You Should See Pippin

Katherine Meiler, Staff Writer|March 18, 2015

Do you like magic, an exciting and thrilling performance, or just love supporting our school’s events? Then seeing Pippin the weekend of April 23^rd is the choice for you! After a round of nerve-racking auditions, dance auditions, callbacks and more, finally the cast list consisting of a cut-cast was decided upon last week. So many talented actors and actresses went to tryouts that the original projected cast of 25 was changed to 32.

“The seasons’ best musical, jazz hands down! A combination of Epic theater, burlesque and soulful spectacle that recaptures the show’s shiny allure, and its poignancy while making it seem entirely fresh!”–Elysa Gardner

“A musical miracle has landed at the Music Box Theatre. This brilliant new production is everything you could dream of in a musical.” Joe Dziemianowicz

Pippin is a very exciting show to watch, especially as an audience member who may have no connection with musical theatre. Whether your interests lie in sports, science, or anything usually unrelated to theatre, this show is still a perfect fit.

Pippin the Musical was originally on Broadway until 1977. Now, a new version has been was transferred to Broadway in March 2013. Pippin was originally put on at Carnegie Mellon University in 1967, and was written after the 1960s and all the ideas of the reaction to the search of meaning in life.

According to a musical theatre scholar, Scott Miller, in his book from 1996, From Assassins to West Side Story, “Pippin is a largely under-appreciated musical with a great deal more substance to it than many people realize…Because of its 1970s pop style score and a somewhat emasculated licensed version for amateur productions, which is very different from the original Broadway production, the show now has a reputation for being merely cute and harmlessly naughty; but if done the way director Bob Fosse envisioned it, the show is surreal and disturbing.” Pippin plays with a variety of themes, which are relatable to our everyday lives. It toys with the concept that “Pippin” is a randomly selected person whom the “players” select to be in their show. Every show is supposed to have a “new” Pippin. This musical plays with the notion of a play within a play. However, when this specific “Pippin” is casted, (which will be Max Sokoll in Harriton’s production) he plays into the concept of the show a little too directly and the play becomes his reality. Pippin believes everything that happens to him as an actor, is what he thinks is really happening to him in reality. He is not visualized as an actor in a play, as he should see himself. To him, this is his real life.

Pippin feels no meaning in this “real reality” and seeks to find pure essential happiness. The other characters all play along with this idea of the show, but unlike Pippin they know they are actors. The other actors/characters are very manipulative and represent the forces in our life that influence us in our decision-making. The show that Pippin and the cast are putting on is magic-themed, filled with lots of magic tricks and various eccentric elements that easily capture an audience’s attention. Pippin as a whole is extremely relatable to high school students as it can play with ideas of an alternate reality and outside influences in our life, as well as bullying, and finding the meaning in life.

In all, there are many reasons why it is a nonpareil fit for Harriton High School to take on such a thrilling, but relatable show. We all wish to essentially find true happiness and to find our purpose, and this show gives off the point that it might not necessarily be something extremely “thrilling.” Make sure to stay tuned to find out more about the progress of the show at Harriton, about the production team, and much more.

The cast list is as follows:

Pippin- Max Sokoll

Leading Player- Marcel Werder

Catherine- Aurora Murray

Frastrada- Shana Herman

Berthe- Jamie Lazarus

Charlemagne- Tom Shmitz

Theo-TBD

Players

Male:

Josh Gold

Mike Zelno-Nash