‘Pippin’ at the Taper: Take the kids?
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OK, so the new production of ‘Pippin’ at the Mark Taper Forum isn’t exactly ‘Sesame Street Live,’ as you can probably tell from the photo above. (If you want to play a game of ‘Six Degrees of Separation’ to see how the two shows are linked, though, put on your thinking cap and click through to the jump.) But over at our sister blog Pop & Hiss, Times pop music critic Ann Powers has an essay titled ‘Liberal Parents Take Note: ‘Pippin’ Is Fun for Kids.’
In her post, Powers talks about taking her 5-year-old daughter, Bebe, to see the musical, as put on by the Center Theatre Group and Deaf West Theatre. Powers starts by referencing Times theater critic Charles McNulty’s mixed review of the show, then sets out on her argument that ‘Pippin’s’ musical and fairy-tale elements make it appropriate for kids. But, she writes:
There is one stumbling block. ‘Pippin’ is racy; Bob Fosse, that great satyr, was the guy who made it a Broadway smash in 1972. Some parents might want to just stop reading this now, because I’m about to argue that happy, bespangled, modified bump-and-grind sensuality isn’t such a bad thing for kids to witness. And in this production of ‘Pippin,’ it’s played for laughs and tenderness, not heat.
So whereas McNulty describes the bedroom scene, in which ‘come-hither hands slide out from under the covers of a sensual bed, but pleasure quickly starts to resemble a nest of vipers,’ Powers refers to it as ‘spicy from an adult perspective, but abstract enough that Bebe thought it was a tickle-fest.’
Powers goes on to explain more, and it’s all sure to spur spirited discussions.
So how are ‘Pippin’ and ‘Sesame Street Live’ linked? Here’s one way; feel free to offer others:
Start with Ben Vereen, who won a Tony in 1973 for the role of Leading Player in ‘Pippin.’ He later guest-starred in a 1977 episode of ‘The Muppet Show,’ participating in an interview with Kermit the Frog, no less, in which Kermit innocently says, ‘You must work out a lot, huh?’ and the actor responds, ‘As a dancer, your body is one of the most important things you have.’ (See it at about the 4:10 mark in the video here.) Kermit, of course, appeared in TV’s ‘Sesame Street,’ which is the basis for the touring show ‘Sesame Street Live.’ Q.E.D.
-- Scott Sandell
Top photo: Ty Taylor as Leading Player in ‘Pippin’ at the Mark Taper Forum. Credit: Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times. Bottom photo: Kermit the Frog. Credit: Jim Henson Co.
