Theatre Review: Pippin - 50th Anniversary Concert

This has to be the campest, most ludicrously sequinned, joyous shows I've seen in quite some time.

I knew nothing about Pippin, but my dad saw it back in the 1970s and loved it - so I snagged us a couple of tickets. The story itself is fun enough; an over-privileged princeling goes off to find his purpose and finds himself waylaid by vices, murders, and ducks. It's a silly, wry, and self-knowing show. More like Into The Woods than anything else.

As this was an "in concert" production, I was kind of expecting the cast to just come out, sing into a microphone, and wander off. Instead, choreographer Joanna Goodwin treated us to the full "saucy-Fosse" - all bowler hats, shoulder jerks, and shimmying. The singing was, of course, divine. Alex Newell (Unique from Glee) was fabulous and soaked up the whooping and cheering from the audience like the star they are. Patricia Hodge - who was in the original 1972 production - returned and was obviously having a whale of a time prancing around with the dancers.

Half the audience remembered the original production, the other half were fresh-faced drama-school kids who relished the bedazzling displays of terpsichorean delights. Has Pippin got a cult following on TikTok or something?

I can't quite understand why this was only on for two nights. A dozen case members, a twenty-piece orchestra, and a 50-strong choir can't have come cheap. Are they prepping for a tour? I can only hope so!