8/12/2012. Sidetrack Theatre 7:30 pm. It rains in buckets. The Jumbo jets roar away as if on a crash course with the Addison Arts & Events District. The potholes are deep and overflowing from the never-ending heavy rain. Good weather for a heart-warming musical like PIPPIN. The production is scheduled for 8 pm, 90 straight minutes through with no interval. 8:15 pm, it still rains and the small crowd is patiently waiting to be seated. May be we are waiting for the many people lost in traffic and the rain. Or, for yet another musician to arrive late, like the double bass player who hurried in about 15 minutes before performance start. Life isn’t easy. 8:18 pm, the door to the auditorium opens and a jumbo jet roars over the theatre as if applauding. Magic. We quickly enter and swiftly take our dry seats, eagerly awaiting the magic of Pippin to unfold.
Pippin only once became a mainstream musical. That was back in 1972, when the magical Bob Fosse directed, choreographed, and took his audience on a surreal and disturbing journey that lasted for 1,944 performances. (PIPPIN still holds rank 31 amongst the longest running Broadway shows of all time.) He took the show and concept to London in 1973 and managed to produce one of the shortest runs in West End Musical history. The show closed after 85 performances. Probably the Londoners could not find the theatre in the everlasting famous British fogs. PIPPIN never had a really successful professional production after its humongous Broadway run. However, hundreds of amateur theatre groups worldwide have taken the musical to heart since then. 40 years later the show has not lost its sneaky cuteness and naughty tendencies. The plot still holds and Stephen Schwartz’s music and lyrics are as haunting as ever.
However, not when his music is butchered like here. CrinkleCut Productions, the Producer behind this effort, lives up to its key slogan: …the greatest productions are not always straight-cut – sometimes they’re a little CrinkleCut. And that is what happens here. The production crinkles, wobbles, splinters, drowns and irritates. CrinkleCut has done everything possible to create a highly professional show. All 10 actors are equipped with state of the art microphones. There is a six-piece band. Director Benita de Wit has developed a feisty, comprehendible and fast moving concept. Simone Salle provides a rich, colourful and witty choreography. Stage and Costume designer Marissa Dale-Johnson created a multifunctional set and engaging costumes. Everything seems good enough to guarantee a smash hit. So what is wrong?
Firstly, the band led by musical director and keyboardist Andy Peterson. The decision to place the band at the left side of the stage and too close to the audience may have started the problem. Here we are, lucky enough to have a band at hand and not the much cheaper alternative of a backing tape and the benefit turns into the biggest doubt of the evening. The band is too loud, the acoustic guitar is tuned a quarter tone lower than the violin, the violinist struggles to find her pitch and at times sounds like a first grade beginner and the man at the electric piano hammers away as if he has to smash concrete to pieces. When Andy Peterson is in full action, his band members may as well stop playing all together.
And, there is the Ensemble. All of them lovely individuals of their own kind. Sadly enough, most of them are not used to working with sophisticated sound equipment as mentioned at the beginning. The lack of fallback speakers and the position of the band does not make their life easier. The microphones at times become disturbing. They also brutally unveil that some of the actors actually cannot sing. The cast is a weird mixture of professionals, amateurs with rich stage experience and true theatre fanatics that just have a ball being on stage. Therefore, they walk into furniture, lose their props, get breathless in dance routines they are not built for and cut off lines before it is their turn. However good choreography may be, it will crumble to amateurism if not performed by dancers of highest standards.
There are two outstanding dancers on stage, which have to carry the rest. Cat Hoyos is one of them. She is extraordinary and shows what a showstopper Simone Salle’s choreography could have been. They are joined by three actors. A brilliant one, another one is a revelation, and one, Zach Smith, is on his way to brilliance. His interpretation of the little boy Theo is heart-warming, precise and very moving. In addition, he can sing. Gaynor Tension as Pippin’s grandmother Berthe is the revelation. He wastes no time in becoming the comical highlight of the evening. He takes the stage, makes it his own and gets the audience on their feet. Thank you.
The others work hard. Mitchell Lagos as Pippin is a natural charmer who lacks the vocal chords to nail his songs. He is believable as the young man on his quest to find a fulfilled life. David Atrill, as his father King Charlemagne, never should sing and visibly is in trouble with the complexity of his part. Amie Timmins Cathrine, the mother of Theo and desperately seeking a man to warm her lonely heart, tries her best to come to grips with the ballads she has to sing. Erin Bruce (Fastrada), Phil McIntosh (Louis) and Sam Larielle (Magician) complete the cast and give what they can.
Finally yet importantly, there is the above-mentioned second outstanding dancer and brilliant one actor. Benjamin Hoetjes is the leading player of the evening. That he, the brilliant one, has taken the part of The Leading Player is therefore no coincidence. He is brilliant for one simple reason: He can do it all. He can sing beautifully, he can dance like a Dervish; he is an acrobat, not only physically but far more as an actor. Forgive me the comparison but he does what Cate Blanchet does in Gross und Klein at the STC.
His body language is immaculate. His repertoire of gestures is endless. His intellect is as sharp as a razor-blade. His timing impeccable. He is a comedian, can easily play RICHARD III and make any musical part he will be allowed to challenge his very own. He is simply magic. He opens the show with ‘Magic to Do’ and sets a standard that no one else can reach throughout the evening. Each and every agent in this city and the rest of the world should come and see this young man. And so should you, before you will have to fork out a lot of money to see him. He is fearless, got the talent, owns the aura, is devil and angel in one and even got the looks, everyone is so eager to have nowadays.
Benjamin Hoetjes is proof that PIPPIN’S conclusion that maybe the most fulfilling road of all is a modest, ordinary life is correct for all those who have stopped to live the dream. And he is proving that there is an institution in this country that provides the dreamers with the tools to make dreams come true. He is not a NIDA man. He is much more. He is a WAAPA!
Markus Weber 8/12/2011
© 2011 Emu Productions (theater & music) Pty Ltd