Magic To Do, II

Early Saturday afternoon, CM and I fought the unusually heavy traffic, making it to the Mark Taper Forum with only minutes to spare before Deaf West Theatre's production of Pippin began.

We both had seen Pippin before, most recently way back in January 2007. CM was fortunate enough to see their production of Big River before it headed to Broadway, but seeing a troupe of combined hearing, non-hearing, hearing-impaired and signing actors perform would be a unique experience.

As the show began, pairs of hands popped up in various places from the stage while the Lead Player sang and signed the introduction of the story of Pippin, Charlemagne's eldest son who struggled with trying to find his purpose in life. Pippin immediately began signing to the audience once on stage, but the Lead Player felt that to better understand what he wanted said, some Magic needed to happen so with the help of the other players, the Lead Player guided Pippin to a metal box and proceeded to saw him in two. A standard magic trick, but when both sides of the box opened, two Pippins appeared, the original (Tyrone Giordano) and his new counterpart (Michael Arden) who gave voice to the original's thoughts and songs.

By using unique staging and choreography, and by adapting the campiness of the original show, Deaf West presented a wondrous show. Some of the actors signed and sang/acted; others signed with voices of the players singing/speaking for them, and one thing that amazed me was the speed of the signing, at times coming across more as a dance movement rather than a language. Ty Taylor sang/signed the role of the Lead Player, and during the Finale, his hands became a blur as he performed without missing a beat. Same thing for Troy Kostur who signed his role as Charlemagne while Dan Callaway, as a Player, kept up the pace during War is a Science. Both Pippins were amazing as well. And as I mentioned a few lines ago, even the staging made the show a great event. At one point, the Pippins are learning about the wonders of love, and while singing on a makeshift bed, the Players appear and disappear throughout the folds and curtains of the bed, seeming to swim around the two Pippins.

And they performed without an intermission. CM told me that many people complained about that, but honestly, I felt it ran much smoother without the intermission. The momentum that lead into Morning Glow carried over seamlessly, and the show never dragged for me. For either of us, as a matter of fact.