Pippin - Female Leading Player?

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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!!

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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.

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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.

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