Sondheim Forum

Theater in General => Musicals => Topic started by: mrssondheim on May 01, 2019, 11:52 PM

Title: PIPPIN
Post by: mrssondheim on May 01, 2019, 11:52 PM
Quick random question. 
Anyone know if there is a book about the making/creation of the musical PIPPIN? Original and/or revival!
Title: Re: PIPPIN
Post by: scenicdesign71 on May 02, 2019, 08:03 AM
I haven't read it, but Defying Gravity (https://www.amazon.com/Defying-Gravity-Creative-Schwartz-Godspell/dp/1540031462) has a chapter on Pippin -- presumably from Schwartz's perspective, which may or may not suit your purposes (the biographer seems to be, quite literally, the president of his fan club (http://www.theschwartzscene.com)).  Apparently the book was updated for a second edition last fall, so it likely also includes some new material about the 2013 revival.

From the "Look inside the book" preview on Amazon:
Quote from: Defying Gravity: The Creative Career of Stephen Schwartz, p.423)"My attitude toward [Pippin] has changed over the years, probably because I am no longer twenty-four years old... I have come to appreciate the theatricality and subtextual richness of undercutting both expectation and sentimentality, which is something Bob Fosse understood better than I at the time.  Indeed, I have come to joke that in many ways, I have ironically become the guardian of Bob's vision, and that somewhere he is looking up and laughing."

There's a recent interview on that fan site in which Schwartz discusses Fosse, Pippin, and Fosse/Verdon:
http://www.theschwartzscene.com/2019/04/25/stephen-schwartz-comments-on-fosse-verdon/

And the site also includes this list of Pippin-related resources (scroll down for "More Books on Pippin"):
http://www.musicalschwartz.com/pippin.htm

Also, the Pippin section of Schwartz's own website includes several Q&A pages about the show and its history (see "Resources," at lower right):
https://www.stephenschwartz.com/works/pippin/


Title: Re: PIPPIN
Post by: KathyB on May 02, 2019, 09:40 AM
I think Scott Miller has a chapter on Pippin in one of his books. Can't find which one on Amazon. I'll have to go home and look.


UPDATE:
There's a chapter in From Assassins to West Side Story. Although the book is subtitled "The Director's Guide to Musical Theatre," there's quite a bit in there about the original production and Fosse's vision.
Title: Re: PIPPIN
Post by: mrssondheim on May 13, 2019, 08:55 PM
Thank you guys! Great resources!