Pippin Tour?

Posted: 10/2/14 at 3:42pm

Currently in SF...anyone seen it?

[Soozie]

Posted: 10/2/14 at 11:50pm

I saw it last night and thought it was excellent. Great cast and staging. I had not seen the revival on Broadway.

[trpguyy]

Posted: 10/2/14 at 11:55pm

Yes, lots of people have seen it. Reviews can be found here:
Pippin Tour Reviews

[HorseTears]

Posted: 10/3/14 at 3:23am

Well, those Denver and SF reviews are out and out raves. Not that I'm surprised. So excited for LA!!

[FishermanBob]

Posted: 10/5/14 at 2:38pm

Saw it Thursday night in SF. Fantastic. Truthfully, probably as good as the original revival cast and it doesn't hurt to have MJT as Pippin. He looked like he was totally into it and having a lot of fun. There's only one Patina Miller, but Sasha Allen gives a strong performance and her voice is great. Was fun seeing Lucy Arnaz and John Rubinstein. This sets the bar on how good a touring production can be.

[Outoftowner2]

Posted: 10/5/14 at 3:06pm

Saw it in Denver, it's wonderful. I also saw it on Broadway which is probably a better experience overall, but the tour is pretty close! Certainly worth seeing when it comes to your area.

[HorseTears]

Posted: 10/5/14 at 5:20pm

I guess the more relevant question is current Pippin Broadway cast vs. current Pippin tour cast?

[BrerBear]

Posted: 10/5/14 at 8:28pm

Really enjoyed it in SF this week.
MJT seemed slightly better now than when I saw him on Broadway. Maybe the time off revitalized him.
Lucy Arnaz and John Rubinstein were IMO better than Annie Potts and Terrance Mann.
Sasha Allen did a good job, but I thought Patina Miller was a much better dancer.
The rest of the main cast were about on par with the Broadway cast I saw (all but Andrea Martin).

This is one of the most faithful tours to the original I've seen in a long while.

[Fantod]

Posted: 10/11/14 at 11:07pm

Caught it today and I didn't exactly love it. Pippin is probably the only attempt I've ever seen to make surrealist musical theatre, and the thing about surrealism is that you have to say something to make it interesting, and Pippin really never says anything. The plot meanders along without ever building a connection to any character and has an extremely disappointing ending. The score is comprised of a whole bunch of great songs that don't really string together very well and while the actors could all sing very well, they couldn't really act. This is most noticeable with Matthew James Thomas, whose character is written to be extremely whiny and self-centered and his acting performance was frenetic, weird, and felt like summer camp theatre, which did not help create sympathy for his character at all. I will say that the choreography was some of the finest I have ever witnessed (has there ever been a better choreographer than Fosse?) and the costumes were gorgeous, but no amount of gorgeous wrapping can mask how amateurish and unlikable the show really is.

[Fantod]

Posted: 10/11/14 at 11:07pm

Caught it today and I didn't exactly love it. Pippin is probably the only attempt I've ever seen to make surrealist musical theatre, and the thing about surrealism is that you have to say something to make it interesting, and Pippin really never says anything. The plot meanders along without ever building a connection to any character and has an extremely disappointing ending. The score is comprised of a whole bunch of great songs that don't really string together very well and while the actors could all sing very well, they couldn't really act. This is most noticeable with Matthew James Thomas, whose character is written to be extremely whiny and self-centered and his acting performance was frenetic, weird, and felt like summer camp theatre, which did not help create sympathy for his character at all. I will say that the choreography was some of the finest I have ever witnessed (has there ever been a better choreographer than Fosse?) and the costumes were gorgeous, but no amount of gorgeous wrapping can mask how amateurish and unlikable the show really is.

[HorseTears]

Posted: 10/20/14 at 9:03pm

LA peeps - Pippin tickets are now available on Goldstar. Pretty deep discount, too.

[stee]

Posted: 10/20/14 at 11:00pm

can anyone comment on the actor who plays Catherine?

that seems like one of thr more complex roles and one that really stood out in three broadway cast so im wondering if it is equally as extraordinary (!) on tour

[ChairinMain]

Posted: 10/20/14 at 11:22pm

Kristin Reese is Catherine, and she's excellent. She's a very warm, very funny presence, though the Leading Player's cracks about her age didn't make a tremendous amount of sense (at least from the mezzanine.) She belts the crap out of "Ordinary Woman."

