In this coming-of-age story, Pippin, heir to the throne of Charlemagne, ventures on a quest of self-discovery, but in doing so our hero must face the uncertain worlds of warfare, love, politics and religion.
With music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz (composer of Wicked and Godspell ) and book by Roger O. Hirson, The Menier Chocolate Factory's new version has been completely re-conceived, directed and choreographed, incorporating Bob Fosse's original Tony Award-winning routines, by Mitch Sebastian.
With design and projection by Olivier Award-winning Sunday in the Park with George creative Timothy Bird and Fosse's original Broadway choreography recreated by his assistant Chet Walker, the production continues until 25 February 2012.
The role of Berthe, currently played by Louise Gold, will be portrayed by a rotation of actresses, with Caroline Quentin taking over from 10 January 2012.
Critics seemed unsure of the cyber set which Bird has created to follow his much-lauded Sunday in the Park with George and the musical's now 40-year-old content and message, but there is praise across the board for the show's solid principal cast.
"Pippin… is again dragged forwards into the modern computer age with Mitch Sebastian's 'high concept' Menier Chocolate Factory revival… Timothy Bird's elaborately constructed computer game … In the title role Hepple sings Pippin with a pure, lyrical and fluid voice. His "Corner of the Sky", is the piece's redeeming feature … Matt Rawle as the Leading Player and malevolent master of ceremonies never quite possesses the required charisma. Frances Ruffelle is strong as meddling Essex step-mother Fastrada … Carly Bawden reinvigorates the second act … But overall the virtual environment seems to mute the underlying production's dramatic impact … The aesthetic invokes the 1982 feature film Tron … There is no denying that it isn't fiendishly clever … The strong leading performance from Hepple feels like it has had to cut through techno distractions … Maybe the greatest problem here is that there is no turmoil to be had, when we have been convinced so successfully that it's really all just a game."
"Mitch Sebastian's dauntless but misconceived production aims at being cutting edge but feels dated … The plot does not thicken. If anything, it loses weight … But one must at least nod at what Sebastian and designer Timothy Bird have attempted: the transformation of the theatre into a computer game … In theory, it is an ingenious idea, too, that Pippin should simultaneously be a prince seeking his destiny and a modern boy in a virtual world dreaming of his … There are some feisty performances… Harry Hepple with fresh voice and honest manner … David Page, is a fabulous dancer (on stage too briefly). Frances Ruffelle razzle-dazzles as Pippin's saucy stepmother. Louise Gold, as his granny, does her ironic best with a dubious song… while Carly Bawden's lissome Catherine does all she can with youth."
"The setting is deliberately disjunctive, out of time and place, as the enigmatic, controlling figure of the Leading Player (Matt Rawle) announces that he and his troupe are going to tell us the story of Pippin's search for meaning in his life. It's a peculiar thesis … Timothy Bird (rightly feted for his work on Sunday in the Park with George at this venue)… has ingeniously re-imagined the whole set-up as a video game … There are all manner of sophisticated projected graphics… and an effervescent unitard-clad ensemble, for whom some of Fosse's original choreography has been recreated … Bird's idea is, rightly, pushed to the hilt by director Mitch Sebastian but the problem at the show's heart remains. If we don't care about the existential crisis plaguing Pippin in the musical that bears his name, what hope is there for any real emotional engagement? … Hepple… sings nicely enough … With such awkward raw material, maybe 'top level' for effort is the best Pippin is likely to get."
"Oh dear, oh dear… last year the Menier came a cropper with Paradise Found… now it has revived Pippin (1972), with an unbearably twee book by Roger O Hirson and music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz … This is one of those shows, like the tooth-rottingly sentimental The Fantasticks, in which British and American tastes fail to coincide … It’s all excruciatingly fey … Director Mitch Sebastian has tried to make its seem 'edgy' and 'relevant' by presenting it all as a video game … Timothy Bird’s design is all lasers, CGI, and footage of hot babes in internet chatrooms … Bob Fosse’s choreography has apparently been recreated by his assistant on the original production … Matt Rawle seriously overdoes the cheesy grins… and Harry Hepple proves curiously charmless … There are strong turns from Frances Ruffelle as the hero’s vulgar stepmother … Give this insufferable show the widest possible berth."
