Diane Paulus-Helmed PIPPIN Plays A.R.T. in December; Is Broadway Next?

[Rob]

Posted: 3/8/12 at 5:25pm

Click Here to Read Diane Paulus-Helmed PIPPIN Plays A.R.T. in December; Is Broadway Next?

[gvendo2005]

Posted: 3/8/12 at 5:36pm

As seen with Porgy and Bess (oh, pardon me, The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess), the answer is unquestionably "as long as A.R.T. subscribers buy tickets."

[nasty_khakis]

Posted: 3/8/12 at 7:05pm

I hope they rename it "Diane Paulus presents Bob Fosse's Stephen Swartz's Pippin!"

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 3/8/12 at 7:08pm

I hope so! I would love a recording of Pippin with Gavin Creel. Hopefully he's still attached to the project. Although, I wish someone would produce the Gavin Creel/Diane Paulus Prometheus Bound on Broadway instead.

[gvendo2005]

Posted: 3/8/12 at 7:12pm

Honestly, I'm rooting for Nicole Fosse's production, which is apparently being work-shopped upstate. (Don't know if word about that is supposed to even be out, but there it is.)

[timote316]

Posted: 3/8/12 at 7:53pm

Although, I wish someone would produce the Gavin Creel/Diane Paulus Prometheus Bound on Broadway instead.

Having seen that... no, no you don't. It was dreadful.

[BroadwayBaby6]

Posted: 3/8/12 at 11:29pm

Tracie Thoms would make an AMAZING leading player!

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 3/8/12 at 11:34pm

Having seen that... no, no you don't. It was dreadful.

I've heard it and I think the material is amazing so, yes, yes I'd like to see it on Broadway.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 3/9/12 at 12:21am

Heard it and seeing it are two different things.

Plus the way it was staged at A.R.T. would never work on a Broadway stage. Updated On: 3/9/12 at 12:21 AM

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 3/9/12 at 1:37am

Diane Paulus is such a succubus, I hope 7 Doigts de la Main have super-savvy lawyers go over every nook and cranny of their contract.

[julesboogie]

Posted: 3/9/12 at 3:09am

would like to see her helm an original piece on bway. see how it goes.

[Vespertine1228]

Posted: 3/9/12 at 12:02pm

After the horrible revival I sat through at the Menier Chocolate Factory last year, I'm just hoping that this version of Pippin is good. It's a great musical that no one seems to know what to do with.

Diane Paulus might be the first director with a big enough ego to say "Hey, maybe all of this jokey humor and excessive choreography is actually hurting the show."

I'm looking forward to it.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 3/9/12 at 12:18pm

Diane Paulus? The Diane Paulus who's working on this revival?

[gvendo2005]

Posted: 3/9/12 at 12:33pm

^ My sentiment exactly.

[Goldenboy2]

Posted: 3/10/12 at 12:45pm

I disagree with you! That leading player role was originated by Ben Verene who in my opinion brought so much life to it. I think having a female would be awesome but I don't know. I think someone like Wallace Smith who is in playing judas in godspell should definitely be in the running for that role! Gavin would definitely be an amazing Pippin.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 3/10/12 at 12:57pm

I love Gav, but a Pippin pushing 40??????

All that jokey humor and excessive choreography are what made Fosse's production cook and without it, most revivals have been unsucessful.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 3/10/12 at 1:09pm

Don't worry, Diane will pull in the poor kids from the cirque and tell them, "Go do something interesting over there" while cooking up press releases extolling the production's many virtues, such as a being free of all that old, stodgy, stuffy musical theater stuff.

[Owen22]

Posted: 3/10/12 at 1:19pm

"After the horrible revival I sat through at the Menier Chocolate Factory last year, I'm just hoping that this version of Pippin is good."

I actually sorta loved the Menier's "Pippin". And it wasn't just the concept which I thought was semi-brilliant, I thought most of the performances were spectacular. Greatest Katherine I've ever seen.

[Jon]

Posted: 3/10/12 at 8:02pm

Schwartz' concept for the Leading Player was an old man. Fosse came up with the idea to use Vereen.

Maybe... an old man named Ben Vereen!

[Rumpelstiltskin]

Posted: 3/10/12 at 11:05pm

Schwartz' concept for the Leading Player was an old man.

I'm imagining Abe Vigoda singing "Simple Joys." It's not pleasant.

[tourboi]

Posted: 3/11/12 at 1:41am

I thought Prometheus definitely needed some structural work (the book mostly), BUT it was one of the most THRILLING pieces of "event theatre" I've ever experienced.

That said, the experience is what made it. This show IS NOT a Broadway show. You NEED it to be environmental as it was in Boston. Find a warehouse/closed nightclub and do it there, and you'll have a hit.

[tourboi]

Posted: 3/11/12 at 1:41am

I thought Prometheus definitely needed some structural work (the book mostly), BUT it was one of the most THRILLING pieces of "event theatre" I've ever experienced.

That said, the experience is what made it. This show IS NOT a Broadway show. You NEED it to be environmental as it was in Boston. Find a warehouse/closed nightclub and do it there, and you'll have a hit.

[timote316]

Posted: 3/11/12 at 3:47pm

As it was presented, Prometheus Bound was not a Broadway show. There's nothing about the piece itself that forced it to be staged the way it was. A.R.T.'s production of CABARET in the same space was also not appropriate for a Broadway house.

And not only did the book need work, it needed to be thrown out completely. For me, it suffered from the exact same problem SPRING AWAKENING did: the juxtaposition of the rock music did absolutely nothing to serve the story Steven Sater was adapting, leaving a big muddled mess.

[best12bars]

Posted: 3/11/12 at 4:01pm

The Broadway world is a strange place when a teeny Jonas Brother can play Finch and a late-30s "juvenile" is the frontrunner for Pippin.

[ClumsyDude15]

Posted: 3/11/12 at 5:05pm

Thanks, but no thanks, Ms. Paulus.

Go back to your hippies and leave Pippin alone, kay?