Raul Esparza as the Leading Player?

[BWayBoy88]

Posted: 6/20/04 at 10:53pm

After watching Broadway Under the Stars and seeing Raul sing Simple Joys, can anyone else see him as the Leading Player?

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 6/20/04 at 11:01pm

That's the narrator in Pippin, right? I saw Pippin a reallyyyyy long time ago, but definitely. I loved watching him perform that song... he just took such amazing command of the stage and to quote Ruffian, was "tre, TRE sexy." Really, though. At first I thought it was a weird song for him to be singing, but it turned out to work very well.

Updated On: 6/20/04 at 11:01 PM

[Bevan Michael]

Posted: 6/20/04 at 11:05pm

But can he dance? Leading Player can be pretty dance intensive.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 6/20/04 at 11:12pm

VERY dance intensive, if they keep the choreography that Fosse created specifically for Ben Vereen, who was then in the prime of his career. I love Raul, but somehow I don't see him pulling off the Manson Trio eight times a week, unless he's got several years of top level professional dance training he hasn't told anybody about.

[BwayTheatre11]

Posted: 6/20/04 at 11:18pm

I do not believe Raul has that much dance training under his belt.

[orchajaws]

Posted: 6/20/04 at 11:46pm

Ditto Margo. I love "Pippin" (I truly hope it comes back to Broadway), and I love Raul, but I just do not see him pulling that role off. I personally would LOVE to see Victor Trent Cook, formerly of "The Three Mo' Tenors" take a crack at Leading Player.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 6/21/04 at 8:46am

Yeah. Now that I think about it... again, I haven't seen Pippin in years, so y'all will have to excuse my memory lapse, but vocally, yes. I don't believe Raul dances... I mean, he did Cabaret, but I don't think he has much dance training, if any. But hey, like MargoChanning said, maybe he just hasn't told anyone about it! lol, really, I don't think he has. But I'd pay to see him dance!! Hell, I'd pay to see him stand in a corner.

Updated On: 6/21/04 at 08:46 AM

[midtowngym]

Posted: 6/21/04 at 1:54pm

I ran into Raul on saturday (by chance)walking to the Public. He was sweet, and I (thankfully) made it brief and kept it under control. I didn't ONCE MENTION that i wanted to have his love child!

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 6/21/04 at 2:01pm

He would be fun in the role--and who says the Leading Player HAS to be a great dancer. A new production could go a different route completely.

[BroadwayDiva]

Posted: 6/21/04 at 2:01pm

I'd love to see Raul as the Leading Player. I love his voice, and I think he could sing the part perfectly. And about the dancing... well, he would have to work on it.

Pippin NEEDS to come back to Broadway. It's such a great show!

[Ruffian]

Posted: 6/21/04 at 2:05pm

jrb...I said the same thing to Emcee

[robbiej]

Posted: 6/21/04 at 2:21pm

I thought the same thing about him watching BROADWAY UNDER THE STARS.

HOWEVER, did anyone else think his version of SIMPLE JOYS was just a tad too intense for a light, lovely evening in the park?

I mean...I thought he was gonna pop a blood vessel or throw a chord.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 6/21/04 at 3:06pm

Well, yeah you COULD toss out all of the dance in the show and have a totally new concept -- you could also toss all of the dance out of Chicago or Sweet Charity; you could probably come up with a "concept" for "West Side Story" that employs no dancing either (if the Robbins estate would let you -- good luck), but why would you with all of the extraordinary dance talent out there??? Just to add to list of 500 roles everybody wants Raul Esparza to play?

Pippin is a Concept Musical that sprung from the mind of Bob Fosse. He completely tossed out the original book, threw out a lot of Schwartz's original score (much to Schwartz's chagrin -- he was so vocally opposed to Fosse's total and complete reworking of his original ideas, that Fosse had to ban him from rehearsals at one point). The book is a very vague, messy loosely constructed coming of age story Fosse wanted to use as his commentary on the Vietnam era -- hippies, free love, war, adulthood and responsibility -- all played out in tie-dyed costumes and a multi-colored set right out of Laugh-In. It's Fosse's "Hair" (another messy anti-war show) and the only thing that gives its vaudeville-like presentation any coherency is Fosse's brilliant staging and choreography. I've seen two productions of "Pippin" with Leading Players who weren't great dancers (where they had to cut some of the more difficult dance material) and the whole show just fell apart. Fosse's original concept for the Leading Player was that of a small narrator part, but he absolutely adored Ben Vereen (his favorite muse since Gwen Verdon) and as rehearsals progressed, he created more and more for Ben to do, more songs, more dialogue, more jokes, more magic and especially more and more dances until not only the role of the Leading Player, but the entire show was
tailor-made to Ben Vereen's extraordinary talents.