I really liked this cast. The supporting cast is pretty much uniformly excellent, especially John Rubenstein and Sabine Harper, who I hope goes on to much bigger things. The only problem, and it's a big one, is Sascha Allen. She sounds fantastic, but she just doesn't seem to be able to deliver on the character's menace, and her comic timing left a lot to be desired. Her big tantrum at the end was really more of a snit. Her dancing, too, was below standard. It's not that it was bad, but her execution was just kind of disappointing. I kept looking at the guys in back of her during the Mason trio. It's kind of surprising to see the show with a weak Leading Player, because it really focused the evening on Matthew James Thomas, who I liked a lot.

[HorseTears]

Posted: 10/20/14 at 11:35pm

You're definitely not the first person to comment on Allen's less than perfect dancing. I'm seeing the tour in LA next week so can't comment on it myself, but I wonder why they couldn't cast a true triple threat for this role. Surely there must have been a lot of talented women interested in the part.

[ChairinMain]

Posted: 10/21/14 at 4:18am

She does sing the ever-lovin' snot out of "Simple Joys." Maybe she just had a great audition.

Updated On: 10/21/14 at 04:18 AM

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Posted: 10/21/14 at 4:29am

Or maybe she replaced Patina Miller when Hair moved from the Delacorte to Broadway, and Diane Paulus has given in to "if it worked once, it can work again" now that she's a successful industry director.

[Alessio2]

Posted: 10/21/14 at 4:24pm

I'm seeing this tonight at the Pantages here in L.A. and am super excited. I was in NYC last year when it opened and I couldn't get a ticket so have been looking forward to this for a while!

[evic]

Posted: 10/21/14 at 4:46pm

Pippin has gotten pans the last 2 times it played in LA...but maybe the critics will like it with the reimagined theme. i'd be curious about the reviews-last time it played there was 26 years ago with Ben Vereen so the new critics will see a fresh production.

[DAME]

Posted: 10/21/14 at 4:51pm

That is not true. Pippin played the Taper about 3 years ago and got very good reviews. It starred Michael Arden and did very well.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 10/21/14 at 4:55pm

Deaf West's Pippin was a little strange, but I came to realize Pippin itself is a strange show. (That was my first exposure to it.) And right -- it wasn't panned.

Also, it starred Tyrone Giordano as much as it starred Michael Arden.

[DAME]

Posted: 10/21/14 at 4:57pm

Yes. Thanks. I couldn't remember the name.

[lovebwy]

Posted: 10/21/14 at 5:03pm

I'm going to see it tonight at the Pantages in Los Angeles.

Updated On: 10/21/14 at 05:03 PM

[DAME]

Posted: 10/21/14 at 7:37pm

"And right -- it wasn't panned. "

Not only was it not panned... it got very good reviews. I actually had 6 clients in the show.

[lovebwy]

Posted: 10/22/14 at 2:39am

Pippin was excellent tonight at the Pantages in Hollywood. Thrilling in parts.

Sasha Allen I remembered from the movie Camp. She was fantastic.

Matthew James Thomas- He sounded very tentative on Corner of the Sky- but got much stronger as the night went on. Enjoyed the shirtless scenes.

Very cool seeing John Rubinstein as Charles, he was good too.

Andrea Martin stopped the show. I've never seen anything like it. Standing ovation in the middle of the first act. I've been enjoying her since I was a kid. What a fantastic career and talented lady.

I had a very good time tonight. Noticed no first night problems.

[VernonGersch]

Posted: 10/22/14 at 3:02am

I was also there tonight at PIPPINs first night in LA.

I saw the show at the ART almost 2 years ago (with Matthew and Andrea who are also in the cast) and I think the show actually improved. Diane Paulus has crafted a masterful blend of whimsy, meta and expressionism into under one large tent. I agree that the second act of Pippin is just plain odd but that first act rocks - some of the best songs in musical theater sung by top notch artists. The casting all around was strong and not a weak link in the bunch.

Both Catherine and Fastrada were excellent and thought that Matthew was even better than he was 2 years ago.

Sasha was great and I though her dancing was just fine.

Andrea Martin brings the house down with that number and I - along with the rest of the audience - gave her a standing ovation after Just No Time At All. First time I recall in awhile where the production stops and the audience rose to their collective feet.

The crowd was VERY into the show - haven't felt or heard that much energy from an audience in eons.

Although If i could go back in history, I would punch up that second act...

Go see this production. It's one of the best, if not the best, touring production I have seen in LA in over 15 years