 The Short Pump Players of Mills E. Godwin
High School Henrico County Richmond Virginia presents the musical
‘Pippin as part of the American High School Theatre Festival.
This
production has the most complicated set of those of the American
High Schools Theatre Festival I saw, with a raised dais and
changeable back drop, in static theatrical terms it is simplicity
in itself yet was very effective.
Not that changes of scene were a necessity as the
performers took you on the journey by the sheer magnetism of their
performances.
Pippin,
Mark Sutton, around whom the story is based, looked good and
performed well. We felt the whole range of emotions he went
through on his journey. I tend to decide if Pippin performs well
by his singing of Corner of the Sky and am delighted to say he
sang it beautifully.
Pippin’s
crown is in severe jeopardy thanks to the amazing performance of
Chase Kniffen as the Leading Player, this role is sort of
narrator, protagonist or devil. His mixture of brooding good
looks, pulsating physical presence and air of authority make it
difficult to drag your attention away from him to the main action.
The
other scene-stealer of the show is Raven Adams as Berthe, Pippin’s Grandmother and her rendition of ‘No time at all’.
The
overall presentation of this show is excellent, the costumes,
choreography, musical direction and ensemble performances blend
beautifully to make this a theatrical masterpiece.
I
love this musical and don’t think it is performed often enough
and this superb production just goes to reinforce this feeling for
me!
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