Pippin: " Trapped, Which Isn't Too Bad for a Musical Comedy"

I've been in full Fosse mode lately, which is something I'm sure there's a cure for somewhere, but I haven't found it yet. So I'm indulging...my current occupation is perfect for such indulging, as I'm still sitting here at 'Deis waiting to finish up the finals period.

As you can see above, the current obsession is Stephen Schwartz's musical, Pippin. I first learned about this musical in middle school when I learned "Corner of the Sky" as an audition piece--just one more piece of gratitude indebted to Alycia! But Pippin doesn't get performed that often, and I lost track of it.

Fast forward to freshman year at BU as I audition and win a spot in a theatre club's production--unfortunately I didn't get the lead role, of Pippin: it was between me and the eventual lead, and of course I lost out. I finally got to learn it inside and out, and fell madly in love with the show. I think I even came home that X-mas break and made all of my friends sit down and watch it; and, I think I was a little dissappointed that it didn't have the same effect on them that it had to me...

I'm most familiar with the video of a touring production of Pippin, starring Ben Vereen, William Katt, Chita Rivera and Martha Raye. I love this film: I love the dancing, featuring all the classic Fosse-isms--you've got to see Ben Vereem do this hip thing; I love the sets, designed by Tony Walton, that perfectly suggest the setting without cluttering the stage; I love the music--you love the music, too! Sing "Corner of the Sky" just once, I dare you...

This musical is fascinating: the Players, as the chorus is called, are a travelling troupe--supposedly--that are in search of the perfect actor to portray Pippin. Night after night they continue their search, and night after night the Pippin-portrayer "fails" to live up to top billing.

How can an actor fail at his role (outside of the obvious, you know, sucking at the acting and singing part)? That's where this musical gets interesting because each little act that Pippin undergoes (war, sex, politics, family life) is supposed to leave him unsatisfied. Enter, "the Finale."

The players tell Pippin, in the Finale, that he is destined for "one final, great act," in which he'll become one with the Sun, an object Pippin has alluded to throughout the entire show. And it soon becomes clear that the troupe wants Pippin, they need Pippin, to commit suicide on stage to satisfy their need for fame/infamy/desire, et al.

In the video recording, my favorite moment occurs in this passage. As the players are imploring Pippin to, "think about the sun," you can see Pippin convincing himself to go through with it. I always get chills, always, at this spot--and as he accepts the torch, the players echo a line from "Corner of the Sky:"

"Rivers belong where they can ramble/Eagles belong where they can fly..."

At this point, Pippin comes to his senses...the players leave in disgust, the Leading Player gets visibly angry about 'losing' another such actor, and Pippin is left alone center stage with 'no lights, and no glory.' His final lines are a response to the question, "how do you feel?"

His answer: "Trapped, which isn't too bad for a musical comedy."

Just a short note about the first time I encountered the finale...I still remember it clearly tens years after the fact. The director made the smart decision, I think, not to read the finale until the latest point possible, so it would be fresh in our minds. I sat down, and as we were reading this scene, I said--"Wait a minute, we want him to kill himself ...seriously?"