Pippin

How was this possible that we were going to see a show that we both knew was a Broadway success and not even be able to name at least one song we were going to hear? This, in a way, was very exciting, as it would mean that we would be able to completely soak up the story of Pippin through the eyes of the SPX Waterdale Players.

Sitting down in the auditorium of The Rivergum Theatre, I skimmed the synopsis for a quick rundown of the show- this in no way prepared me for what I was about to see. It read like a standard Disney-esk style show that would consist of good son/bad son, king and queen plus a twist of boy meets girl, boy gets scared, boy returns to girl. So you can imagine my surprise when 20+ half naked people crept onto the stage dressed like funky gremlins attending a rave in The Emerald City. Quickly I adjusted and realised, this show is a concept show, not at all like my perfect Disney pre conception. My eyes widened a little with excitement as I tried to capture the exact meaning of what was in front of me.

Since I have used the word concept already, I may as well keep saying it, as I try and describe ‘the concept’ or how this show was chosen to be displayed. It is confusing, because what exactly is a ‘concept’ is it Costumes? Blocking? Choreography? Vocal styling? Well, obviously when you are basing your entire show on a complete conceptual choice, every single aspect needs to be in complete harmony with the original vision, and this is where I fear the show may have lost a some of its core strength as to an untrained Pippin eye and ear I saw lots of great ideas and lots of great potential, but nothing really blended together to compliment the overall image that was trying to be portrayed. It felt like this was a 1st workshop for a show and the creative team were trialing different reactions and seeing what worked and what didn’t. Blocking didn’t blend with choreography, Acting didn’t blend with singing, actors seemed to struggle to maintain constant understanding, and I’m not sure if many actually had an understanding of what the basic message was that they were trying to tell the audience. Keep in mind this is the opinion of a first time Pippin viewer. I assume had I been more familiar with the show, I may have connected a lot easier if I wasn’t trying to pick up both a story while trying to get my head around a concept- which seemed to be a mix of Cabaret and Wicked on crack cocaine. Must add in- I really liked the concept, I think the creative team were on a winner with the idea.

The Players were all dressed in a green base costume that were all individually unique and interesting, often sexual and suggestive. I do feel Lauren Seymour excelled with her designs, as the costumes were a definite highlight. This however was not quite complimented by the set which was for the most part a large empty stage usually lit in its entirety even when just one person was performing. The set was very impractical considering how little of it there was. Why drop in back drops if you don’t have a fly tower? Almost every time a backdrop was dropped in we could easily see hands and faces quickly struggling to push the fabric down in time and more often than not each of these back drops either fell or failed to get the desired effect. I see how this may have seemed like a good idea, but it really did distract badly from the show.

Shane SanFilippo directed this piece and I do believe he is a young director with extreme potential, he is obviously a talented guy with lots of vision. I need to stress that for a youth company and fresh director this show had great potential and Shane’s ideas were most definitely noticeable. He used his cast in as many scenes as possible and had them acting with great enthusiasm and energy, not an easy gig, with such a diverse bunch of actors. This would have be a great learning curve for Shane and I do expect to see him go on to direct great shows in the future.

Choreography was very tight, clean and crisp, also it was well executed. I can’t say it had a great deal of variety or light and shade to it, Emma Kiely and Luis Rivera Choreographed everything in a Bob Fosse style but didn’t really get original. Everything was standard and cliché Fosse moves that you would see in Mein Herr or Wilkommen. I realise the show was originally Directed and Choreographed by Bob Fosse, but this style of dancing didn’t blend with the show's concept at all. It was a bit- drop character- dance- back into character. Possibly a more animalistic ‘Cats’ style would have been a better mould to follow given the style with which the actors were blocked. I give credit to them for using the full ensemble for a good majority of the numbers, All the cast worked tirelessly and gave it their full energy. This must have been a great show for the ensemble to perform in.

The show contained seasoned performers in both lead and supporting roles, Kyahl Anderson as Pippin, Scott Hili as The Leading Player, Brigid DeNeefe as Berthe, Rowland Brache as Lewis. I have singled out all of the mentioned performers because all performed very well and as you would expect to a professional standard. I guess, I have to question how much character direction was given to these performers as I did feel I was watching Scott play a Scott Hili Leading player- Kyahl play a Kyahl Anderson Pippin, Rowland play a Rowland Brache Lewis etc. It seemed they were possibly left to their own devices as I saw a lot of their own selves in their character and when a show is so abstract I don’t think that that should be acceptable. Oh- I am still coming to terms with Scott Hili in drag.

Vocally the show was fully held in place by the leads, and I’m not blaming poor ensemble singing, but group numbers lacked harmony, detail, dynamics and cut offs were also bad. I would have liked more to have heard more of a full sound rather than a simple play on melody. Daniele Buatti and Melissa Karakaltsas have taken on a huge gig with Pippin being one of their first attempt at musically directing, and I hope they can use this as a fantastic learning tool so they can go onto to create big, auditorium filling sounds.

I am a big fan of SPX Waterdale players, I think having companies that focus on the development of youth performers and production teams in theatre is an absolute asset to the Melbourne theatre scene. Also they are willing to take risks and not do your stock standard style show time after time. Everyone involved in this production clearly has both talent and passion, this does not go unnoticed. I can’t wait to see what they do with their next production Annie, and I also look forward to watching the development of all the creative team and cast in their next ventures.

Robbie is currently directing New Beat Theatre Company’s March production of ‘BARE’ and is also in Pre production to Co Direct the Victorian Premiere of ‘Reefer Madness’ Then ’Altar Boyz’ with Fab Nobs. Previous direction and/or choreography credits include- ‘Rent’, ‘The Wedding Singer’,’ West Side Story’, ‘Disco Inferno’ & ‘Hearts on Fire’. He has had Guild, Lyrebird and GAT nominations with 2 lyrebird wins. Professionally he is a dancer and works full time performing, teaching and adjudicating being sub contracted to Dance Dynamics.