Partner and I saw “Pippin” at Brown's Stuart Theater on Saturday night. I knew nothing of it except what I'd read in the 1970s; I knew Ben Vereen had his first big career break in it, and I knew poor Irene Ryan (who played Pippin's grandmother) died early in the production. And that was all.
College productions are fun. They do interesting plays, and they take chances. Over the past few years at Brown, we've seen the Oresteia, and “Lulu,” and “Peer Gynt,” and many others. They use strange lighting, and silhouettes, and people hanging by ropes from the ceiling during the big love scene, and they stage battle scenes in their underwear.
We weren't disappointed by “Pippin.” The voices (mostly) were very good. The actor playing the Leading Player, the Ben Vereen part - a student named Ned Riseley - was superb, and I hope he goes on to great things. The dancing and the choreography were excellent (it looked like Fosse, and I was bemused later to read that Fosse had choreographed the original). The costumes were amazing (they collaborated with Providence's Big Nazo puppet people, and we saw robots and bizarre helmets and big crazy beasties onstage).
But mostly, for me, it was the music.
I didn't know the score at all, so I just sort of let it wash over me. Some of the songs are actually pretty good, though none of them has made it into the popular repertoire. I heard echoes of Kander and Ebb; I heard lots of jazzy pseudo-pop riffs that reminded me of Bernstein; I heard the kind of kitchen-sink rock 'n roll that's in “Hair”; I even found myself thinking about Burt Bacharach at times.
But something was missing.
And then, about halfway through the first act, I thought: this is 1972! Sondheim is only just breaking through, with “Company” and “Follies.” Andrew Lloyd Webber was still noodling around with the score of “Joseph.” A little show called “A Chorus Line” was only a twinkle in Marvin Hamlisch's eye.
And let's not forget the forty years of popular music that have flowed over us since then.
It was like reading a book written in sixteenth-century English. I understood it, I enjoyed it, but the idiom was quaint. I thought: Wow, we used to talk like that!
Yes, and we thought we were pretty cool too.
After we got home, I watched a YouTube video of Ben Vereen doing the opening number in the 1972 production, and it was wonderful; he earned his Tony. And then I watched a YouTube video of Martha Raye in the 1981 production (with William Katt!), and it was charming.
The kids at Brown are keeping up the tradition. They gave an energetic and very entertaining rendition of the show, and they've put their own mark on it.
And that is why Partner and I love The Theatah.
Those of you in southern New England: it's at Brown next weekend too. Come see it. You'll have a spiffy time.
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