PIPPIN and my iPod

[Flippancy]

Posted: 7/18/08 at 9:25am

Guys, I had the strangest thing happen yesterday. I recently ripped the PIPPIN cast album to my iPod.

[Background: PIPPIN was the first B'way show I ever saw, and I absolutely loved it. When I got home, I got the cast album (an actual record album, LOL) and memorized the whole thing.]

I haven't listened to PIPPIN in years...I mean, YEARS. But yesterday, sitting at my desk, Irene Ryan starts her rendition of "No Time At All", and I, like a big ol' goober, start to cry. FREAKIN'CRY!!!! Thank God for office doors, huh?

I know that Ryan died during the run of PIPPIN; I think she had a stroke onstage during a matinee, and then died a few weeks later. Question: Does anyone know how that all went down?

And Question #2: Are there any songs/shows for any of you that bring back these kind of visceral memories, that literally reduce you to tears?

Weird post, I know. So sue me. Just let me get my hanky.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 7/18/08 at 1:24pm

Incidentally, PIPPIN was also the very first show I ever saw on Broadway. The year was 1972. The theatre was the Imperial on W. 45th Street, and I was 7 years old.

To this day I get an overwhelming flood of emotion whenever I hear the first cords of "Magic to Do". It just oozes all things Bob Fosse for me.

Regarding Irene Ryan's death:

Irene died on April 26, 1973 at the age of 70, several days following a stroke suffered during a performance of the musical PIPPIN on Broadway. She had been diagnosed with a brain tumor some time previously, but reportedly was never made aware of it. Her friend and fellow 'Beverly Hillbillies' cast member, Nancy Kulp, had tried to persuade her not to go to New York for the musical.

[Pippin]

Posted: 7/18/08 at 1:33pm

You're not alone. Pippin brings back memories for me as well. I wan't alive to see it's broadway run, but I was Pippin my Junior year of High school, and my girlfriend at the time was Catherine. So we just loved singing "Love song" together.

unfortunately, she was horribly injured in a car accident one week before the opening, and was in the hospital for about two months or so. We had a get a replacement Catherine, a girl with a very annoying church lady-type voice. you know- one that warbles for days. We all got through the show, and to this day, My ex (who is now my greatest and oldest friend) can't listed to Pippin, and I get a little weepy when listening to the album, but especially "love song"