reflections on pippin
so brian & i saw pippin on sunday at the forrest theatre…and i must say-despite all of my concerns-it certainly didn't disappoint…i was worried that they'd try to give it some lame concept or new agenda…when in fact, the show has its own agenda already as well as its own concept…and if it aint broke-don't fix it…choreography was in the fosse style (whew) & was actually quite good (the manson trio was absolutely fabulous) all i was disappointed in was the orgy…i had no idea where the music for it came from but it was awkward & cheesy & the choreography suffered because of it…they had several magic tricks in it-which was a nice touch…and "with you" had a cirque-esque style of women swinging &entangling themselves in fabric draped from the fly space… "no time at all" was great! (berthe was hysterical) & the leading player, despite my dislike for him at the beginning, won me over with his homage to ben vereen…the set itself was this huge wrought iron structure with stairs & places to hang from that not only moved, but had a rotating center…very gothic…very nice….costumes were fabulous…& for those of you who care, they drew a map during "war is a science"…great idea! waaaaay easier than what we did at chs though...lol
looking back, pippin was probably my favorite period in high school…it felt like the entire school was waiting for that show & the entire school was enthralled by us as a cast…granted, im sure that's not at all true, but at times I felt like some sort of celebrity (who got to leave class to go rehearse)…people were always asking questions about the show & the other actors…it was exciting…not to mention the fact that that show was built & worked on for months on end…we would learn dance numbers for each other-so much so to the point that if someone couldn't make the show, any one of us could fill in no problem… we did our homework on that show too…I remember watching the "with you" trio for the first time on the movie version & dan saying "that's gonna be you-right there in the front"…& i'll never forget when the trio first came out when we performed it for the entire student body, the sound of that crowd screaming…so loud, in fact, that by the time the real orgy ensued, we were all screaming the counts to each other bc the audience had drowned out the orchestra…to this day, the choreography for that show still lives in my muscle memory…
anyways, it got me thinking…pippin is in so many ways my absolute favorite show of all time…so much so that i don't think i could ever direct it…is that weird? i mean, i would want it to be so spot-on perfect, that i'd drive myself crazy worrying about ruining it…granted, i have that problem with all of my shows…but my point is: is it possible to love a show so much you'd never touch it? i took a big gamble with equus & that certainly didn't blow up in my face…but if given the opportunity to do it again-i would-to fix it…lol…i guess im never really completely satisfied as a director…theres always something i would go back and change…so maybe the point is that i should try pippin & see what happens…i don't know…lets see if footlighters wants me to do a musical or not still…i should call them…
looking back, pippin was probably my favorite period in high school…it felt like the entire school was waiting for that show & the entire school was enthralled by us as a cast…granted, im sure that's not at all true, but at times I felt like some sort of celebrity (who got to leave class to go rehearse)…people were always asking questions about the show & the other actors…it was exciting…not to mention the fact that that show was built & worked on for months on end…we would learn dance numbers for each other-so much so to the point that if someone couldn't make the show, any one of us could fill in no problem… we did our homework on that show too…I remember watching the "with you" trio for the first time on the movie version & dan saying "that's gonna be you-right there in the front"…& i'll never forget when the trio first came out when we performed it for the entire student body, the sound of that crowd screaming…so loud, in fact, that by the time the real orgy ensued, we were all screaming the counts to each other bc the audience had drowned out the orchestra…to this day, the choreography for that show still lives in my muscle memory…
anyways, it got me thinking…pippin is in so many ways my absolute favorite show of all time…so much so that i don't think i could ever direct it…is that weird? i mean, i would want it to be so spot-on perfect, that i'd drive myself crazy worrying about ruining it…granted, i have that problem with all of my shows…but my point is: is it possible to love a show so much you'd never touch it? i took a big gamble with equus & that certainly didn't blow up in my face…but if given the opportunity to do it again-i would-to fix it…lol…i guess im never really completely satisfied as a director…theres always something i would go back and change…so maybe the point is that i should try pippin & see what happens…i don't know…lets see if footlighters wants me to do a musical or not still…i should call them…