Pippin Tour? — Page 11

Sasha is a true star!

Ok, probably too late for this but I saw the last 4 performances in LA.

KDM was outstanding and better than I've ever seen him before. I could tell he is much more confident and comfortable with the role. I think “Extraordinary” is his strongest song, he completely owns it.

Sabrina Harper kills it as Fastrada, her interpretation was charming and vividly I couldn't help but root for her.

John Rubenstein is OK. I won’t say anything because Terrence Mann is everything.

Andrea Martin was a show stopper as always. I noticed she changed her routine and lines little bit, for example when she said “you can join me if you like, and that goes for all of you out there”, she removed her usual line “just seating there staring at me looking dumb..” . But seeing her trying to sneak out through the stage door was the best! She ran with her hoodie down but of course everybody recognized her. I think she always used the same excuse (even in NY) “I’m in a hurry for a [insert whatever you could think of]” And she drives her own car which makes her even more amazing.

Kristine Reese is great and she has a lovely voice, but she’s not nearly as funny and endearing as the brilliant Rachel Bay Jones and I think that’s why the show started to drag for me at that point. I just couldn't connect with her the same way I did with Rachel.

The bad: I've seen five Leading Players and I hate to say this but Sasha was by far the worst one. Yes, she can definitely sing but she can’t act nor dance. She seemed annoyed most of the time and as some of you have mentioned , she wasn’t threatening at all. Her LP portrayal was very lazy, she didn’t do all the steps of the choreography. Thankfully Lisa Karlin was fantastic!! She has a strong voice and strong presence. Her Fosse dancing is precise and well-executed. Try to catch her if you can.

The acrobats were great. It was nice to see one or two tricks that the B’way cast stopped doing.

I really enjoyed the touring version in general but didn't particularly love it. I still prefer the Broadway production.

I’m just bummed I didn't get to see Matthew as Pippin.

I wonder how long Sasha Allen signed on for?? Likely a year, but I wonder if Carly Hughes might join the tour if Allen only signed on for 6 months.

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As far as I'm concerned, when they have someone as terrific as Lisa, they could just have her as the Leading Player full time, when and if Sasha leaves.

I saw the tour last night. I saw the Broadway production with the original cast shortly after it won the Tony Award for best revival...

Overall, I REALLY enjoyed the touring production. I thought Kyle Dean Massey was a MUCH better Pippin than Matthew James Thomas. Luci Arnaz was great as Berthe, and the chemistry between her and Kyle Dean Massey was great. Sabrina Harper was a definite standout as Fastrada. She absolutely KILLED it. So good. The sets, lights, and costumes are identical to to what was on Broadway. The show looked and sounded great. However, the show is much better suited for a house like the Music Box than a huge barn of a theatre.

My only problem was Sasha Allen. She simply does not have the voice and charisma to be an effective Leading Player. After seeing Patina Miller absolutely hit the nail on the head with her performance, Allen was disappointing. She is not a standout at all. Patina had the audience eating out of the palm of her hand. She was delectable, charming, and deliciously evil all at the same time. Sasha Allen was none of these things.

In the end, I would definitely recommend the tour both for people who have seen the show on Broadway and for people who have not seen the show at all. It's a solid production for the most part with some great performances from Luci Arnaz and Kyle Dean Massey.

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Updated On: 12/3/14 at 10:45 PM

Have to agree with all of the Sabrina Harper praise. She was absolutely fantastic. Almost as good as Charlotte. I don't know if this is true for the full tour, but I noticed that in LA she was listed as an understudy for the Leading Player. I know that for this iteration of Pippin, the LP is always going to be an African American woman, but I would love to have seen Harper's LP. Have a feeling she'd kill it. If Sasha Allen leaves the tour, I'll definitely try to catch it in San Diego next year.

Lisa Karlin, white, is also the LP u/s, and has performed the role nearly a dozen times already.

Both white performers, Molly Tynes also a LP understudy on broadway but never got to go on , now that she has left the show Lara Siebert Young is a LP understudy but will also never go on.

It's very interesting to me how it seems that all anyone on this thread is doing is comparing people to the original performers. Do you really expect them to give carbon copy performances of the revival cast? It seems like half the posts on here or more simply compare this cast to the original revival cast instead of evaluating them for their own merits. If they don't do exactly what the revival cast does, it's wrong. I just don't get that. It's not about copying, it's about fleshing out your own take on the role under the direction of the creatives. If you're looking for the exact same performance as what you saw at The Music Box, don't see this tour and expect to love it.

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For what it's worth, I never saw the Broadway cast beyond TV performances, and I really loved the tour. I had seen KDM on the Wicked tour a few years back and remembered liking him then, but I had forgotten what a gorgeous voice he has! The little details of his acting were wonderful too, and we were all a little bit in love with his Pippin (and him) :) John Rubenstein was awesome, very funny and dry, and very kind at the stage door- he had friends there the day I saw it, but after greeting them, had them wait a few minutes and took time to actually chat with the rest of us one by one. And I have to join darreyl in love for Callan- hilarious, oddly charming, and always drew the attention (in a good way).

I liked Sasha, I didn't love her. Her voice was spot-on, but you can tell she's a singer first and an actor second. Not as much eerie charisma as I would have liked. Rest of the cast was quite good too, especially Lucie Arnaz! This was probably my favorite show I've seen in quite a while.

Does anyone know of any rumblings of who the new Pippin after KDM leaves?

I saw that on the Rochester website, too. I've been hoping he'll stay on tour for the Pittsburgh stop (the week following Rochester). I emailed the Pittsburgh presenter earlier this week and asked if Kyle would be performing.

The response I got was, "Thank you for contacting us. I’m sorry, but the complete casting for the Pittsburgh stop of the tour has not been released yet."

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Updated On: 12/27/14 at 04:29 PM

I think she leaves at the end of January.