iTunes Exclusive Episode Pippin

The following is a sooner orgator production.
The following is a sooner orgator production.
The following is a sooner orgator production.
The following is a sooner orgator production.
Greetings, Empire members and our members.
Because there's always more of them than one of you I guess.
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Welcome.
My name is Rob and I am the executive producer of the clubhouse podcast.
I don't dance for you ever once in a while.
Maybe not for you, but I will.
But I'm not alone for this particular episode.
Our 116th one of these.
Joining me across the desk is my co-host.
And a man knows about Fosse, Bosse, Madonna, Madonna.
He is Jack.
Good evening, sir.
Also joining us for this particular episode.
Is the official fact checker of the show.
And a man who knew that the musical we're going to talk about in this particular episode
is not about a former Chicago bull.
You may know him as Fondongo, but his mom and even Don Ford, I'm going to call him Don Ford.
Welcome, sir.
We're going to have an interesting review on this one.
This is going to be fun.
I'm looking forward to this one.
Yeah, this, uh, this is going to be fun.
Here, right?
Whatever we do one of these, it is to review something and this is no exception.
But this particular episode, we are reviewing a stage production currently being featured
in the Dallas Fort Worth area.
But touring nationwide, it is the revival of Pippin.
Basically the story within a story within a story.
There's some Broadway inception going on here.
Takes place in the circus setting, telling the story of Pippin.
A man who is the son of the great King Charlemagne, who gets done with college and decides
he wants to go find what's meaningful to him in life.
And the journey he goes there within, featuring some circus acts as well.
Very small cast to this, but that doesn't take anything away from it.
Before we begin, sir.
We got to think when the nicest guys in the world.
We got to think Francesco for inviting us to this thing.
That man is so good to us.
I agree.
Thank you so much Francesco.
Everybody at Dallas summer musicals and everybody at, uh,
wrapping up season 75.
If you can believe that.
Yeah, they finished this with a good one.
Also, we got to think everybody at musical, fair park for inviting us to this thing.
Such wonderful people.
Thank you so much Francesco.
All right.
Pippin, the musical.
Chad will start with you.
What do you think of the presentation here?
Totally immersion.
Uh, that's one way to put it for sure.
I mean, you totally get, get drawn in from the get-go.
And a lot of that not have to do with,
I don't know how much of it had to do with what Fossi's vision,
whatever he directed this thing, and when he choreographed,
a pretty healthy chunk of it that they've left intact for the most part.
That singular image of the dancer behind the curtain.
As it opens, has been used and reused over and over again.
One, one performer comes to mind.
Uh, Michael Jackson was very fond of that technique.
And I, it wouldn't shock me if it was pioneered by this musical.
Uh, it's, it's one of those things that just kind of sticks with you.
It's a lot of it is used in the marketing campaign of a singular figure in front of this circus-like curtain.
And that's what introduces you into this world and it immediately pulls you in.
Don?
This, after watching this thing, um, I got a question for everybody here.
Sure.
Does anybody seen this before we saw this last night?
I went in cold.
I went in cold because the last time it came through Dallas, I was just, uh, a wee little nipper.
Yeah, I, I, I didn't do nothing really about this production at all.
And I'll be honest with you, there's two parts.
There's two accidents thing.
And I think the first one is your, fits the mold.
Now, it was written as a complete one.
Yes, it was.
They have an option.
There's also an extended ending.
But then after the, uh, intermission we had this thing, just, through the rulebook out the window.
And, uh, put my written view at the clubhouse podcast.com.
That's our website.
Very an orthodox.
The second half was because you always have the base in movies and in plays and in songs.
Where you have the introduction.
You learn to background and you give a storyline and there's the big trial moments.
And then there's the big finale.
Right.
This first tap was kind of fitting in that mold.
I thought in my opinion.
But then in the second half, it just went everywhere left and right.
And in some of the stuff that they've done, didn't, didn't this production?
Stuff you never seen before.
It's stuff that you would never expect.
And I'm not giving any spoilers away, but like the last five minutes of the play, you're like, okay.
But it was good in a good way for me.
