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  • 1.  Pippin Revival - High School level

    Posted 02-12-2018 13:29

    Hi all,

    I'm considering doing "Pippin" at the high school level.  I'd love to hear of your experiences with this show (including the good, the bad, and the ugly).  What was the student reaction?  Parent/Community reaction?  Problems with the score? Orchestrations?  Anything you can offer would be appreciated.  THANK YOU!


    Mike


    Mike Hancey
    Theatre Program Director
    Musical Theatre, Drama & Theatre Guild
    Theater Manager
    Laramie High School
    Past-President WYACDA


  • 2.  RE: Pippin Revival - High School level

    Posted 02-12-2018 13:44
    I did PIPPIN with my advanced high school students in 2014. They loved it and the audiences loved it. It remains my biggest money maker and one of my favorite productions. We had tumbling and stunts and even rented aerial silks. There's very little language. The only potential concerns for me were the ending (when Pippin, Catherine, and Theo are supposed to be stripped down to their skivvies) and the orgy scene. We did the end scene by just going down to underclothes (Catherine in a slip, Pippin shirtless but still with his pants). We cut part of the orgy dance (the music is REALLY long), and my choreographer did an awesome job of making the remaining dance more teasingly sexy (and sometimes even funny) and not raunchy. I'm happy to share production photos. I think you need to have a somewhat open-minded audience and administration, as well as a kick-butt Leading Player, who can be either gender. Mine was a girl who went on to Boston Conservatory and has already started working professionally.

    Also, you can get rehearsal tracks directly from MTI, which is super helpful.

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    Cassy Maxton-Whitacre
    Theatre Department Coordinator
    Fishersville VA
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    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: Pippin Revival - High School level

    Posted 02-13-2018 07:03
    Our local high school did Pippin 4 years ago.  We live in a generally conservative community and there are many for whom the annual high school show is the only theater they attend.  The audience reaction was supportive, but many were offended by the language and themes.  It was toned down (the bed scene was done on a couch).  People were not familiar with the show and the plot was confusing for them.  Just make sure you know if your audience is ready for this show.  Challenging theater not for everyone.

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    Janet Cain
    Cincinnati OH
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    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: Pippin Revival - High School level

    Posted 02-13-2018 10:36
    I did Pippin back in 2012 or 13, right before the revival opened on Broadway. Everyone LOVED it! As mentioned before, my only real concern was the orgy dance. My choreographer and I made it more flirty sexy and not at all raunchy. No complaints whatsoever. I also brought in a master swordsman to help me with choreographed fights for "Glory" and it took the number to a whole new level of awesome. 

    Honestly, I loved every second of working on that musical. I don't typically even think about repeating productions, but this one is an exception. I would do it again in a heartbeat!

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    Kaila Schwartz
    Theatre Arts, Director
    Milpitas Unified School District
    San Jose CA
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    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: Pippin Revival - High School level

    Posted 02-13-2018 13:49
    Haha, I choreographed GLORY myself and made it the campiest, cheesiest thing I could think of. Foam swords, even a plastic battle ax at one point. The thing is, with Pippin, you have a lot of creative options.

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    Cassy Maxton-Whitacre
    Theatre Department Coordinator
    Fishersville VA
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    Original Message


  • 6.  RE: Pippin Revival - High School level

    Posted 02-14-2018 09:38
    We just did Pippin last school year and had a great time working on and performing the show.  We incorporated large scale magic tricks into the show at various places: Leading Player appears from an empty stack of boxes right at the beginning of the show, The girls in "With You" keep appearing from an empty box on stage, Charlemagne floats and disappears after his death, then he reappears in an empty cage when he is brought back to life, etc.

    We did a female leading player and had to utilize MTI's transposition on demand for one song that would not transfer from the male range to female range well.

    As a word of caution - the score from MTI is still based on the original production of Pippin which means it still sounds very 1970s instead of the updated sound from the Revival.  We were able to get a few of the songs to sound more like the update by playing around with tempo and some of the instrumentation.

    This story is amazing and needs to be told, but be sure your community will be able to handle it.  We cut the orgy scene and staged "With You" as an adagio dance with Pippin and 3 partners and then ended the scene after he finished singing.  This gave the suggestion of him going from woman to woman, but did not slap the audience in the face with it.  We did keep the bed music scene and staged it in the traditional way with Pippin and Catherine under the sheets and the two dancers doing the lift....this wound up being one of the things we saw a little push back on following the show.  The other aspect that got push back was some of the language involved, so again, just be aware of your community and have some good conversations with your administration before you commit to the show.
    Original Message


  • 7.  RE: Pippin Revival - High School level

    Posted 02-14-2018 11:28
    Hi!

    We did Pippin this past November and it was an amazing experience for the kids and for me as a director. We did state "mature content" on our posters. In our rehearsal process the cast and I talked a lot about the themes of the play and the kids found that Pippin's journey was very much like their own in the sense of trying to find their place in the world. In my director's notes I discussed why I chose the show, as well as what the rehearsal process was like. The audience completely embraced the show and it has become one of the favorite shows the kids have done. Feel free to email me to discuss how I handled the orgy and bedroom scene. I wish you much success!

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    Elise Marinkovich
    Drama Teacher/Director, Drama Club Advisor
    San Diego CA
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    Original Message


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