40 Fun Facts About Pippin (Musical)

Which songwriter, later famous for Wicked, wrote the music and lyrics for the Broadway musical Pippin?

Stephen Schwartz first wrote a version as a student, yet he says not a single line or note of it reached the final Broadway show.

Which choreographer won Tonys for both directing and choreographing Pippin's original Broadway production?

Bob Fosse also contributed to the script, and two of the songs were added during rehearsals at his request.

Which performer won a Tony as Pippin's original Leading Player after playing Judas in Jesus Christ Superstar?

Ben Vereen kept returning to the part, reprising it in a 1981 filmed version and in a 1986 US tour that he also directed.

In the musical Pippin, the title prince is the eldest son of which real Frankish king and emperor?

Charlemagne and his son are borrowed from real early medieval figures, but the plot is fiction and makes no attempt at historical accuracy.

In the finale of Pippin, the Leading Player urges the prince to end the show by doing what?

Setting himself on fire is pitched as the only truly fulfilling act left, but Pippin backs out at the last moment, sure there must be something more.

The 2013 Broadway revival of Pippin recast the Leading Player's troupe as what kind of performers?

Circus acrobats from the Montreal troupe The 7 Fingers performed the stunts, and the revival wove in stage illusions as well.

In the musical Pippin, Catherine's young son Theo grieves over the sickness and death of what pet?

A duck is the pet Theo loses, and comforting the boy through its illness is what finally makes Pippin fall for Catherine.

Much of the plot of Pippin is read as an allegory for which conflict and the counterculture of its era?

The Vietnam War was still under way when the show opened in 1972, which gives the prince's disillusionment after his first battle a pointed edge.

Which opening number of Pippin has the Leading Player and the troupe promise the audience a spectacular show?

Magic to Do also returns in the newer ending, when the troupe comes back to tempt a fresh recruit and the whole cycle begins again.

Which Pippin song, the prince's plea to find where he belongs, does young Theo reprise in the newer ending?

Corner of the Sky is the verse Theo sings alone on the empty stage, a sign that the players have found their replacement for Pippin.

Which Sister Act star won a Tony as the Leading Player in the 2013 Broadway revival of Pippin?

Patina Miller's win made the Leading Player the first role to earn both a Best Actor and a Best Actress Tony in a musical.

Which Beverly Hillbillies star played the prince's grandmother in the original Broadway cast of Pippin?

Irene Ryan, TV's Granny, earned a Tony nomination for the role, but fell ill on stage during a March 1973 performance and died a few weeks later.

Pippin's original director won Tonys for the show in 1973, the same year he won an Oscar for which film?

Cabaret won him the directing Oscar and a Liza Minnelli TV special won him Emmys, so he collected the top prizes of film, television and theatre in one year.

Pippin's 1972 publicity, featuring the Leading Player and two dancers, is credited with which Broadway first?

A TV ad showing scenes from a Broadway show had not been done before; the 60-second spot used the dance break from the war number.

Which famous soul label helped finance Pippin and released the cast album, its first Broadway recording?

Motown had never released a musical cast recording before, and the album it issued in 1972 featured the entire original cast.

After the battle in Pippin, what does the disillusioned prince end up having a cynical conversation with?

A severed head belonging to an enemy soldier talks back to him, and the exchange convinces Pippin that war is futile.

At the end of Pippin, what does the prince choose instead of the players' grand finale?

An ordinary family life with Catherine and Theo is his answer, so the furious Leading Player calls off the show and leaves the three of them on an empty stage.

Miramax bought the film rights to Pippin in 2003 following the success of which movie musical?

Chicago had just won the Oscar for Best Picture, but the planned Pippin film was never made and the rights later went back to the show's songwriter.

During which Pippin song does the prince's grandmother Berthe invite the audience to sing along with her?

No Time at All is so tied to its singalong that 700 fans were chosen by competition to sing that section on the 2013 revival cast recording.

In the musical Pippin, how does the prince's unhappy spell as king come to an end?

His father is revived by the Leading Player at Pippin's own request, and the old ruler simply takes the throne back.