Don't think all the big finale that you remember for the rest of your life.
But it's just like, I'm like, say, as minus minus minus.
And you also, I can do what I'm talking about.
But it's like, what, but this is cool.
This is weird, but this is cool.
I very much enjoyed it.
It's one of those productions where
Don't go to the bathroom.
Don't go try to beat the crowd to get your
Intermission beverage.
You have to pay attention because there's a lot going on on multiple levels.
And if you lose part of this,
It's snowballs as the deeper it goes.
And you really, although it's it is entertaining.
And I very much enjoyed it.
You have to pay attention.
This is not something you can kind of halfway.
Oh, yeah.
Technically gorgeous.
What I loved about this technically
was we've been, we've been to productions
and Chad, you'll back me up on this
where they've relied very, very heavily on lighting
and the use of lighting.
Right.
This brought it back to, since it takes place inside of a circus tent,
it gave you a very basic spotlighting.
Not a lot of
designing things with the lights.
It's just straight spotlights.
And I think that works for this.
And it part of that is a plot device.
I mean, when they read, when there,
because there's a lot of fourth wall breaking going on in this.
You know, they start, they start stripping the,
the final real way and you see the,
you see the stage for what it truly is.
Mm-hmm.
And I thought that was very, very cleverly done and very,
very, very brilliantly utilized.
Done?
The sets, like you're saying, this basically just one set.
But they utilized with the props and the lighting very, very well.
I thought.
And in a different way than once did it.
Yeah.
Where there was more, they relied more on the actors to be selling the scenes
therein.
In this, there wasn't a lot of prop movement,
but there was enough that there was,
that it was noticeable, but didn't distract you.
But the lighting really helped in one thing,
which just blew my mind away
when they were seeing the love song.
That backdrop looked beautiful.
Love song in general was a great moment.
Was it great?
Was it great?
Everything about it.
But I'm talking about when it comes to the lighting and everything.
Mm-hmm.
You thought you were outside with all the stars on the backdrop
and everything like that?
I thought that was great use of using lighting
to make you feel like you're just somewhere.
And there was a little bit of more modern lighting
at the very, very end of the production.
But that kind of fit what it was doing.
There was nothing to me that seemed out of place here
if that makes any sense.
Everything worked for me.
I thought that the,
I did like the fact that the,
you guys aren't like me.
You don't look behind us because there's always a screen
where the people on stage can see the orchestra.
The conductor was also the keyboard player.
Which worked for me.
Because there was a lot of the keyboard work in it.
I thought the orchestra was excellent.
The balance between the orchestra and the vocal.
Very, very good for me.
I agree.
And that's, in a production like this,
that's tough to do.
And the toughest part to me for the orchestra here.
And I put this in my written review at www.theclubhousepodcast.com.
Which is our website?
Is, in a, in a, in a Fossy production.
There's a lot of movement.
Fossy likes constant movement in his dancers.
And there's a lot of musical cues in this.
Especially with, uh, with the leading player.
The way she would move around the stage.
And then boom, boom, boom, boom.
Kind of things.
And when you're doing that music live.
You've got to be dead on.
And there were a couple of spots where I got just,
maybe just a hair off.
But nothing that made me go,
ooh, that's unfortunate.
Nothing that takes you out of it.
Yeah.
Everything was, was moving.
And it was moving perfectly.
I know issue with it.
And that's hard to do with live music.
Can't music.
It's a little easier.
But this was all live.
So, there's, there's, there's that aspect to it,
which I really, really dug.
Anything you guys want to add from a technical aspect.
Other than the, the occasional microphone pops.
It kind of, there was a little bit of a facing issue in Act One.
It scared the live and full out of you when it happens.
Uh, but again, it wasn't, it wasn't anything that totally
rips you out of the moment.
Uh, but, uh,
It's technically very good.
Yeah, I really can't point anything out.
Other than the fact that on stage,
left, I did notice it right.
About halfway through the second act.
One of the, one of the lights.
I want to say it was like the third or fourth light from the lift went out.
Really?
It did go out.
That line.
I know there was one that got a little dim at a couple of points.
