'Pippin' tour pays homage to the past

The 2013 Broadway revival of "Pippin" re-imagined the original 1972 musical from top to bottom. Yet this three-time Tony Award-winning production, touring to Chicago's Cadillac Palace Theatre starting July 29, also honors the shows's past - particularly in the casting.

Tony Award-winner John Rubinstein made his Broadway debut in "Pippin," originating the title role of the uncertain son of King Charlemagne. Now Rubinstein has aged into the role of Pippin's father - a role he previously played as a replacement for the Broadway revival and now on tour.

"I'm so much the glowering dad myself in my real life that it's not so much of a stretch to play this guy," said Rubinstein, considering himself lucky to have originated such beloved "Pippin" songs as "Corner of the Sky" and "Extraordinary" by composer Stephen Schwartz. "And when I was playing Pippin, I was a young idiot trying to figure out my life, so that was no stretch either."

But this "Pippin" revival bears little resemblance to the original thanks to the visionary collaboration of choreographer Gypsy Snider of the Canadian circus troupe Les Sept Droits de la Main (Seven Fingers) and Tony Award-winning director Diane Paulus. Seven Fingers is best remembered locally for the circus revue "Traces" in 2010 at the Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place, while Paulus staged many outstanding updated productions for Chicago Opera Theater in the past decade.

"Most musicals take place where they have to take place: You have to do 'The Music Man' in Iowa or 'Fiddler on the Roof' in Russia. With 'Pippin,' you could stage it on the moon," said Rubinstein, suggesting that "Pippin" resisted a major Broadway revival because directors couldn't see past script writer Roger O. Hirson's stated setting of the Holy Roman Empire circa 780, or that they were cowed by the reputation of the late Bob Fosse's original award-winning staging.

"It was not until Diane and Gypsy came up with this circus idea, which I think is a brilliant way to frame 'Pippin' running away with the circus," Rubinstein said. "And all the people doing extraordinary circus acts behind Pippin while he tries to figure out how to be extraordinary himself is just a visionary and wonderful way to rethink the show."

Paulus and Snider applied the circus metaphor even to the song "No Time at All." It's sung by the grandmother character of Berthe, originated in 1972 by Irene Ryan (Granny in TV's "The Beverly Hillbillies") and played in the revival by Andrea Martin of "SCTV" fame.

Adrienne Barbeau, 70, plays Berthe for the tour.

"Part of the song is performed on a trapeze hanging upside down and as soon as I saw that, I thought, 'You know what? I think I'd like to do this.' This looks like great fun and not something anybody my age gets offered very often,'" Barbeau said.

Barbeau was Tony-nominated for originating the role of Rizzo in "Grease" on Broadway back in 1972. But she is best known for TV and movies ranging from "Maude" to "Creepshow." She is also renowned for penning the "Vampyers of Hollywood" series of novels, one of which is soon to go into production in a movie adaptation.

"I identify completely with Berthe's philosophy of life," said Barbeau, a self-proclaimed gym rat. "And so to have the opportunity to get up on stage and get the audience singing along with me about something I believe, and to do it while I'm flying from a trapeze is not something I could turn down."

Barbeau leaves "Pippin" on Aug. 2 and Tony Award-winner Priscilla Lopez assumes the role of Berthe for the rest of the Chicago run. Barbeau is looking forward to leaving "Pippin" on a high note in Chicago.

"People come up to me afterward all the time and say, 'Oh my gosh, you've inspired me to go back to the gym,' and 'I can't believe you're doing that so I'm going to get myself in shape,'" Barbeau said. "Now I really do appreciate that this is the kind of grandma that we are presenting."

“Pippin”

Location: Cadillac Palace Theatre, 151 W. Randolph St., Chicago, (800) 775-2000 or

broadwayinchicago.comShowtimes: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and Sunday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Sunday (also 2 p.m. Thursday, July 30); runs July 29 through Aug. 9Tickets: $29-$92