Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

‘Pippin’ effectively takes flying leap into land of Cirque

‘Pippin’ at the Smith Center

Christopher DeVargas

The American Repertory Theater production of “Pippin” on Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2014, at the Smith Center.

‘Pippin’ at the Smith Center

The American Repertory Theater production of “Pippin” on Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2014, at the Smith Center. Launch slideshow »

At the start of this year, Cirque du Soleil opened a theatrical division and recruited longtime Base Entertainment exec Scott Zeiger to run that new branch.

The goal has been to develop productions with the components of traditional theater, enlivened by Cirque’s signature acrobatic artistry.

The manifestation of such a blending of sensibilities is being performed at the Smith Center. “Pippin” is not a Cirque show, of course, but it is dropping into the epicenter of acrobatic-infused performance, with Cirque the city’s predominant production vehicle. And if the company is looking for a way to incorporate gymnastics with musical theater, look no further.

Circus (if not Cirque) performers abound throughout this tale of a young prince attempting to slalom his way into manhood. These artists soar. They grip giant rings three-dozen feet above the stage. They ascend delicately to the top of an unsteady stack of cylinders. Two performers use a third as a jump rope. They fire what appear to be genuine machetes across the stage, and, yes, they do play with fire, lighting torches aflame and filling Reynolds Hall with the faint fragrance of butane.

And you know what? Seen it. At least here we have. There is no Korean Plank, no sextet of gymnasts bouncing inside a cage of trampolines and no spring-activated stage to give the artists extra bounce. There is a scene in which a pair of women’s legs pushes a cart across the stage. That effect is used in at least one Strip production, Criss Angel’s “Believe” (in which Cirque remains a promotional partner) at Luxor.

The circus acts in the revival of "Pippin" have been overseen by Gypsy Snider of the Montreal circus company Les 7 Doigts de la Main.

But you have to ask, in this circuitous circus, who is inspiring whom? This touring incarnation of “Pippin” is a revival of the 1972 Broadway show, produced at the theatrical level long before Cirque was relevant as an artistic company. Cirque has borrowed and advanced; shows like “Pippin” have, in turn, clearly been sparked by the type of acrobatic performances we see up and down the Strip today.

What sets “Pippin” apart is there is a heavy measure of traditional, classic dance, more than is employed in any Cirque show, though “Michael Jackson One” and “Love” are laden with contemporary and acutely athletic forms of dance. These performers in “Pippin” are smooth and fluid, seamlessly coming out of a particularly difficult and dangerous act (such as leaping through a hoop that seems 10 feet off the ground) and moving into classic, Bob Fosse-envisioned dance movements. That the core of the cast sings and acts amid all of this choreographed turmoil is the real payoff, as the physical moments are used to help tell, not detract from, “Pippin’s” story.

The main character, played by Kyle Dean Massey, seems a little more mature — maybe “badass” is the right term — to be a wide-eyed youth just exiting his teens. His father, Charlemagne, is forcefully funny in the possession of John Rubinstein, his heavily modulated pontifications tempered by such sly asides as, “Oh yes, that was nice,” as a female ensemble player strides by. Sasha Allen, the Leading Player and show’s narrator, keeps the show’s throttle open and its pace rapid, though there are moments when the show lags. The story of “Pippin,” the show’s book, has not been its strong point, not since its opening more than 40 years ago.

The New York Times’ review of the show when it returned to Broadway in April 2013 exhumed a quote from critic Clive Barnes, who in 1972 called the show’s plot “a trite and uninteresting story with aspirations to a seriousness that it never for one moment fulfills.”

Ah, but “Pippin” of today does fulfill, in myriad moments. When Lucie Arnaz takes the stage as Pippin’s grandmother Berthe, she performs what is now a famous scene as she grips a trapeze and an acrobatic partner and rises over the stage. The 63-year-old Arnaz strips to her costume, which shows off her dazzling legs (she has her mom’s gams, obviously) and eventually hangs upside-down and faces the audience.

It’s a fantastic, impressive and warm performance. Young entertainers should watch Arnaz and take note of how to achieve genuine stage presence. They should take note of “Pippin,” too, proof that in the world of musical theater, the circus never leaves town.

Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at Twitter.com/JohnnyKats. Also, follow “Kats With the Dish” at Twitter.com/KatsWiththeDish.

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