Yeah.
It was gone.
Well, then let's get to the whole reason we want to do this review.
Performances.
There are no words.
This from top to bottom.
Performances were rock solid.
And you talk about a production that knows how to use the room.
How many times did Pippin run through the audience?
Go out one door, come in another door.
Oh, gosh, at least three or four, you know.
And much less use the just offstage steps before you lead to the steps.
Before you lead to the steps that go into the audience, they utilize that a lot,
especially in the bigger numbers using more of the cast.
And didn't write before act to what he'd like right in front of the crowd in front of
stage lift, just pumping them up.
Yeah, kind of hyping them a little bit.
I thought that was brilliant.
Done.
The acting.
Where do we begin?
The singing was very, very good.
Like I said, love story.
That tore me apart inside.
Yeah, there were about three or four moments,
especially at the end where you could hear a pin dropping that place.
Literally.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Especially there's one section during, I guess I'll miss the man,
where Chris to Katherine, who you meet in the second act,
is singing a capella.
You could have heard somebody drop a dime out of their pocket in the lobby.
It was so quiet in that room when she was singing.
You could hear tear drops hit the floor.
And how the chemistry was together.
I mean, the leading player in Katherine,
I thought they were going to go over 50 cups a couple of times.
Oh, it was really.
The chemistry there was great.
Yeah, I mean, chemistry all around.
No, it's what's so orthodox.
It's, it's, it's.
Katherine saying no, uh, narrator.
No, uh, we're not going to follow up.
That would be unorthodox enough.
Yeah, an orthodox of a popeologist.
But how, Katherine, see.
Uh, uh, uh, stop.
We're not doing the normal thing.
I do it when I want to do here.
Mm-hmm.
That's what I loved about it.
And then how at the end where the leading player just says,
Okay, let's just, you know, throw it out the window when it comes down to it.
But you got to go down the list.
Theo did incredible on that.
The guy who played the hip and Katherine.
Theo being the son of Katherine.
We also meet in the second act.
Um, I mean, the list goes on and on.
But I want to see this on the show because I thought it was just so great.
Um, the guy, um, the actor.
Um, his name is, um, Borsh York.
He played multiple roles.
He, yes.
I know exactly who you're talking about.
But the chicken.
That was the chicken.
That was the chicken.
Oh, my, nominating role.
I want sure who was playing that role.
He had to kill the chicken.
Uh, I, I have to give him a shout-off.
There's not only role for that, I think it's he made the moment, but just making a sound.
It's all I'm going to say.
That, that, that had me going.
Most of the actors that played the animals in the farm scene was more than enough for me.
But, you know, with a certain animal dies in them.
You know, I mean, I was just, you know, I can go off.
All right, but I mean, anybody here think that guy could kill the lead role in
you, but by the way, I'm not going to debate that, sir.
And then, of course, we had the great Adrian Barbo there.
Uh, that's, that's, that's who I'm waiting to talk about.
How do you not put that on the marquee?
I don't know.
All I know is that when you, when you, when you look this up on Wikipedia,
she's not who they've got listed as playing this role on the national tour.
Really?
It's Lucy R. NAS.
Okay.
That's listed as playing birth.
Our birthday.
I'm not even sure how you pronounce that.
Um, when she came out and the audience applauded,
I didn't recognize her.
Yeah.
And I was like, she's obviously somebody of importance.
And we didn't bother like idiots to look through the play bill.
And so the intervention until the intervention.
And I'm like, I know that voice.
As soon as I heard her talk, I was like, I recognize that voice.
And she looks familiar.
And it can't be who I think it is because there's no way she looks that good.
Yeah, knowing how old she is.
We're not, we're not going to be one to give away a ladies age.
Look it up and then think that not only on a trapeze,
but then hanging from a dude holding her up,
who's hanging on said trapeze,
which he dropped her little shawl and her cape.
And she had on the, you know,
the trapeze artist Regalia,
I'm like, Dear God,
what is this woman been doing?
What kind of regimen is she on?
Because she's making everybody in here look bad.
Yeah.
It was amazing.
