Pippin

Rating:
Summary: Excellent version of a Braodway classic
Review: We should be trulythankful that this record of the show is available. To have themarvelous performance of Ben Vereen, the magnificant Chita Rivera,funny Martha Raye and a surprisingly good performance by William Katton one DVD are reasons enough to have this recording. BUT the mainreason to treasure it is that it preserves Bob Fosse's staging andchoreography which would otherwise be lost. Yes, the staging isrecreated by Kathryn Doby, but she was Fosse's assistant for theBroadway production, so short of Mr. Fosse himself, who better to doit. (No one objects to Ann Reinking recreating Fosse's choreographyfor the current smash revival of "Chicago".) One definiteplus for this production is that many of the dancers were in theoriginal Broadway production so knew just what Mr. Fosse had createdfor them. I know as I checked my programs.

Admittedly, there are afew cuts in the "book" and one song is omitted, but they allwork for the betterment of the show. If anyone remembers the originalBroadway reviews, the book was looked on as less than satisfying. Theversion now on tape seems a much better one. I am comparing it to myrememberance of the original Broadway show and the printedscript.

How often are live productions with an audience available?Normally they are done in a studio and not on stage. Let's face it,Broadway shows are meant for viewing by a live audience and to havethe reactions on this DVD makes you feel more a part of theshow.

Other productions with different directors will have acompletely different idea of the show, but they will fail to realizethat "Pippin" was shaped and basically created by Bob Fosseand any other versions just can't do justice to the work.

I wouldlike to correct one comment that states that Florence Klotzwas responsible for the costumes. As good as her work is, she did notdesign "Pippin", the wonderful Patricia Zipprodt did.

To sum it allup, anyone who loves live musical theater should have this DVD (ortape) in their collection. For the most part it preserves thelegendary staging of a Broadway classic.

Rating:
Summary: unfortunate adaptation but better than nothing...
Review: Like others in here, I saw Pippin on Broadway in 1973 (while Irene Ryan was still in the cast); it was my first *real* Broadway show and I was completely blown away.

Then, some years later, the video came out, and I got to see it while on a cross-country flight. Unfortunately, the sound was messed up on the tape, and the crew cut the tape short, but even with that, there was something missing to the production.

It wasn't until I got a copy of the tape some years after that that I realized what was wrong: scenes deleted, dance numbers abridged... sure, it was Pippin, but at the same time it really wasn't. It was like this bad photocopy of a truly great original.

Still, it's better than nothing. I broke down and bought the DVD because (1) the quality was better than the tape, and (2) it ain't much, but it's a record of a show I hold very, very dear.

(BTW: Pippin trivia -- when Florence Klotz was on her way to show the original costume designs to Fosse, she got up too late that morning to put any colour into the chorus designs and decided to leave them white and beige washes -- she told herself en route that she would talk Fosse through the colour work and everything would be fine. So she arrives and shows them to him, and she's just getting ready to tell him what's in what colour when he goes wild over the "white" look. Being a wise businessperson, she kept her mouth shut, and the costumes stayed white.)

Rating:
Summary: Good Fosse & Vereen, But Really Bad Video and Audio
Review: I was expecting the same quality as the video disk I bought years ago, what a disappointment. This is a not a good performance nor is the video and audio production up to the level of the video disk version.

Rating:
Summary: Great Show
Review: I was unable to see this show on Broadway, but the DVD/Video is a wonderful way to experience the thrill. I absolutely loved Ben Vareen and William Katt. The excitement of Mr. Vareen's dance makes me watch this show over and over. I appreciate the story line of trying to be someone spectacular, but not knowing what that special gift is, whether to be a soldier, rebel, or family man. That makes this story great.

Rating:
Summary: THE ONLY WAY TO WATCH PIPPIN
Review: Upon tthe first appearance of Ben Vereen in this play, I knew i was going to have some fun watching it. As everyone knows this play is Bob Fosse record breaker. (As we know he became the first director to win a tony / Oscar/ and Emmy for directing in the same year.) And now I can see why. The script is a delight and bursting with laughter, and the story is a remarkable tale of self discovery. How lesser is greater and greater is lesser. and being conveyed with Stephen Schwartz's score. Though original the music definitely is, however the orchestrations cause it to bear resmeblance to Godspell. (Also by Schwartz) but I refuse to deduct points for this video. (On the CD maybe) But this video is just fun all throughout the way and aided by Fosse's excellent interpretive dances to promote discretion for the sex scenes. Which instead makes it something to laugh at. I can confirm that you'll have an exhilarating 1 and 40 minutes

Rating:
Summary: A truly wonderful show
Review: A few years ago, I took part in a local production of Pippin. I not only had a great time, I fell in love with the show. Pippin has beautiful music, wonderful characters and clever dialogue. The show captures a time of unrest in the Holy Roman Empire while also reflecting the feelings and issues we deal with today. The character Pippin may be the son of Charlemagne, but he appeals wonderfully to any modern audience. The plot follows Pippin as he desperately searches for fulfillment: as scholar, soldier, lover, revolutionary, and ruler of an empire! Enchanting songs like "Corner of the Sky" and "Morning Glow" set a wonderful mood for the musical. And on DVD, Pippin is something to own forever. Great digital sound and high picture quality could make the recording almost as good as the seeing it live! A show of Pippin's originality and intelligence deserves to be captured in the best possible way: digitally!

Rating:
Summary: Pippin video....
Review: I had the Pippin video and thought that it was good UNTIL I caught the FULL verson on the BRAVO network. The video had a lot cut out of it. The good point of the video was the music and the comady of Martha Raye! "Sometimes men Raise flags when they can't get anything else up.." The Sound quality was fair. William Katt seemed to be straining on Corner of the Sky too.. If you want the full experience, check out Pippin when it will be on the BRAVO network...

Rating:
Summary: Well...
Review: Pippin is a work of true genius. It's deceptivly simple at first - but after reading an essay on this show at fosse.com I soon understood the show at new levels! BUT, the video is flawed. This is not the Broadway production. This is what...ah, yes, the Canadian Revival (! ) This production was not directed by Bob Fosse. It's based on his original direction (in some sort of weird way). Even Stephen Schwartz himself dislikes this video. Let's just pray for a cast recording or video from the Papermill production (Which I've heard is breathtaking).

Rating:
Summary: its...interesting...
Review: i just recently fell in love with the musical pippin, and after seeing it live decided to buy the video. and boy was i surprised...the only two performers that i liked were ben vereen (ASTOUNDING!) and chita rivera. fosse's choreography was great, as always, but his direction decisions really irked me. for example, he cut the pippin/theo duck sequence. this sequence established a closeness between pippin and theo, and it had some great lines :o). he also cut catherine's song "i guess i'll miss the man," which displays catherine's feelings for pippin! and the video itself is pretty bad quality too, bad sound mostly.

Rating:
Summary: The Pippin video performance.
Review: Pippin is wonderful, and though I am a schwartz enthusiast myself, I have to say that Fosse blew the creative spark into Schwartz's work. The Pippin everyone remembers is Fosse's creative vision. Martha Raye is enthusiastic, bubbly, and wonderful. Chita and Ben are, as always imcomprable, William does a good job, although straining on "Corner of the sky". All in all, a talented cast. The video is choppy in places, but helps the audience especially one who may not have seen it before, understand what Fosse had attempted to do. To do being in the past sense, because Fosse did not direct the Canadian performance of Pippin. It was one of the original dancers that worked under him. All in all, though, the video is well worth seeing and owning, and if you enjoy Fosse, make you sure you pick up uour copies of Cabaret, and Sweet Charity.

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