Pippin
An excerpt from the Director’s Note:
“Tell me one last thing,” said Harry. “1s this real? Or has this been happening inside my head?” Dumbledore beamed at him… “Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?”
–Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J.I<:. Rowling
It is truly fitting that the Harry Potter series ended the same year that I chose to direct Pippin. This July, on a balmy night at Borders, I stood 10 years after my first encounter with the Boy Who Lived and was forced to accept something seemingly simple: that I was 10 years older. Perhaps it is trite, but the end of my Hogwarts adventures plunged me into a panic like Harry and his friends, I was growing up.
After a summer haunted by this Hogwarts fueled epiphany, I found myself here, face to face with Pippin, the tale of the quintessential lost youth. Standing at the helm of 30 other searching youths, I realized just how much Pippin there is in all of us -we are all students standing here, staring at the future and thinking, “now what?”
Yet, while this view of the Pippin seemed obvious, I was faced with a new challenge: Pippin is not a perfect musical. There are plot holes and peculiar moments that necessitate a stretch of our reality-planted minds. Yet, beyond ali of the existential quandaries one can dwelI on with Pippin, there rests a story about a boy who has grown up and must figure out what’s next. We ali can relate, even if our own journey’s lack musical accompaniment and dancing Players -life’s not easy, but it can be a hell of a ride.Pippin played during the Fall 2007 season.
Playbill
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Cast and Crew
Cast
Danaya Almenares-Mesa (CC ’10) in the Ensemble
Lauren Berger (BC ’11) as Fastrada
Yonatan Gebeyehu (CC ’11) as the Leading Player
Rae Grosz (GS ’11)as Theo
Claire Halberstadt (BC ’09) as Ensemble/Dance Captain
Michelle Hutt (CC ’09) as Leading Player
Kurt Kanazawa (CC ’11) in the Ensemble
Emily Kaplan (CC ’11) as Berthe
Gabe Miner (GS/JTS ’08) as Charlemagne
Max Pensack (CC ’11) as Lewis
Ricky Schwitzer (CC ’11) as Pippin
Olivia Whelan as (BC ’08) Catherine
Wei Alex Xin (SEAS ’08) in the EnsembleCreative Team and Crew
Director and Set Designer: Molly Braverman (CC ’09)
Producer: Michael Leibring (CC ’09)
Producer: Kate Stahl (BC ’09)
Assistant Producer: Rachel Blatt (BC ’10)
Musical Director: Melanie Michel (BC ’09)
Cheoreographer: Bryan Hobgood (SEAS ’09)
Assistant Cheoreographer: Kayte Steffey-Bernstein (BC ’09)
Stage Manager: Darcy Zacharias (CC ’10)
Technical Director/Sound Designer: Will Schuessler (SEAS ’09)
Assistant Technical Director/ Master Carpenter: Shaina Graboyes (SEAS ’09)
Lighting Designer/Costume Designer: Quinn Whitaker (BC ’10)
Lighting Crew: Hilary Ford
Master Electrician: C. Clara Patterson
Co-Props Master: Hannah Backman (BC ’11)
Co-Props Master: Cayle R. Pietras
Props Crew: Mikhaela Mahoney
Scenic Artist: Leah Goodman
Scenic Crew: Jonathan Jager, Mary Kohlman, C. Clara Patterson and Cayle Pietras
Publicity/Program Designer: Caitlyn McGinn (BC ’11)
Photographer: Avery McCarthy
Box Office Manager: Christopher LeytonOrchestra
David Carl on Piano #1
Diana Hsu on Guitar
Jonny Maimon on Drurns
Katherine Hicks on Piano #2
Kurt Kanazawa on Reed
Nick Cummins on Bass
Wei Alex Xin on Violin
Media
Production Photos
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