Pippin: His Life and Times

David Sheehan needs to be drawn and quartered for his handling of this classic musical (ugh - the cross-fades during the Manson trio dance, the poor framing, etc).

I love Chita Rivera but she is bit miscast as Fastrada.

William Katt might sound better if he was miked to the camera.

On the other hand, this is the only record we have this amazing musical circus. Obviously, even in pristine state, it would still lose something because it really is a live theater piece.

I simply have newbies watch it, explain the mistakes/edits, and have them listen to the original cast album.

I had no idea what to expect when I watched this a few months ago. Irene Ryan lead me to "Pippin" (it's a shame her performance wasn't taped). This was my first "Fosse" experience - and I must say every performer was captivating.

The first version of this 1981 filmed production of "Pippin" that I watched was a leaked unedited workprint on YouTube. This offers you EVERY scene and EVERY song, with different camera angles than the released print. Once I watched the DVD, I truly question if the editor even paid attention to storyline (particularly the segment after "Morning Glow"). Perhaps the most butchered part was "The Hearth" portion of the show (as titled in the original Playbill). I wonder how Leslie Denniston felt when they cut out most of her narration and her song "I Guess I'll Miss The Man". Many many things were cut, including a stanza of my personal favorite song, "No Time At All". I can never watch this edited version so I have opted with a homemade edit combining both versions.

The production itself is truly amazing. Ben Vereen reprises his role as the Leading Player and Christopher Chadman reprises his role as Lewis. William Katt is wonderful as Pippin. Actually every actor does wonderful in this; there is not one person who I think was miscast. This production preserves the original sets and choreography of the original 1972 production - which is a big plus. One interesting note is that the lyrics for "War Is A Science" and "With You" differ from the Original Broadway Cast Album, the latter being changed the most. I don't necessarily prefer one over the other; it's nice to hear different versions of it.

I will warn you that this musical is very unlike most musicals out there as it bounces all over the place. It goes from war to sex to romance to suicide (but hey - it is a story about a man trying to find himself in the world). When I first watched this, the only song that stood out to me was "No Time At All", only because I previously listened to it before watching it. Then I found myself liking "Magic to Do" and "Simple Joys"....then practically every other song in this. This musical really grows on you. Great messages are scattered throughout; "Glory" is amazingly true (and haunting), as well as"No Time At All".

So be sure to watch the workprint on YouTube - you'll get some surprises out of it too; Martha Raye flubs lines in "No Time At All" which are dubbed over in the released print and at the end of "Morning Glow" the tape briefly cuts to a soap opera. Very amusing! But this is the only way to achieve the full experience of "Pippin".

But it still manages to capture the look, feel, and spirit of the original stage production. Great musical numbers and dance numbers compensate, IMO, for the flaws of bringing it to video (and the original "director's cut" unedited version makes up for much of the cited flaws anyway).

Pippin isn't really adapted for video, but is rather simply a taping of a stage production (compare it to Cats - the video version _was_ staged for video). This is a mild flaw. Cats obviously takes advantage of F/X, close-ups, etc., while Pippin's camerawork is pretty much static.

The standout is Ben Vereen, at his peak here carrying the show. Chita Rivera (Fastrada) and Benjamin Rayson (Charlemagne) are the best of the supporting player. Katt and Denniston are kinda weak, and Martha Raye, while adequate, isn't as good as Irene Ryan in the original Broadway production.

Overall, Pippin is an entertaining musical which is competently captured on the (complete) video.

I wasn't at all familiar with this musical. I had no idea what it was about. I knew Ben Vereen won a Tony Award for his performance in the 1970s production, and that there have been endless numbers of high schools and colleges of it. That's it. I stumbled upon this production on TV with no intention of watching it - and watched the whole thing, mesmerized and delighted. It's not so much the music, which is dated, and certainly not the Bob Fosse choreography, which is always *really* dated (jazz hands!!!). Rather, it is the amazingly layered story and themes, which are much more complex and timely than I ever expected, that drew me in. I suspect these very risqué, biting themes are completely glossed over/ignored in high school or college productions. And the performances by Ben Vereen, William Katt (he can sing?!? who knew!), Benjamin Rayson, and the amazing Chita Rivera are wonderful - I realize other reviewers did not like them, because they had seen other people in the role, but looking at them from a clean slate, I thought they were all perfectly cast and quite compelling. I really loved the simplicity of the production. Sure, I wish the camera work had been better, but given how rare it was (and still it) to film live theatrical productions, I thought the videographers did quite well.

I love the musical and I love this cast. Ben Vereen is amazing and William Katt shines. The Fosse choreography is brilliant as always. Orgy aside, Evergreen is my favorite song.

You can also find the broadway reboot of this starring Neil Patrick Harris as the narrator and that's a fantastic show as well.