PIPPIN - A MUST SEE BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE! J-TOWN, TILL 6/22 - MY EXPERIENCE

First, I wanted to say THANKS MARY for recommending this unique experience!

OK everybody, you now have only a little over 2 weeks to watch this AWESOME, AMAZING, SPECTACULAR FEAST FOR THE EYES AND FOOD FOR THE SOUL PLAY CALLED PIPPIN! Bro and I both came into it with pretty high expectations, reviews had been great....so if anything, I was ready to be disappointed.

Guess what? It was SPECTACULAR! Fireworks shooting spectacular * * * * those are sad fireworks, sorry. How about if we added some sound to go with that. Beeeeew! Bee, Beeeeew!

The show meshes theatre anime visuals, hip-hop dance influence and contemporary music arrangements in a wonderful and unique way that pretty much holds your attention from start to finish. Were there a few songs they could have left out? Sure. But for the most part, the actors left you wanting more....

The two main characters were unbelievably amazing singers, dancers and storytellers.

Any play where the music is coming from turntables and where you're hearing some bad ass base beats gets my vote.
Costumes were outrageous and fierce, they really did make you feel like you had stepped into an anime film.

Overall best parts were the intro song (grabbed me from the beginning), Pippin and the Matrix guy (Marcus) singing and dancing, all of the group scenes,

and the most hilarious grandma scene ever. He (yes, that's a he) stole the show, in my humble opinion.

The end was raw, which I loved.

It made me laugh, it made me cry, it made me jump to my feet and clap for these wonderful actors, and it made me think "why didn't mom keep me in choir and dance? i could have been a superstah!"

Hope you will enjoy this show as much as I did. Tickets.

Tags: art, culture, pippin

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Comment by alice on June 5, 2008 at 4:47pm: in case you wanted to see what LA Weekly had to say:

GO PIPPIN Tim Dang's hip-hop/anime staging of Roger O. Hirson and Stephen Schwartz's 1972 Candide-like musical is one of the most taut and accomplished spectacles seen on this stage in some time. Much of the credit goes to Blythe Matsui and Jason Tyler Chong's rambunctious and snappy choreography, sharply performed by leading player Marcus Choi. Ethan le Phong in the title role of a callow young Pippin — based on the hunchbacked son of Charlemagne — has an etherial, sweet voice that easily handles Schwartz's pop score. Musically, the three-person band produces an overly synthesized, tinny tone, but that's not enough to impede Dang's lush comic book spectacle that's part Hollywood and Highland, part Kabuki. Plastic boots and mop wigs (hair and makeup by Jackie Phillips) punch up the fairy tale, further accentuated by Naomi Yoshida's otherworldly costumes. Pippin's search for meaning in life involves an escapade in war, competition with his prancing, vain half brother (Cesar Ciproampo), flirting with sex and a smidgen of patricide, leading to an epiphany that's as obvious and true as pop art is meant to be. The fleshy journey may be more life-changing for Pippin than for the audience, but Dang's exercise in style and sizzle accomplishes most of its ambitions. David Henry Hwang Theater, 120 Judge John Aiso St., Little Tokyo; Wed.-Sat., 8 pm.; Sun., 2 p.m.; thru June 8. (213) 625-7000. (Steven Leigh Morris)

Comment by Eugene on June 5, 2008 at 3:21pm: I'm the type of guy that likes to go watch sports with my boys. I've been to musicals before and didn't really know what to expect when I went to go see Pippin last night. Well, the performance last night simply blew me away. The cast was super talented, the singing wasn't drawn out or long and I was utterly impressed by the staging, costumes, script, music, and dance. Thoroughly entertaining and I would highly recommend it.

Comment by Mary on June 5, 2008 at 2:44pm: SO glad you guys enjoyed it. The grandma was played by Gedde Watanabe, who I hear is very well known: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gedde_Watanabe
I LOVE the pictures you posted, it brings it all back to me.

Comment by sAm on June 5, 2008 at 9:41am: Awesome review, love the pics. Great job, makes me want to see it.