John Rubinstein was 26 when he made his Broadway debut and created the title role in the original 1972 production of “Pippin” — a somewhat unconventional musical for its time, that featured a score by a very young Stephen Schwartz (who would pen “Wicked” nearly three decades later), a book by Roger O. Hirson, and show-defining direction and choreography by Bob Fosse.
‘PIPPIN’ When: July 29 – Aug. 9 Where: Cadillac Palace Theatre, 151 W. Randolph Tickets: $27 – $95 Info: http://www.BroadwayInChicago.com Run time: 2 hours and 35 minutes, with one intermission
Framed by the narration of the “Leading Player” of a roving performance troupe (a role originated by Ben Vereen), the show spun the story of Pippin, a young prince in search of life’s meaning — trying to figure out whether his quest should be for an extraordinary existence, or an ordinary one.
To be sure, Pippin had some big questions to ask, and some big shoes to fill: His father just happened to be Charlemagne, the king who united most of Western Europe during the early Middle Ages, and laid the ground for what is today France and Germany. And, as the son of Artur Rubinstein – among the very greatest classical pianists of the 20th century – John Rubinstein clearly understood Pippin’s conundrum.
Flash forward 43 years, and Rubinstein, who has accrued a long list of credits as an actor, director and composer for TV and film, is now playing the role of Charlemagne in the national touring production of the re-envisioned edition of “Pippin” that arrived on Broadway in 2013. Along with Tony Award-winning direction by Diane Paulus, and choreography by Chet Walker that evokes the Fosse style, the show is most notable for incorporating elaborate circus acts into the storytelling – all devised by Gypsy Snider, a founding director of the breathtaking Montreal-based troupe, Les 7 Doigts de la Main (or 7 Fingers).
What made the actor decide to return to “Pippin” all these years later, and head out on a tour that began traversing the country last September (and will play Chicago’s Cadillac Palace Theatre beginning July 29)?
“In my business, if you’re offered a good role in a good show, along with a steady paycheck, you take it,” said Rubinstein, noting he has has a particularly good time in such places as San Francisco, Greenville, N.C., and various cities in Florida, and that the tour is booked for Amsterdam in the spring of 2016. “Plus, I have five kids [they range in age from 43 to nine], a couple of whom still have to be put through college.”
Asked to think back to 1972, the actor laughed and said: “My memories of that time are vast. I did the show on Broadway for 2-1/2 years and also had two children during that time.”
And Rubinstein noted: “What is interesting about ‘Pippin’ is that it is unlike so many other musicals — ‘Fiddler on the Roof,’ ‘The Music Man,’ ‘My Fair Lady,’ for example, — in that it has quite a bit of leeway in how it is done. You can change the time, and design, and many other things about it, and yet still remain true to what it is.”
“The show is a canvas for a director to paint on,” said the actor. “Yet it took quite a long time for a director to come up with a new and original concept, as Diane did. That’s in large part because of Fosse’s imprint — the show marked a turn in his choreographic style — and Ben Vereen’s snaky dancing. And of course the nature of the audience, and the temper of the times were different. The Vietnam War was still raging in 1972, and the draft was still in place, so in many ways ‘Pippin’ was an anti-war show.”
And then there was the crucial matter of the musical’s ending.
“This production uses the ending Stephen had wanted for the original, but which Fosse, who had the clout, over-ruled,” said Rubinstein, who first sensed how it worked when he saw a regional production even before the Broadway revival was mounted.
Spoiler alert: “The original ends with that Fosse darkness, as Pippin, who has gone through countless personal battles, wars, politics and sexual relationships, opts for a modest life and the comfort of Catherine, a widow, and her son, Theo. This greatly irritates the Leading Player who packs up and leaves. And when Catherine asks Pippin how he feels, he says: ‘Trapped, but happy’.”
Spoiler alert: “Now, that ‘trapped but happy’ phrase is gone, and Theo remains alone onstage until the others come to embrace him and join him in song. This suggests that life’s lessons must be relearned by every generation. It’s haunting and sad, but it’s not ‘trapped,’ and it grabs people.”
Overall, the show is not as overtly sexual as Fosse’s version either, but rather, as Rubinstein put it, “more athletic, acrobatic and death-defying, with an extraordinary display of magic.”
Although Artur Rubinstein was not, according to his son, a great devotee of Broadway musicals, his friends included the Gershwins, Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers and Leonard Bernstein, so there was a natural camaraderie. And his father came to see him in “Pippin” in 1972.
As Rubinstein quipped: “In the family parlance, I think he was proud that ‘I made good’ as an actor.”