"The piece has a dodgy Leading Player and is so wilfully anachronistic that it makes the Haymarket's Lion in Winter look like the last word in furrowed fidelity to the medieval mindset … Pippin (excellent Harry Hepple) is re-imagined as a geek who, shades of Tron, gets sucked into a quest-type computer-game. The bare walls of the theatre teem with restlessly inventive, mind-blowing graphics (designed by Timothy Bird) … One moment it's Clockwork Orange-meets-Cabaret via Duran Duran; the next it's tweeting on Twitter … It makes the warped agenda of Matt Rawles's psychopathically smiling narrator seems all the more mountingly Mephistophelean … Throughout, Harry Hepple sings well and is a sympathetic presence, recognisably of the same species as the audience. The disadvantage is that the emphasis on 'levels' in a computer game highlights how the narrative progression in this show is too often arbitrary and lacking in tension. I admire the production's flair and chutzpah. I'm not sure that I could sit through it again."
"I’ve never seen anything like this nerdish, video game revival of the Sixties musical that time forgot … Harry Hepple finds himself swallowed up by a video game in which his father turns out to be the warmongering tyrant Charlemagne the Great in 800AD … The show gets its sweaty little fists on lots of issues like politics, war, religion and of course sex … The effect is like the musical Hair colliding with an Eighties episode of Dr Who … The most striking innovation in Mitch Sebastian’s production, though, is Timothy Bird’s sci-fi design … With Hepple from TV’s sci-fi drama Misfits making an excellent choice of hero … The whole thing has a big tacky grin painted on it… in the shape of MC Matt Rawle … Pippin will not be everybody’s cup of Red Bull, but you can’t deny its potency as a synthetic, carbonated caffeine fix."
"Towards the end of this revival of a long-forgotten 1972 musical, it suddenly hit me what I was watching: Broadway's answer to Peer Gynt … This revival takes a high-concept approach to the music and lyrics of Stephen Schwartz and the book by Roger O Hirson … For all the show's supposed daring, I was struck by its caution: it turns out to be anti-intellectual in its cursory dismissal of art and religion … Even if I find the show absurd, I warmed to the presentation … Matt Rawle makes a beguiling narrator, Harry Hepple rescues the Everyman hero from insipidity, and pleasant to watch are Frances Ruffelle as a sultry schemer, Louise Gold as a cavorting granny and Carly Bawden as the loving widow. This version is a marked improvement on the 1972 production. What I can't take seriously is Pippin's pretence to be a comment on life."
"What was originally a troupe of slightly sinister travelling players is now a bunch of silver-Lycra’d digital avatars … As for the new principal player (Harry Hepple) … He takes the role of Charlemagne’s elder son Pippin… for a series of meditations on love, power and above all living your own life … Timothy Bird, who co-designed the Menier’s 2005 revival of Sondheim’s Sunday In The Park with George, provides another breathtaking set of computer graphics … but it keeps crashing as a concept … The 'Manson trio' was one of Bob Fosse’s most famous routines, here re-created under the choreographic direction of his former associate Chet Walker. Mitch Sebastian’s production has no consistent tone … A clutch of musical stalwarts including Louise Gold, Frances Ruffelle and Matt Rawle as the Leading Player all deliver their individual roles well, but the aggregate is staggeringly incoherent. This is less like online poker than a computerised version of 52-card pick-up."
Libby Purves The Times ★★★★
"Even with the catchy pop anthems of Stephen Schwartz (remember 'Corner of the Sky'?) and the knock-kneed provocative insolence of Bob Fosse choreography recreated by Chet Walker … Pippin still tells the story of the son of Emperor Charlemagne who rebelled against his tyrant father … Now the cod-medieval tale is set in a modern video game with screens and dissolving projections … A mailed Charlemagne (Ian Kelsey) and slinky Lycra warriors are not too incongruous in Timothy Bird’s alarming video set. Matt Rawle is a fine satanic compere; Pippin (Harry Hepple) a Candide stumbling disillusioned through 'levels' … At one point he seizes power, abolishes taxes, and finds he can’t afford an army to fight off Visigoths, so gives up. His boy-band looks and voice suit the character’s naivety: and I liked the comedy interlude with his raunchy Grandma (Louise Gold) … Various surprise names replace her during the run. I nearly volunteered."
Pippin, the tale of the son of ninth century Emperor Charlemagne, catapulted into the 1970s by Stephen Schwartz's Broadway musical, is again dragged forwards into the modern computer age with Mitch Sebastian's "high concept" Menier Chocolate Factory revival.
The audience steps into another world the second it passes the auditorium's metal sliding door, to the poster-clad bedroom of young Pippin, Harry Hepple, installed behind a computer screen from the off.
Into the theatre itself - rotated off centre so the grey back walls of the stage are a long, projection-ready L shape - we enter Timothy Bird's elaborately constructed computer game, an entirely engineered reality of "conceptual design".
