richard, M. (Director). (2010, February 18 – 27). Pippin. [Theatre Performance]. Oakville: Theatre Sheridan.

Pippin, February 18 – 27, 2010


Share

COinS
 
 

To view the content in your browser, please download Adobe Reader or, alternately,
you may Download the file to your hard drive.

NOTE: The latest versions of Adobe Reader do not support viewing PDF files within Firefox on Mac OS and if you are using a modern (Intel) Mac, there is no official plugin for viewing PDF files within the browser window.