It's a Pippin

When we saw Zachariah, Ms. Spenser informed me of the connection to the musical Pippin - both the star and the plot. Although the original cast version is not available on DVD, a TV version is, so we watched that.

The story is similar to Zachariah, Siddhartha, and probably a bunch of others - young man tries to find his way among many paths. Pippin (William Katt, not the John Rubenstein as on Broadway and in Zach) is the sensitive son of Charlemagne, but Charlemagne has set his mother aside for a new wife, Fastrada (Chita Rivera, yeow!). Pippin tries his hand at war, sexual adventure, patricide, all the usual. All through, he is advised by Lead Player Ben Vereen, a Mephistophelean figure who is pretty much the star of the show.

I guess I've always known about Ben Vereen, but only by reputation. If this show is representative, he lives up to his reputation. He's a wicked dancer, has a great voice and a charming, evil, presence.

Bob Fosse did the choreography, so there was a lot of walking around in a stylized manner - shoulders back, head and hips forward, jazz hands. Not a lot of what I call dancing, with steps and kicking and so on. Look, I love jazz dance - that syncopated body line and off-kilter poses. But in the 1920s (when I was a teenager), the flappers knew how to dance - they really moved. Feet, knees, hands and elbow all pumping to the rhythm in different directions. But these days!

Sorry, I got carried away. The dancing was fine, and Ben Vereen really knew what he was doing. So does Fosse, even if it isn't always my thing.

In conclusion, Pippin has to choose between suicide and marrying a cute wealthy widow with an adorable son. But I won't spoil it.