In the title role Hepple sings Pippin with a pure, lyrical and fluid voice. His "Corner of the Sky", is the piece's redeeming feature, thread through the musical, his voice fits the part beautifully. Appearing alongside him, Matt Rawle as the Leading Player and malevolent master of ceremonies never quite possesses the required charisma.
Frances Ruffelle is strong as meddling Essex step-mother Fastrada, her "Spread A Little Sunshine" perhaps the most fully-formed number of the entire show. Carly Bawden reinvigorates the second act, gracefully floating in on pointe to open Pippin's mind to a world of sex and lust. There are also some nice, tightly drilled Fosse dance routines, the choreographer's moves recreated by Chet Walker. But overall the virtual environment seems to mute the underlying production's dramatic impact rather than enhance it.
Bird immerses the action in a variety of computer-generated realms. At rest the world is apparently constructed from green lasers, later an electronic cathedral, cartoon forest and digital battleground, compete with 'power-ups' and 'health bars'. With an ensemble clad for the most part in grey lycra, the aesthetic invokes the 1982 feature film Tron, indeed Pippin has a poster for the film's recent remake on his bedroom wall.
There is no denying that it isn't fiendishly clever, but by the time that the roar of the projectors overhead has passed and we reach the finale in the stark floodlight of "reality", the strong leading performance from Hepple feels like it has had to cut through techno distractions, whilst some of the patchier cast simply hide behind it.
Maybe the greatest problem here is that there is no turmoil to be had, when we have been convinced so successfully that it's really all just a game.
Well I didnt know what to expect i knew a few of the songs new a lot about the original choreography and generally enjoy menier productions so thought it would be worth seeing. I was blown away everything about thsi production is good i genuinely think the way in which they tell the story (how they have modernised it) really appealed to me and made the story actually have more meaning as someone who enjoys both theatre and computer games it really brought two things i enjoy and have good knowledge of together. all of the cast are very good in their roles and the dancers are true performers they really understand the performance element I really enjoyed the new orchestrations for a lot of the songs i thought corner of the sky actually had more growth in it now i also really enjoyed glory and of course the strong and bold opening which is rather different to the original in style. for me however as so many seem to agree the best moment is berthe's song such a brilliant song a nd brilliantly played by louise gold . I would thoroughly reccomend this show to anybody and infact am planning a few returns before its run finishes - Joshua Bird
03 Feb 12
I had read several reviews and can honestly say I wasn't looking forward to going and was actually preparing not to go back after the interval. Well, I can say I really enjoyed the production - I loved the concept and thought it worked well in terms of facilitating the back story. I do like minimalist sets and thought the use of video projection and urban style worked well and the transmission between real and imagined was beautifully integrated. The ensemble sung and moved well and helped to convey the right balance of menace and entertainment. The vocals were strong with particular mention to Matt Rawle and Harry Hepple.I also thoroughly enjoyed the "singalong" with Gay Soper (and I am normally a restrained audience member. I came away with a big grin on my face and happy memories of a fun, entertaining and unusual show - if you get a chance go and see "Pippin" in its last few weeks and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did! - Jayne
31 Jan 12
I saw it today and thought that it was really enjoyable! The performances were absolutely fantastic (choreography also), working really well in the intimate space, and whilst a few moments with the set design did feel a bit '1980s space odessy' it was really bravely re-imagined and it really worked. - Zoe
29 Jan 12
Third visit last night (24th) and well worth it. A near to full house had the opportunity to catch Gay Soper (ex Stephen Schwartz's Godspell 1972!) passing through as this week's stand-in for Granny Berthe. Do take a visit whilst the show is this side of the pond since odds-on it won't trans' to West End but may get to Broadway where 'Pippin' is a household name. - Stevie
25 Jan 12
I just cannot get enough of Pippin and have just made my 3rd booking! Phenomenal performances all round - bravo to all the Players involved!! - Julia
19 Jan 12
Those of us who go to opera have long got used to radical directorial reinvention / reinterpretation. 2011 was a particularly bad year, with Terry Gilliam¡¯s The Damnation of Faust (I asked ENO for my money back as I thougth I¡¯d booked for Berlioz¡¯ The Damnation of Faust ¨C the composer uncredited in the marketing) followed by A Midsummer Night¡¯s Dream relocated from a forest to a boy¡¯s public school! It happens less in theatre ¨C well, except with Shakespeare and other dead writers who can¡¯t answer back ¨C and even less in musicals. In this case, though, it seems composer Stephen Schwartz hasn¡¯t objected, though I¡¯m not sure he¡¯s seen it!