She carried that's in.
And I noticed that
given the context of that song,
it seemed more than just a little bit personal.
Yeah.
What she's saying in that song,
it's like she was telling everybody,
this is the life I've lived.
And I love how she talked to audience.
Yeah.
It's a single long audience.
That's another brilliant occasion of breaking the fourth wall.
And how she said,
Okay, now it's my turn to shut up.
Yeah.
I get the performance of note.
Yeah.
No time at all was one of my personal favorite.
Uh-huh.
Production.
When we got to follow the bouncing ball on stage.
It was genius.
And I have four more verses.
God love you, ma'am.
Uh, but we would be completely remiss
if we didn't mention John Rubenstein as Charles.
Please do, sir.
Um, this is the guy that originated the role of
Pippin on Broadway.
This is kind of his life.
And to see him come back around with this revival
playing no longer playing Pippin but Pippin's father
and absolutely crushing it.
Uh, every scene he was in,
you wanted more of him.
You just wanted him to keep going.
Uh, probably the greatest comic relief
the entire piece.
If I'm being honest,
I just, I, everything he said just had me
had been cracking.
I, I, I, I, I feel the, the, the dog
that, that, I think he has a comedy.
But don't get me wrong about that, too.
I mean,
Well, they don't really didn't have all that much to say.
Yeah.
But what he did, you know,
that's not a dog.
The line that Charles had about
fornication.
Yes,
brought the house down.
And I think probably
the earliest true breaking of the fourth wall
was that line possible.
Because you had it in the beginning
but once the story got into,
I think that was the earliest
breaking of the fourth wall.
Because you thought that the leading player
was going to be the only person to break the fourth wall
is kind of the,
it's, it's almost like the impression that you
would get me.
And let's talk about the leading player,
Sasha Allen.
Oh, my,
veteran of the voice.
He was, he's hot,
five finalist in season four.
Yeah.
Out there,
getting it done.
Oh, my gosh.
And the thing, and, and I go back to
Fossys choreography.
We, I talked earlier about how Fossys
choreography.
There's a lot of movement all the time.
So you have to be fairly
limber.
And she crushed it.
Like if you go watch things like
Chicago and see
the choreography there.
And you can see the kind of things
that Fossys demands from his
dancers.
And she was just like,
what else you got?
Yeah.
Watch the chorus.
There's all that jazz.
She, she very natural.
Yeah.
Very, very natural.
And just hilled it.
And that trademark,
that signature of, of, of the
Manson trio is something that,
people may,
I explain that to people that understand it.
People may or may not know the meaning of that,
but it's basically a central figure
flanked by two others that
the shadowing and mimicking their every move.
And again, I'll, I'll have to
bring up Michael Jackson again,
because Fossys was a huge influence on
Michael's performances.
He incorporated that a lot.
And this is, is highlighted in this,
in this, in this production,
with, with the leading player,
primarily.
It's, it's, it's very,
very subtle, but very,
very effective when it's used.
And, uh,
So I've used it a couple of points.
Yeah.
And, and Sasha Allen may, may have
competed on a vocal
performance show, but this car can dance
like nobody's business.
She crushed it.
She really did.
She used the total package.
Uh, Sam lips his pippin.
I loved his performance.
Especially, and we talked about this when we saw
dirty dancing.
How, you really have to know what you're doing
to make it look like you don't know what you're doing
on stage.
The things where he was like,
like, not able to get the,
the choreography down right away.
Uh-huh.
That was funny to me.
And he did that very, very well.
He was constantly aware of his surroundings
and blended more than stood out,
which I thought was great.
He didn't, he didn't try to push his way
to the front, and I, I mean,
I know that that's what the part calls for,
but it's, it looked, it, it looked natural.
It, it didn't look fake.
And can we just go ahead and just talk
about Christine Rees here.
Yeah.
Before we, this thing gets away from us.
The chemistry they had.
Katherine, her voice had had a,
gorgeous purity to it.
That just kept me captivated.
The entire time she was on stage.
Mm-hmm.
And again, love song.
Yeah.
What are you going to do?
