A family member got me the Broadway Channel for Christmas. The original is nowhere as good as the one I saw 10 years ago.
If you're referring to the Pippin production starring William Katt, you should know that that production was a touring show filmed I believe in Toronto in 1980 (at least 7 years after the Broadway production premiered). The original Broadway production was indeed electric, sizzling, thrillingly entertaining like nothing then seen on Broadway, with a Tony-winning staging by Fosse that the touring show can't begin to convey. The sets were reduced considerably for the tour. Also, Chita Rivera is swell, but she was just pinch-hitting for the real Fastrada as a favor to Fosse so the thing could get filmed.
I quite enjoyed the revival myself, but for me it was a pale sweet child next to the dangerous erotic show I watched, mouth agape, when I saw Fosse's original back in 1975
Add to the above sentiments that you comparing a live performance to watching a filmed one...and one that is more than FORTY years old.
I love them both.
I grew up on LI. There was a TV commercial that tried to inspire people to love NY, a big television campaign and Pippin was a big part. Pippin showed up during a deep recession. It was the only new thing that excited people for a while. I was so captivated by the new one, the old one left me unfulfilled.
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