Theatre Program Revives PIPPIN with a Modern Twist

When people imagine the Tony Award-winning musical by Stephen Schwartz (the mind behind Wicked and Godsend), their minds tend to go to the brightly-colored traveling performance troupe from the medieval ages, flying and dashing across the stage. In the original production of Pippin, directed and choreographed by Bob Fosse (Sweet Charity, Chicago, All That Jazz), the show focused on a young prince (inspired by the fictional German tale of Pippin the Hunchback) lost for any meaning in his life as his royal father hounds him. Even rooted in its Middle Ages and colorful aesthetic, the story holds this universal thread for any sort of young person disenchanted with the entrapments of the adult world, seemingly filled to the brim with rot as they try desperately to find meaning in this terrifying frontier. In this new production of Pippin, guest director Dr. Larissa Kelloway has traded the aesthetic of previous productions for something “ripped straight from the headlines,” all while keeping the core of the production intact. 

Dr. Kelloway, an adjunct professor in Theatre at Saint Mary’s, decided to modernize Pippin for a twenty-first-century audience who found that its original aesthetic would be hard for modern audiences to relate to intimately as monarchs waged wars for control of land. Rather than simply updating the central royal family’s reign for control with uninspired Western political figures, her attention turned elsewhere for something that is more Succession than The West Wing, deciding to focus on media mogul dynasties, the likes of the Rupert Murdoch Family whose reign dips into neoconservative news media and entertainment outlets.

“Modern conflict unfolds in real-time on TVs, computers and tablets in vivid, live-action moving images that assault our eyes as the screens flash up the footage,” Dr. Kelloway wrote in her director’s note for the show to explain her creative choice behind focusing on media moguls instead of kings and queens. She adds, “When, how, and what we see is controlled by international media conglomerates with their own agenda. They govern content, frequency, and delivery with the line separating reality and imaginary becoming increasingly blurry as media becomes its own battleground for viewership and loyalty. The more I researched, the more obvious our presentation became.”

Sharing her creative duties behind the stage is dance faculty member Rogelio Lopez as the choreographer for the show, who strays away from the Bob Fosse styles for something wholly different for this production, and musical director Jon Gallo to bring the Schwartz-penned songs to LeFevre’s stage. Some other Saint Mary’s faculty members involved in Pippin include Professor Deanna Zibello as Scenic Designer, Technical Director “Ernie” Ernstrom, and Expressive & Performing Arts Super Chair Dana Lawton as part of the cast ensemble, playing Pippin’s grandmother Berthe in a role that sees her singing, dancing, and acting on stage. Katie Gulber, '20, returns to SMC as the production manager for the show.

Joining the faculty members and guest creative team members are the countless students across multiple disciplines united to share a revamped Pippin for the Saint Mary’s community. Starring as the titular Pippin is junior Noah Miller, an Economics major and part of the Men’s Rugby team. Alongside Miller’s Pippin is senior Politics and Theatre double major Melody Ng as The Leading Player, sophomore CompSci major Aiden Kiernan as the patriarch figure Charles, first year Liliana Conchola as Pippin’s stepmother Fastrada, senior Anya Tang as Pippin’s half-brother Lewis, senior Kate Conti as the widow, and Pippin’s love interest Catherine, and her son, Theo, played by junior Bianca Langlois. Accompanying the cast as “C-level executives” are Erin Brady, Bruno, Tyra Fleming, Julia Peterson, Amber Spinetta, and Amy Unruh. 

Behind the scenes has senior JCL-MSTE major Lance Fiss as the assistant director and senior Media Production and Theatre double-major Carolyn Gersten (she/her) as the Stage Manager, who has devoted considerable time into ensuring a smooth and successful production. On top of her managerial responsibilities, Gersten, alongside Amber Spinetta, have helped with filming publicity footage ahead of the show’s release and the creation of trendy videos that are posted on the SMC theatre page. Doing sound design for Pippin is Lachlan Hovany, under the supervision of professional sound designer James Ard. Tesse Easterling is the props manager for the show, purchasing and making props exclusively for the production. Kate Barker is the main carpenter who spends hours working on the set. Lastly, Tiernan McKevitt is the projections designer to aid with the visual look of the Zibello-designed set. 

A full list of members who make the show possible can be found in the program for PIPPIN.

Saint Mary’s production of Pippin begins its run on April 16-18th, then back on April 25-26. Tickets are $8 for Seminar students; $10 for other SMC students; $15 for faculty, staff, and non-SMC students; and $20 for general audience members. Seats are first-come, first served with doors opening approximately 30 minutes before performance time.

A limited number of tickets are available at the Box Office 30 minutes before each performance,  but due to the possibility of selling out and to alleviate long lines, please purchase tickets ahead of time at stmarys-ca.edu/pippin26

Check out our PIPPIN Instagram posts: @saintmarys_theatre