'Pippin' to Transfer to Broadway

NEW YORK - There's magic to do on Broadway - "Pippin" is coming back.

Producers of the revival that is currently playing at the American Repertory Theater outside Boston said late Thursday that "Pippin" will transfer to the Music Box Theatre this spring. Performances begin March 23 with an official opening on April 25.

A whimsical coming-of-age story about the son of the first Holy Roman Emperor, "Pippin" boasts pop-rock music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Roger O. Hirson. Schwartz's other hits include "Wicked" and "Godspell."

This "Pippin" is being directed by Diane Paulus, who leads the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Mass., where the latest revival got its start. Her revivals of both "Hair" and "The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess" also went to Broadway and each won Tony Awards for best musical revivals.

"Pippin" opened in 1972 under the direction of Bob Fosse and ran for five years, winning five Tonys. It became a favorite with schools, summer stocks and community theaters across the country.

Directed and choreographed by Bob Fosse, the Broadway original version starred Ben Vereen as the Leading Player, an emcee-like role that won him a best-actor Tony. John Rubinstein played Pippin and the cast also included Jill Clayburgh and Ann Reinking.

In Massachusetts, the Vereen role is being filled by Patina Miller, the Tony-nominated star of "Sister Act," but there was no immediate word on whether she would join the production on Broadway.

Schwartz wrote the show while a student at Carnegie Tech in Pittsburgh and his success with "Godspell" helped get it on Broadway. Its breakout songs include "Magic to Do," ''No Time at All," ''Corner of the Sky," ''No Time at All" and "Kind of Woman."

Gypsy Snider, an ex-Cirque du Soleil member who founded the Montreal-based collective known as 7 Fingers, has choreographed the circus parts of the show, and Chet Walker, who was in the original "Pippin," has choreographed the dance parts in a Fosse style.