Director Mitch Sebastian¡¯s ¡®big idea¡¯ is to turn it into a video game, which actually isn¡¯t a bad idea. I didn¡¯t think much of this early Schwartz show when I first saw it at the Bridewell Theatre 13 years ago (he went on to write Godspell and Wicked ¨C come to think of it, I don¡¯t think much of those either) so I was up for a radical reinvention / reinterpretation. The production is probably the most visually in-your-face I¡¯ve ever seen. After you enter through the game-player¡¯s bedroom, the stage seems to take up more space than you thought the Menier had and you have to use all of your peripheral vision ¨C and move your head back and fore as if you¡¯re watching a tennis match from the net ¨C to take in as much of the 180 degree staging as you can (it¡¯s impossible to take it all in). The projections by Timothy Bird, often interacting with the performers, are simply extrordinary.
The story concerns the son of Emperor Charles (Charlemagne), his second wife Fastrada, son Pippin and step-son Lewis and in particular to Pippin¡¯s search for purpose and meaning. The problem is the production is a complete mismatch with the predominent musical style (70¡äs pop-rock) and the story¡¯s period (9th century France) so it¡¯s littered with uncomfortable anachronisms, jarrs frequently and just doesn¡¯t work ¨C and it confirms the view that it isn¡¯t a particularly good show. I have to say though that I have much admiration for the craftsmanship ¨C it¡¯s extraordinarily slick as you move from one open-mouthed moment to another, and another¡.
Matt Rawle has great presence and a great voice as the Leading Player (another narrator role to follow his Che in the recent revival of Evita). Ian Kelsey and Frances Ruffelle are very good as the king and queen, as is David Page as the step-son, despite the S&M nature of their costumes! Harry Hepple pulls off the difficult transition from naivety to defiance and back to naivety as Pippin. Louise Gold provides a lovely one-song cameo as grandmother Berthe but the introducion of the role seems completely pointless and the song (with audience participation, complete with panto songsheet!) feels like it popped in from the panto down the road for added seasonality. The musical standards are much higher than the quality of the music and Tom Kelly¡¯s band is good, if somewhat loud for such a small venue ¨C this adds to the feeling that you are being bashed over the head relentlessly to compensate for the mediocre material.
I admire the attempt to breathe new life into an ify show, but have to report that for me it failed ¨C and found me asking the same question I¡¯ve asked a few times recently ¨C what on earth is happening to the Menier? - Gareth James
08 Jan 12
A strange show and at during it you feel it is not that good but then by the end of the show you feel it was not that bad anyway. Two of my favourite people in the show Matt Rawle and Frances Ruffelle though she had quite a small role but enjoyed them here just the same.Definitely like Marmite!!!! - Joe Spiteri
15 Dec 11
So many of the reviews have failed to mention the last laugh is on Fosse - or rather the MC - in this blazing production. As the audience, we are sucked into the 'flash & dazzle' of the productions' design (5*+) and choreography (unparralelled), to have it seized from us in the final ten minutes of the second act. As an other of Fosse's creations came to say in a later show - "It's all showbiz, kid" - & we fall for it hook, line and sinker. Brilliant. - MPB
10 Dec 11
While the "high concept" that Mitch Sebastian has imposed on Schwartz and Hirson's liltingly sinister 1970s musical tale of Charlemagne's errant, drifting son is undeniably spectacular and clever, by reducing the leading characters to players, or avatars, in a computer game, it makes emotional connection with the piece well nigh impossible. Sebastian's low tech but still modern take on the piece at the Bridewell over a decade ago had way more charm and warmth than you'll find here...and the ending was deeply moving. Nonetheless, there is much to enjoy here: the score is full of great numbers, much of the evening is massively exhilarating, and the use of the original Fosse choreographers remind one how few modern dance devisers match up. In the cast Harry Hepple seems a bit old for Pippin and his singing plods when it should soar (Stuart Neal as his sort-of adopted son Theo would seem a much better fit for the title role...he is the understudy). However, Frances Ruffelle is on terrific form as Pippin's villainous stepmom, magnificently supported by David Page as her blood and power-hungry son. Louise Gold injects some much needed humanity to the proceedings as singalong-leading Berthe while Matt Rawle is a malevolently charismatic leading player, with stunning vocals. Carly Bawden as the love interest Catherine is quite wonderful although the emotional impact of the role is blunted by Sebastian's concept. This feels more like aspects of Pippin than the real thing, and serves to make an odd show even less accessible. I enjotyed it but I doubt it will have the extended life of some of the Meniwer's other musicals. Musical theatre buffs should see it though, not least to prove to themselves that Stephen Schwartz has written much better scores than Wicked! - ajh
08 Dec 11
A bizarre mix of massively dated and extremely modern (particularly the twitter number) - it felt like the show was about the concept rather than the story. Very odd indeed. - kettlechild
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