Pippin Understudies — Page 3

Gabrielle McClinton was on as the Leading Player during the Saturday evening performance on 10/12. I was majorly disappointed, because seeing Patina Miller in the role was a major hope for my trip to New York. I won't say McClinton was bad, but she just doesn't compare to Miller. She didn't have the same presence and her vocals were a notch below Miller's. But the biggest difference was in the dancing. From seeing Miller perform bits of Glory and On the Right Track on TV, it's clear she has a fluidity and litheness in her movements that McClinton doesn't have. It felt like McClinton was trying to do the movements, but they never flowed and felt stiff. During the Manson Trio, she was completely overshadowed by one of the other dancers (I believe it was Anthony Wayne).

Having said that, I still loved the production. I just felt it would have been even better if the Leading Player had been better.

FYI, McClinton is scheduled to play The Leading Player during Patina's vacation all this week.

also, four new acrobats have joined the cast. Richard Maguire & Florian Zumkehr replace Arsenal & Rosenberg in the "With You Hand Balancing" tracks. Kenneth Lindeman replaces Yannick Thomas in the "Bolero" track and Kelsey Jamieson returns to the cast, replacing Lolita Costet(Jamieson also did the same track when Costet was injured). Viktoria Grimmy & Olga Karmansky remain in the show as the only original acrobats.

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Rosenberg, Thomas, Costet, and Arsenal have started their own circus project or we're trying to, at least. They had a kick starter project this summer.

I know 7 Fingers has many shows still. I'm sure Gypsy Snider could find roles for them again.

next week

My guess would be next Tuesday. When performers take a week off, as a general rule they take the Tuesday to Sunday week off so they can leave for vacation after Sunday's matinee and not have to be back until the following week's Tuesday evening performance rather than leave after a Saturday and have to be back the next Sunday morning. You can always check with the box office or Ticketmaster to be sure.

I just hope that Orion Griffiths is able to recover from his injuries and return to work. Best wishes to him.

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I really feel that Molly Tynes & McClinton should have split performances this week as Leading Player while Miller is on vacation. such a shame Tynes hasn't gone on yet as LP.

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I don't think it's managed by seniority. I think they put on who they think is best.

Not Broadway, but still of interest: Lisa Karlin went on as the LP in the tour on Sunday - the first white woman to play the role in either the original or revival productions.

Skyler Adams made his Pippin debut last night on tour, mid-Act I!

Hoping this show up again on TDF for next week..would like to see Kyle before he leaves...FYI he's on vacation until the 21st and his last show is the 29th I believe

Aside from the fact that he confirmed it on his Instagram, I can assure you that KDM's last show is Oct 29th.

Saw the show last night with Schwitter as Pippin. I thought he was great. I love his crisp vocals, and his portrayal was very playful. Nothing about his performance that didn't say lead. And he bears more than a passing resemblance to KDM.

Was pleased at Lucie Arnaz's performance. She played Berthe as mature and smart, with a slight comedic edge. Lots of fun with the audience.

Got to stay for the talkback with Stephen Schwartz, which was wonderful. He's one of the greats and he shared some production trivia with us.