Which future Oscar nominee for An Unmarried Woman played Catherine in the original Broadway cast of Pippin?

Jill Clayburgh sang the ballad that Catherine starts on her own, a moment staged as if it had never been in the players' script.

Which actor created the title role of Pippin on Broadway and later joined the revival as the prince's father?

John Rubinstein, son of the concert pianist Arthur Rubinstein, was making his Broadway acting debut when the show opened in 1972.

Which director, who had earlier restaged Hair on Broadway, won a Tony for staging the 2013 revival of Pippin?

Diane Paulus first staged it at the American Repertory Theater, where she was artistic director, then took the same cast to Broadway.

Which SCTV comedian won a Tony as the prince's grandmother Berthe in the 2013 revival of Pippin?

Andrea Martin also won Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards for the part, and came back to it for three weeks in September 2014.

In Pippin, the queen Fastrada schemes to put which character, her strong but dim-witted son, on the throne?

Lewis inherits whether Pippin kills the king or is arrested for treason, so Fastrada's plot pays off either way.

In Pippin, where does the prince confront and kill his father after being told he will be unarmed?

At a royal chapel in Arles, the king is saying his yearly prayers; Fastrada sent him there early so her stepson would find him defenceless.

Pippin began life as a student show for the Scotch'n'Soda theatre troupe at which American university?

Carnegie Mellon students staged the early version under the title Pippin, Pippin; its co-writer left when the project was developed further.

Pippin lost the 1973 Tony Award for Best Musical to which show, the source of Send In the Clowns?

A Little Night Music took Best Musical, but Pippin still went home with five Tonys, including the awards for its star, direction and choreography.

Which star of The Greatest American Hero played the title role in the 1981 filmed stage production of Pippin?

William Katt filmed it in the same year his superhero series began, in a shortened staging made for Canadian television.

Which Brady Bunch actor played the title role on the first US national tour of Pippin?

Barry Williams, TV's Greg Brady, joined the tour in 1974, the year his sitcom was cancelled, and went on to tour in several other musicals.

Which member of The Monkees played the prince's father on a 2006 US national tour of Pippin?

Micky Dolenz, the group's singing drummer, played the king on a tour that opened at West Point, New York, in October 2006.

Which singer, then a teenage member of a sibling group, recorded a solo cover of Morning Glow from Pippin?

Michael Jackson cut the song at 14 for his album Music & Me, and it later resurfaced as a bonus track on the show's remastered cast album.

Which chorus dancer in Pippin's original cast caught its director's eye and later played Roxie Hart?

Ann Reinking took over as Roxie on Broadway in 1977 and returned to the part almost 20 years later, winning a Tony for the choreography.

Which star, the original Anita in West Side Story, played Fastrada in the 1981 filmed Pippin?

Chita Rivera played the scheming queen opposite Martha Raye as the grandmother, in a cut-down staging taped for Canadian television.

Which number in Pippin features the celebrated dance for three known as the Manson Trio?

Glory stages the battle as a slick routine for the Leading Player and two dancers while the real violence plays out behind them.

In the musical Pippin, the eager prince joins his father's army for a battle against which people?

Visigoths are the enemy, and the king lectures his men on the battle plan while his over-eager son keeps interrupting.

Which dramatist, also the book writer of Walking Happy, earned a Tony nomination for the book of Pippin?

Roger Hirson is the credited book writer, although the show's original director also contributed to the libretto.

Which deaf actor, later an Oscar winner, played the prince's father in a 2009 Los Angeles staging of Pippin?

Troy Kotsur signed the role while another actor voiced it, in a co-production with Deaf West Theatre at the Mark Taper Forum.

Which future star of Cats took over as Catherine during the original Broadway run of Pippin?

Betty Buckley joined the show in 1973 and, a decade later, won a Tony as Grizabella, the cat who sings Memory.

Josh Kaufman, who took over the title role in the Broadway revival of Pippin, had won which TV talent show?

The Voice crowned him in its sixth US season, and he stepped into the revival in November 2014 for the final weeks of its run.