'Pippin' returns to Harper - three decades later

Exactly 34 years after its initial run, "Pippin" is returning to the Harper College stage.

The Harper Ensemble Theatre Company will present the coming-of-age tale Nov. 11-23. There will be some familiar faces. Director Laura Pulio-Colbert, a professor at Harper, and Scenic Designer Paul Dombrowski, an art teacher in Palatine Township Elementary District 15, both had roles in the 1982 production.

"This is a real treat for me personally," Pulio-Colbert said. "I did this show when I was 19 years old, and it opened my eyes to what I could do and where I could go. I feel lucky to be able to take it full circle."

"Pippin" tells the tale of a young prince who longs to find the meaning of life. Though he seeks it in the glories of war, the temptations of sex and the intrigue of political power, he ultimately finds that happiness lies not in extraordinary endeavors, but in the more everyday moments.

The Tony Award-winning musical, directed and choreographed by Bob Fosse in the original Broadway production, also features the songs "Magic to Do," "Corner of the Sky" and "No Time at All."

Pulio-Colbert is dedicating the show to Mary Jo Willis, professor emerita and an Educational Foundation Board member, who directed the original.

"Mary Jo, a wonderful mentor and friend, and I are very different people," Pulio-Colbert said. "Her version was much more in line with the Bob Fosse version, whereas I tend to look for the dark underbelly of things. It's been fun to take a different approach."

The show will be in the Performing Arts Center on the main campus, 1200 W. Algonquin Road in Palatine. Performances are at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays. Tickets are $12 to $15. Contact the Harper College Box Office at (847) 925-6100 or harpercollege.edu/boxoffice.