Like, that was, that was,
I mean, I, I don't even know what else to say.
I mean, I loved her when she basically first came out finally.
And that's where it started really breaking the mold I thought.
Mm-hmm.
But then how she's ready to get in a 50 cups with the leading player.
And then how she,
you feel like her and Pippin' are in love
during that love song.
So she could go through this whole array
of love to being the,
the dumb blonde trying to get out of the dressing room
to being someone who's,
that her entrance is great.
Yes.
Just ready to get into a cat fight
as a great Joel Gertner used to say.
You know,
she had, she had the whole realm.
I was so impressed.
It wasn't even funny on her role.
She was one of my favorites in the whole production.
Yeah.
From a vocal standpoint alone,
she just killed it, man.
I was like, how,
like, that's all I could say.
Like, you know?
Anything else you want to talk about
before we get to our final analysis?
How really kind of want to get into this is
at my reading view at theclubhouse.com.
That's our website.
I put on there this play a so-and-orthodox
because it's such a mix of about everything
under the sun.
There's a lot of different genres.
I played it some mix of pen and teller
how do you say circularly?
Circularly.
Circularly.
From France.
Meets.
Meets cultured people.
Meets cultured.
Meets cultured.
This is me beating my head against the microphone.
Meets, you know,
son-alami.
Meets say anything.
The son-in-law thing completely took me off guard.
But, you know,
the farming,
that's what it came to mind.
I'm not, I get it.
Sure opinion.
I can't judge your opinion,
but that just completely took me off guard.
It went through so many genres
and how it just broke the molder
where these characters are saying,
no, we're not doing this as normal.
We're doing this now.
I loved.
That was cool.
In the final ending.
I was ready to tear it apart
inside my heart a couple times.
And especially at the ending
and everything.
Beautiful production.
And again,
Francesco.
Everybody dialed some of musicals.
Everybody at Music Hall.
For Park.
Thank you so much for inviting us to this thing.
Thank you again.
Are you ready for the final analysis?
We are.
We are.
The way we do the final analysis on this show.
We don't give you thumbs up thumbs down.
We don't give you
letter ratings.
We don't give you anything like that.
Our audience, the empire is better than that.
For stage productions,
we change it up just a little bit.
So we're going to ask you.
Not only would you see this production again.
The answer is no.
We're done here.
But if the answer is yes,
I would see this again.
It turns into.
How would you see this again?
Where do you want to sit?
Chad will start with you.
Would you see this again?
Absolutely.
Where you want to sit?
Pretty much where we were.
Right there in the center.
Just before the where the seats break into a front section in a back section.
I think we found our sweet spot.
Don.
Would you see this again?
Everything Chad just said 100% real Chad on that.
I want to sit dead center.
And I mean dead center in this deal.
So I could take in everything equally.
A little bit closer than where we were.
You know what I mean?
No, not completely at all.
Run through July 19th.
And again, thank you to all of our friends at Dallas over musicals.
Congratulations to them on the completion of not only their 75th season,
but it's also our completion of our first full season with that.
I think we got to bring in Joan and hope for her getting us into this thing originally.
So yeah.
So excited about what they do for us.
And they got a great season coming up next year.
Brother.
A little mermaid.
We've got a long break with them right now.
But to the, you know, the people in the DFW area, if you're not aware.
Next season, they got to sound up music, elf, bridges, a mass county,
a little mermaid, wicked, ragtime, bolts over Broadway in 42nd Street.
To be a good season.
Eight incredible productions coming up.
I want to go to there.
Anything else?
I think we said it all.
All right.
Let's do the plugs.
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So until next time.
By the way.
Also.
I do want to send this shout out.
This is Sabrina Harper.
Who played for Strada.
She was amazing.
Oh, and we also probably should mention that this is being adapted into a
film.
Finally.
After all.
The Weinstein.
So for Don.
For Chad.
For the Empire.
I'm Rob.
Clubhouse is closed.
Totally could see Brittany Palmer weren't some of these outfits.
I'm just saying.
The preceding was a sooner or later production.
Get a go.
Why?
Because I have to.
See you.