Pippin really was the Ben Vereen Show and it was for Ben and the dancers to do for it what Hugh Jackman is doing for "Boy From Oz." Like BFO, while, Schwartz's score is fairly strong, the book is a joke -- half of it consists of weak and corny set-ups by the the Leading Player (in an echo of Cabaret's Emcee, which was Fosse's initial inspiration for the role) and the other half is underwritten scenes for the underdeveloped characters, with an overall arc that goes nowhere and at the end of the day, none of it makes any sense. But the Fosse dance numbers were absolutely DAZZLING (some of the best of his career), especially in the hands of Ben Vereen and the other lead dancers, so extraordinary that you didn't notice or care that the book is a piece of crap. Fosse's staging drove the whole show, gave it energy and focus, and beautifully covered up the endless deficiencies in plot and character development.

So fine, throw out the the Fosse staging and choreography and have poor Raul just stand there and tell those god-awful jokes, without showstopping dance numbers to follow them -- as talented as Raul is, it's a recipe for disaster.

Updated On: 6/21/04 at 03:06 PM

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 6/21/04 at 3:11pm

well, I agree that it would be better to have LP as a dancer. I love Fosse's work on the show. But, I was thinking of a production (like what was done with Cabaret) where the LP was not as strong a dancer--not cutting the dancing for goodness sakes.

But, unless a revival is done like Chicago--in the style of or exactly a recreation of Fosse's choreography, you are going to have new choreography. And, if the show can not stand that change, then no, don't revive it.

Updated On: 6/21/04 at 03:11 PM

[robbiej]

Posted: 6/21/04 at 3:39pm

I like your last sentence, JRB.

DON'T REVIVE IT!!!!

I've seen productions of PIPPIN w/o the original choreography and it just crumbles under the weight of its terrible book.

A show like PIPPIN doesn't just need new dances. It needs an intensely strong director/choreographer with a passion for this material and what it's saying. Something that's almost impossible to find these days.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 6/21/04 at 3:44pm

I'm not sure if it could stand that kind of minimalist staging -- sticking a show in a black box like that will point up all of its internal flaws if it has any (and conversely may serve to bring out the best in a great piece by getting rid of all the window dressing and allowing the audience to really focus on the book and score). Cabaret and Chicago are beautifully structured pieces with excellent books and scores that can work in any concept. Pippin, I fear, wouldn't hold up in such a naked presentation. However, it is a vaudeville (like the other two) so perhaps it could work on some level, provided a first-rate director and choreographer are on board.

[Bevan Michael]

Posted: 6/21/04 at 4:40pm

Perhaps a studio album would be nice. The score has some gems, and you could then utilize Raul as LP without having to worry about choreography :)

[BWayBoy88]

Posted: 6/21/04 at 8:28pm

I dont know if anyone saw the Paper Mill version a few years ago. Stephen Schwartz and the guy who wrote the book(I'm blanking on his name right now) updated the show. I dont really know how to describe what they did to it, but they made it much more modern. They also fixed the ending so it makes sense. I think if they ever revive the show, they should use this version

[BroadwayDiva]

Posted: 6/21/04 at 8:59pm

They changed it??? I liked it the way it was! Ok, the ending was a little messed up, but it was fine! They shouldn't have changed it!!!

I liked it as the original. Oh well...

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 6/21/04 at 9:01pm

I love the original's ending. I actually don't think the show is badly written, but maybe I am biased--it was one of those shows I fell in love with when I was 14 and I studied with its producer (as did Mister Matt, fyi).

[BroadwayBound06]

Posted: 6/21/04 at 9:09pm

They didn't change it, they un-fossefied it, they put it back to the original book. The book is pretty worthless as is. I have the 1975 version of the libretto and it doesn't have the lines Fosse put in, I believe that with Fosse's lines it makes more sense, and you understand more that it is a show indide of a show and this has been done multiple times, this is shown through the Leading Player's reactions to Cathrine and the way she acts and messes up the show inside of the show. There is a good explination for Pippin and the whole Schwartz, Fosse drama on www.fosse.com under features. It is an excerpt from Scott Miller's From Assassin's to West Side Story.

[MusicMan]

Posted: 6/21/04 at 9:38pm

Raul would need to trim a little bit from around his tummy in order to fit into those sateen jazz pants.

[Becky]

Posted: 6/21/04 at 9:40pm

After seeing Raul as "Riff Raff", I couldn't *even* imagine him playing "Jon" in TTB when I heard he was cast. He more than surprised me....and he's surprised me many times since. (Emcee - George - Charley - Gethin - Philip - Ned - etc....) I'm not saying he's perfect for every role, but after being astounded by his versatility over the years? I'll never utter the words "I'm not sure he could do that role." You just never know.....

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 6/21/04 at 9:44pm

"Raul would need to trim a little bit from around his tummy in order to fit into those sateen jazz pants."

Oh, please. That should be the least of his concerns.

[Wicked_Elphie]

Posted: 6/21/04 at 10:03pm

Oh please Raul is absolutely gorgeous just as he is! And I am not very familiar with Pippin but I would seriously pay to see him do just about anything! And wow do I love watching and listening to him sing "Simple Joys"...yuuum! Ok I promise I'm done gushing for now!