“Pippin”: 73% Sweet – UPDATED

SWEET
The production, however, gets off to a bit of a shaky start. The ensemble, boasting a skimpily clad chorus, hits one overly emphatic note after another. But once the company eventually calms down, the staging becomes quite seductive with its unostentatious inventiveness and capacity for witty surprise.
Charles McNulty – LA Times

BITTER
Roger O. Hirson and Stephen Schwartz’s 1972 “Pippin” meshes nicely with Deaf West Theater’s performance style, though it falls well short of the company’s “Big River,” which sailed from the Mark Taper Forum into a memorable 2003 Broadway stint. Some shrewd choices have been made, but others seem underconceived or downright baffling. Is helmer-choreographer Jeff Calhoun, in the words of one of the better-staged songs, “On the Right Track” to repeat the eastward journey? Tuner’s broader emotional lines first need attending. The problem isn’t two Pippins (one hearing, one deaf), but a dramatic spine that’s been halved.
Bob Verini – Variety

BITTER
After the exhilarating success of “Sleeping Beauty Wakes” a few seasons ago at the Kirk Douglas, it was obvious that the audacious ingenuity and profound humanity of a DeafWest co-production — featuring a mixed deaf and hearing cast and touched with a hint of Cirque du Soleil — always will be a powerful, multidimensional theatrical experience. Despite the best efforts of the Deaf West Theatre cast and crew, however, this revival of the 1973 Broadway musical mostly fizzles.
Laurence Vittes – Hollywood Reporter

SWEET
I couldn’t join the standing ovation on press night. I just couldn’t, I was so pissed off – politically, philosophically. If this were just diversion, I’d have risen to my feet. I love diversion as much as anybody. But I felt in this production a creepy, reactionary underpinning that’s even out of touch with our new government’s position on everybody taking responsibility to pull each other up, collectively. And for this shimmering magic act to close out by cautioning us about the seductive qualities of veneer is a fraud of the first rank. The show is so well done, see it for yourself, and see if you’re as annoyed as me.
Steven Leigh Morris – LA Weekly

SWEET
Under the deft guidance of Jeff Calhoun, the vehicle is re-imagined for a combination of deaf, hard-of-hearing, and hearing performers, adhering to the style that’s proven highly successful in Calhoun’s previous Deaf West Theatre adaptations. Though inspired touches are abundant, refining and streamlining would help this endeavor reach its full potential.
Les Spindle – Backstage

BITTER
“Pippin” suffers somewhat from terminal lethargy. The last scenes drag on in an interminable non-climax, to the point where we’ve lost all interest in the character, the story and its inevitable conclusion. The music, to those who know it, who’ve played their CDs over and over, may bring back memories, but to those of us to whom it’s quite new, it seems unmemorable, maybe even forgettable.
Madeleine Shaner – Park La Brea News/Beverly Press

SWEET
Yet ultimately, Calhoun finds real meaning in having a Pippin who is unable to communicate until the Leading Player and his tribe offer him a “voice” along with all the flashy costumes, sets, and lighting. When they finally deny him all the razzle-dazzle in the show’s final act, they also rob him of his voice, making his ability to still adapt to a rural life with Catherine more potent than ever. Who needs words when you have true love and understanding?
Jonas Schwartz – Theatremania

SWEET
Tobin Ost’s scenery is, literally, magical. Composer Stephen Schwartz adds the new “Back Home Again” but deletes the extraordinary “Extraordinary.” With Jeff Calhoun directing and no intermission, the show sags briefly but recoups for its compelling finale.
Don Shirley – LA CityBeat

SWEET
This production of Pippin was delightful. The show provides its audience with a healthy helping of the classic dance stylings of Fosse and the eerie creepiness of the very real specter of Big Brother looming, manipulating our world.
Keisha7 – LASplash

SWEET
A sensational company of actors, singers and dancers, costumes and unusual scenic design, befitting the musical, by Tobin Ost, great lighting by Donald holder, sound design by Philip G. Allen, the live orchestra under the direction of Steven Landau and most impressive illusions by Jim Steinmeyer all add up to make Pippin a sheer musical delight.
Carol Kaufman Segal – Stagehappenings

SWEET
The cast is entirely endearing, and Harriet Harris is a standout as Pippin’s hedonistic grandma—selling one of the few moments of the show that does not give over to mindless 1970s clichés about self-discovery and contentment with the mundane.
Anthony Chase – TheaterWeek