Pippin

I've never seen Pippin live. I've never seen the movie. I've never even heard the entire soundtrack...until now. Pippin's revival is a fresh take (I've heard) on the 70's musical. They've added a carnival/circus sideshow element to the story. It fit in really well and made me question what the heck was on the stage beforehand. The theater magic was so fun, having severed heads speaking, hands going through bodies, levitating bodies, etc. I would never want to do this show though. It's weird. First act is all about how Pippin doesn't know his purpose, he wants to fight, etc. Second act, he's having sex with women and ends up on a farm. No really, a farm, complete with suckling pigs and chickens. I wouldn't want to see it again based on the fact that the story bored me. BUT, and here's a big but; Every time I was bored, there was a circus act going on and it distracted me from the boring music. So yeah, go for the circus acts!

 Seriously, here's a prime example. The leading player and Pippin are having a song here and all the while there's two acrobatic men doing choreo above them, and if that's not enough for you, how about the woman in the hoop?

I wanted great seats for this show and I got them. Row D of the mezzanine. However, this theater is so small and I should never buy expensive seats again. It's not worth it. The absolute worst part about this seating arrangement was the smelly man sitting next to Aaron. It was vile. Reminiscent of the dirty haired boy at Glengarry Glen Ross, this man had some seriously stinky pants and looked like a homeless Santa. (Mom disagrees) He actually smelled like that awful piss odor you get on the L train at 6th avenue. And it wasn't a constant smell. You'd get a whiff of it every time he moved. (And he had a lot of jackets to remove off his gelatinous form)

We found Pippin to be weak but the chorus was working very hard. Patina Miller will get nominated for her role as the Leading Player and Andrea Martin will no doubt win for Best Supporting Actress. Phenomenal!