Pippin - Female Leading Player?

[peach]

Posted: 4/5/05 at 1:53pm

I did a search, but nothing useful came up. My question(s)...

Have you seen Pippin with a female Leading Player? Do you think it worked? If so, why/why not? What would/could make it better?
How about a man as the grandmother?

Working on something Pippin-esque and curious what the general concensus is...

Merci.

[umgeoboy]

Posted: 4/5/05 at 1:56pm

Yes they did a Pippin concert in ny recently, and split the leading player into 5 smaller parts, 2 of whom were female. I think that a female leading player works just as well as a male one.

Also, Charles Busch played the grandmother and it worked perfectly! That part has never done that much for me until I saw a guy in drag do the part and it clicked. I actually think it works better with a man in drag!

[peach]

Posted: 4/5/05 at 1:59pm

Thanks - I had read about the concert performance, where I got the idea for the guy in drag - but didn't see it. I think it would add SO much more comedy to an already lovely, funny number!

For Leading Player - the only song I think might not fit for female is GLORY...other than that, though I think it could be a good twist on things. Maybe adds another layer of "seduction" for the Pippin character...

Anyway - still curious what people think.
Updated On: 4/5/05 at 01:59 PM

[robbiej]

Posted: 4/5/05 at 2:00pm

I believe Paula Kelly (Sweet Charity movie and Night Court first season) played the Leading Player in a rather big production. Possibly a tour? Can someone confirm?

[umgeoboy]

Posted: 4/5/05 at 2:04pm

peach yes adding a guy in drag definitely makes that scene even better.

Having a female leading player adds and detracts from the part. There are definitly pros and cons to both sexes playing the part. That I would definitely think depends on the person playing it. Ben Vereen is the perfect leading player, very coniving which was great. I loved Rosie as the leading player I think she played it like a talk show host, which is another very different way to play the character and also works.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 4/5/05 at 2:08pm

Legend has it that in one of the early concepts of Pippin, the Leading Player's role was going to be split among different chorus members, which obviously would have included some females. Then Ben Vereen came along, and they decided to go with one male.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 4/5/05 at 2:24pm

I personally prefer the role of the leading player being played by a man. I think it's more sinister.

[peach]

Posted: 4/5/05 at 2:28pm

Thanks MichaelBennett - that was my quandry too. I like this role sinister and somewhat self-important. Which is (in my mind) why a magnetic, confident (but in a sneaky way) male seems to fit better overall. But it's gotta have the slick dance moves too. Look at that - I just described Ben Vereeen. Since Ben Vereen is the PERFECT Leading Player, it's tough to get the vision of him playing it out of my mind!
Updated On: 4/5/05 at 02:28 PM

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 4/5/05 at 2:36pm

I actually agree Peach. Though the thought of Paula Kelly playing the role is admittedly intriguing to me -- but she has a dark quality that can be almost a-sexual. That type of approach probably worked.

Posted: 4/5/05 at 2:44pm

I directed it once with a female leading player. She was plenty sinister. It worked just fine. It changes some meanings, it makes some senes play differently, but every cast does that.

[brdlwyr]

Posted: 4/5/05 at 2:50pm

I playedPippin three times and twice the leading player was female. They were not vrey good actors, so my experience was flawed. I prefer a male leading player. Glory definately did not work. The parts were taken down and it was annoying. But, I assume that it can work. I love all of these threads about Pippin - looking forward to a revival.

[musicnmath]

Posted: 4/5/05 at 2:56pm

Pippin is one of my all-time favourite shows, so I see pretty much any production that I can. I've seen one female lead out of 4 or 5 productions. While I'm pretty open to creative interpretation, I did not like the female lead. She had a great voice, beautiful dancer (even did the Fosse moves, which some don't), good actress....just...didn't like it. I can't put my finger on why. There's something about the the Leading Player and Pippin playing this little mental tug of war through the show that I really like. That works best with another male, I feel. Vocally I dislike a woman in the role and perhaps that's because without those deep notes a male can hit, the sinister quality is not as compelling.

[gretchenrose]

Posted: 4/5/05 at 11:36pm

I saw Pippin a couple years ago, and an acquaintance of mine (girl) played the Lead Player. She did fantastic!! It definitely added a layer of seduction, and it was just so much fun to watch. She did great with Glory too!!

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 4/6/05 at 1:12am

The leading player could theoretically be played by a woman, but it makes more sense for it to be a man. Having a woman do it would add this whole sexual tension thing that would be distracting.

[bjivie2]

Posted: 4/6/05 at 1:13am

I've seen two productions of Pippin with a female leading player. One she sang it in the guys octave as an alto, and it was somewhat awkward. The other sang the entire thing up the octave in her crazy belt range, and while it was an amazing showcase for this girls ridiculous belt, everything was blaring and words were missed. If a girl were to do the show I would want the keys changed to one that would befit a girl's voice better. There's definitely a different dynamic when a guy plays it verses a girl, but with that casting you have to rely on the director to tailor the feel of the show to whoever's playing each role.

The original concept for the Leading Player was to be played as an old man, but when Bob Fosse saw Ben Vereen for the part he changed the entire concept to a coniving, young, sexy man.

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 4/6/05 at 1:13am

Oh, and Berthe should NOT be played by a man--unless you want that scene to be really really gay ("not that there's anything wrong with that").

[bjivie2]

Posted: 4/6/05 at 1:14am

I don't know about Berthe. I think it was only played by Charles Busch because that's what he does. It was a gimmick. I don't think you really want Pippin to become "gimmicky" or else it will detract from the story.