{"id":2812,"date":"2008-05-11T22:16:00","date_gmt":"2008-05-12T05:16:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cahighways.org\/wordpress\/?p=2812"},"modified":"2008-05-11T22:16:00","modified_gmt":"2008-05-12T05:16:00","slug":"ive-got-ma-ma-ma-ma-magic-to-do","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cahighways.org\/wordpress\/?p=2812","title":{"rendered":"I\u2019ve Got Ma-Ma-Ma-Ma-Magic To Do"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>Continuing with our theatre this weekend, we went to go see \u201cPippin<\/a><\/i>\u201d at East West Players<\/a>. Now, many of you may be familiar with \u201cPippin<\/a>\u201d (book by Roger O. Hirson, music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz), and the original choreography by Bob Fosse, who essentially crafted the story to work his magic. Well, East-West Players is not your typical company (it is an all Asian American company), and this version of Pippin was not your mother\u2019s Pippin, nor your father\u2019s Oldsmobile.<\/p>\n

For those unfamiliar, Pippin is the story of the son of King Charlemange, who is searching for his meaning in life. The leading player invites the audience to join them in the story of the search, promising a grand finale. We see Pippin\u2019s search through being a warrior, through the simple joys of fleshly pleasure, through attempts at leadership of his people (and regicide), through the simple domestic life… all leading to the grand finale the leading player wants: Pippin\u2019s immolation in flame. But Pippin decides on another course, leaving the leading player to strike the sets, and find someone else to have the magic. You can also find a summary in my review of the Reprise staging of Pippin in 2005<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In the East-West Pippin, the basic story was there, but it was twisted a bit. The music, with the same themes, had strong hip-hop and sampling flavors. The artwork and costumes were heavily Asian (including full kimonos and Japanese war garb). The dancing incorporated both traditional Japanese and Chinese moves, as well as martial arts, hip-hop, and jazz. The projections were strongly Anime. This revision of the story was under the direction of Tim Dang<\/a>, with a score adaptation by Marc Macalintal<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The cast was strongly up to the challenge (I should note we saw the last preview, and it was our Pippin\u2019s fourth performance, so he was still consulting the script). The leading player was Marcus Choi<\/a>\u00e6<\/sup>, who cast a menacing figure in a long coat and goatee. As Pippin was Ethan Le Phong<\/a>\u00e6<\/sup>, who was remarkably strong and mesmerizing as the young prince. His evil stepmother (isn\u2019t there always one), Fastrada, was played by Jenn Aedo, who is extremely sexy and suggestive, even when blowing bubbles. Her strong but stupid son Lewis was played by Cesar Cipriano<\/a>\u00e6<\/sup>. King Charles was played by Mike Hagiwara<\/a>\u00e6<\/sup>, in full feudal warlord getup. In an interesting casting move, Berthe, Pippin\u2019s old grandmother, was played by a man, Gedde Watanabe<\/a>\u00e6<\/sup>. Rounding out the domestic force in Pippin\u2019s later life were Catherine, played by Meagan McConnell<\/a>\u00e6<\/sup>, and her son, Theo (William Jay). Supporting all of these folks were the dance crew, Kari Lee Cartwright<\/a>\u00e6<\/sup>, Ryyn Chua, Blythe Matsui<\/a>\u00e6<\/sup>, Mike Moh<\/a>\u00e6<\/sup>, and Chloe Stewart<\/a>\u00e6<\/sup>.
\n(\"\u00e6\"<\/a> \u00e6 denotes Actors Equity)<\/font><\/p>\n

The unique Hip-Hop sound of the musical was achieved by a remarkable three piece, well, band is not the right word. Mark Macalintal was on keyboard, Vince Reyes on guitar, and DJ Linotype<\/a> served as DJ. Other significant technical credits include choreography by Blythe Matsui and Jason Tyler Chong, scenic and projection design by Alan E. Muraoka, costume design by Naomi Yoshida, lighting design by Dan Weingarten, prop coordination by Ken Takemoto, and hair and makup by Jackie Phillips. Stage management was by Ronn Gosswick\u00e6<\/sup>, assisted by Ondina V. Dominguez\u00e6<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

I highly recommend this production for a different take on a great musical. It continues through June 8, 2008.<\/p>\n

As for us, what\u2019s next on the theatre calendar. Next Sunday at 2pm we see \u201cThe Full Monty<\/i>\u201d at REP East Playhouse<\/a>. The following weekend, Sat 5\/24 @ 8pm we\u2019re seeing \u201cOf Mice and Men<\/a><\/i>\u201d at Pasadena Playhouse<\/a>. The following weekend all of nsshere<\/a>\u2019s hard work pays off in the production of \u201cGrease<\/a><\/i>\u201d at Nobel Middle School<\/a> (5\/29 @ 6:30pm, 5\/30 @ 6:30pm, and 5\/31 @ 2:30pm and 6:30pm). June brings \u201cA Very Brady Musical<\/a><\/i>\u201d at Theatre West<\/a> (Sat, 6\/14 @ 8pm) and \u201cA Chorus Line<\/a><\/i>\u201d @ Ahmanson Theatre<\/a> (Sat, 6\/28 @ 2pm). Lastly, July brings \u201cThe Drowsy Chaperone<\/a><\/i>\u201d at Ahmanson Theatre<\/a> (Sun 7\/13 @ 1pm), \u201cLooped<\/i>\u201d at Pasadena Playhouse<\/a> (Sat 7\/26 @ 8pm), and \u201cSinging in the Rain<\/a><\/i>\u201d at Cabrillo Music Theatre<\/a> (Sat 7\/31 @ 2pm). I\u2019m still exploring tickets for \u201cSongs From an Unmade Bed<\/a><\/i>\u201d at Celebration Theatre<\/a> (6\/22 or 7\/5) and \u201cParade<\/a><\/i>\u201d at Neighborhood Playhouse, Palos Verdes<\/a> (7\/13).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Continuing with our theatre this weekend, we went to go see \u201cPippin\u201d at East West Players. Now, many of you may be familiar with \u201cPippin\u201d (book by Roger O. Hirson, music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz), and the original choreography by Bob Fosse, who essentially crafted the story to work his magic. Well, East-West Players Read More …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51,28,1],"tags":[448,299,284],"class_list":["post-2812","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews","category-theatre","category-lj-xfer","tag-other-theatres","tag-reviews-2008","tag-theatre-2008"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cahighways.org\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2812","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cahighways.org\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cahighways.org\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cahighways.org\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cahighways.org\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2812"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cahighways.org\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2812\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cahighways.org\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cahighways.org\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cahighways.org\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}