Local Review: "Pippin" at the UTEP Dinner Theatre

         Today, I saw a production of "Pippin" at the UTEP Dinner Theatre.

  This was my first time seeing Pippin and I did think it was good. I did enjoy it, I really did. But, most of all...I THOUGHT IT WAS A WEIRD SHOW. During the intermission, that is the only word I had for it...weird.

  The cast was certainly the best part of the show. I didn't think that there was a weak link.

   Ricardo Parra was spot on in the role of Pippin. I don't know if it is just me, but there were some scenes where he came off as a bit bratty. He had a strong voice and gave a very enjoyable performance.

  Allen Thompson was cast perfectly in the role of the Leading Player. He was a wonderful singer and actor and it was very fun too watch him.

  I also enjoyed watching Emilie Merritt in the role of Catherine. She was very sweet and hilarious and too top it off, she has a gorgeous voice.

      Greg Taylor was a mean, yet comedic Charles, David Morgan and Carol Viescas were very fun in their roles of Lewis and Berthe, and Harmony Schlesinger was adorable in the role of Theo.

  The sets (which were done by Michael L. Spence) were minimal, but still very fun too look at. The choreography (which was done by Lisa Lopez and Josey Mitchell) was phenomenal, but I thought the opening number entitled "Magic to Do" looked very messy, although the hand thing at the beginning was AWESOME. Of course, the staging by Greg Taylor was great.

  At the beginning of this review, I said this show was weird...here is why: It is just weirdly written. A lot of the music is weird and its not really memorable, you'd expect more from the the composer of "WICKED" (although it does have its moments and the cast sings it wonderfully), Most of the orchestrations were high and irritating, the story was weird (although it does have a super deep meaning too it), I think some of the songs were too long and stopped the plot. Although the choreography was good, it was also weird because it was Bob Fosse.

   Overall,  it was a good production, it's just the show itself that somewhat ruined it for me. I would consider seeing it again, too see if I like it better the second time around. I totally recommend it if you are looking to see a good production. I give it a 3 and a half out of 5.


Image result for 3 and a half out of 5                                                                                              
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"PIPPIN"
@ The UTEP Dinner Theatre
July 10-25, 2015
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Schwartz
Book by Roger O. Hirson
For more information, visit http://academics.utep.edu/Default.aspx?alias=academics.utep.edu/udt

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