Scott Hayward and Jonathan Carlton in Pippin at the Hope Mill Theatre, Manchester. Pictures: Anthony Robling
Pippin continues at the Hope Mill Theatre, Manchester until 23 September.
Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Given the huge success of its 1972 Broadway premiere, enjoying almost 2,000 performances in five years, it seems strange that Pippin has only relatively recently returned to the theatre world’s consciousness. Major revivals have only really been appearing in earnest since the millennium.
Stephen Schwartz’s early work, which evolved from a piece written as a student, has a longing melancholy about it that has maybe found its time to shine. It speaks to us in an era where men are finally questioning what it means to be masculine, and where once again the motives of those in power fall under scrutiny.
Pippin is a challenging piece to stage, with its nebulous storyline and dark themes, but it seems that the team at Hope Mill Theatre has risen to the task to create something at once dazzlingly entertaining and deeply moving.
You could almost think of Pippin as Stephen Schwartz’s Into the Woods – a coming of age story in which the dreams and aspirations of childhood meet in a headlong collision with reality in adolescence.
Very loosely based on the historical characters of Prince Pippin and his father Charlemagne, it follows Pippin as he searches for some sort of meaning to his existence. “Don’t you see I want my life to be something more than long?” he asks in his first solo number ‘Corner of the Sky’.
Set as a play within a play, where Pippin has joined a band of travelling players, it can be hard to find an effective way to hang it all together.
Director Jonathan O’Boyle and designer Maeve Black have found an elegant solution in casting them as a vaudeville troupe. The Hope Mill stage has morphed into an extended, raised thrust and the actors are clad in raunchy, provocative costumes.
Choreographer William Whelton more than nods to the show’s original director/choreographer Bob Fosse, adding a slick style and flair to the stage movement. In fact, dance number the ‘Manson Trio’, central to Act I, is re-created directly from Fosse’s original work.
Leading the cast are Genevieve Nicole as the Leading Player and Jonathan Carlton as Pippin. Nicole commands the stage, and the audience, as something between am emcee and circus ringmaster. It’s a huge performance but never overbears the rest of the ensemble.
Carlton is charm personified and he manages to tap into all the human elements of his story that resonate with us. From his first appearance we’re on his side and he holds us there. His performance also shows us a huge singing voice with tremendous range and colour.
The ensemble is all well cast, with particularly fine performances from Mairi Barclay as Pippin’s stepmother Fastrada, Bradley Judge as Lewis, Rhidian Marc as Charles, Tessa Kadler as Catherine and Scott Hayward as Theo.
This production adopts the longer ending which affords Theo an opportunity to show us a glimpse of his future.
Andy Collyer’s orchestration of Schwartz’s classic score is given first-rate delivery by a nine-piece band under the direction of Zach Flis, and the production is given its final layer of gloss with splendid chiaroscuro lighting from Aaron J Dootson.
Pippin is produced by Katy Lipson for Aria Entertainment, Guy James and Hope Mill Theatre.
Nigel Smith
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