Pippin 1973

Ages: 9+
Opened: October 30, 1973
Closing: unknown

Pippin - 1973 - West End History , Info & More

Her Majesty's Theatre
(Piccadilly Circus) Haymarket London

Nominated in 1972 for 11 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and winning five of those coveted Awards, this hip, tongue-in-cheek, anachronistic fairy tale is based upon the life of Prince Pippin the Hunchback, the firstborn son of eighth century, Frankish king Charlemagne or Charles the Great, and invites audiences to join the fantastical journey of the rosy-cheeked prince famously looking for his “corner of the sky”. But his dad is a tyrannical bore, his step-mom is a Lady Macbeth in a mini skirt, and his half-brother Lewis is a twit. Returning home from school, Prince Pippin, sure of his superior qualities but lacking a purpose to which he can apply them, becomes a soldier for his father's army, but he gets upset by the killing and murders his father to stop the war. Finding he does not want to become the "puppet king" of discontented nobles in the Carolingian Empire, Pippin longs to discover the secret of true happiness and fulfillment. He is led by a mischievous Leading Player as he tries to find his place in life in the glories of the battlefield, the temptations of the flesh and the intrigues of political power. The youth's violent journey to fulfillment sets Pippin's quest into a tradition of psychological darkness, bringing an unusually creepy seriousness to Pippin's temptations and sinister machinations to the Leading Player. In the end, he finds the simple pleasures and domestic contentment of love, home and family is something to be quietly achieved. A rock opera filled with sex, S&M, and amputated limbs, this perky musical is meant to be at times unnerving and dark. Pippin is full of light pop music, magic, and soft-shoe dances, but it has one of the darkest and most complex themes in musical theater history.

Directed by John Thompson, Music Direction by Jeannie Cross.


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Other Productions of Pippin

1967   Reading
1972   Broadway Original Broadway Production
Broadway
1973   West End London Production
West End
1974   Australia Australian Production
Australia
2000   Milburn, NJ (Regional) Paper Mill Production
Milburn, NJ (Regional)
2005   Regional (US) Reprise! Concert
Regional (US)
2005   Bay Street Theatre Revival
2006   East Haddam, CT (Regional) Goodspeed Revival
East Haddam, CT (Regional)
2013   Broadway Broadway Revival
Broadway
2014   US Tour US National Tour
US Tour

Pippin - 1973 West End Awards and Nominations

Note: Award winners will appear on a background
Year Ceremony Category Nominee
1973 New York Drama Critics Circle Awards Best Musical Stephen Schwartz
1973 New York Drama Critics Circle Awards Best Musical Bob Fosse
1973 New York Drama Critics Circle Awards Best Musical Roger O. Hirson

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