Washington Post - Recommended
"...The sly trick up director Diane Paulus’s sleeve, though, is that this show is now set in the big top. Scenic designer Scott Pask’s curtain drops with a flourish and reveals all kinds of acts animating the stage — tumblers, aerialists, contortionists and strong men. This isn’t some half-baked Broadway bowdlerization of the circus: Paulus goes all in by handing “circus creation” duties to Gypsy Snider of the Montreal-based cirque troupe Les 7 doigts de la main (the seven fingers of the hand), and illusions are credited to Paul Kieve. The effects are frequently neat enough to leave you shaking your head in wonder."
DC Theater Arts - Highly Recommended
"...Winner of four 2013 Tony Awards, including Best Musical Revival, Pippin captivatingly combines the jaw-dropping effects and breathtaking acrobatics of Les doigts de la main (7 Fingers) with the soaring songs of Stephen Schwartz and sizzling Bob Fosse-like choreography of Chet Walker, in its DC debut at the National Theatre."
MetroWeekly - Highly Recommended
"...It’s hard to imagine anyone who wouldn’t find joy in the current revival of Pippin. After all, the show won four Tony Awards, including Best Revival of a Musical, last year — or 41 long years after its only other run on Broadway. Though the revival’s director Diane Paulus moves the action to the circus, the focus is still on the titular prince, son of Charlemagne, leaving no stone unturned in trying to find meaning and happiness in his life."
Washington City Paper - Recommended
"...Once again, Pippin moves on in his search to find meaning in life. His quest is narrated by Sasha Allen, the leading player, who struts in top hats and spandex and injects conflicts, particularly towards the show’s poignant end, when the circus tent and the fourth wall come down. The back wall of the National is laid bare, with its painted-on homages to Cats, West Story, Sweet Charity et al. While Pippin is not the perfect musical, it certainly belongs in the canon. I guess it might as well have flame-throwing strongmen and human cannonballs, too."
The Georgetowner - Recommended
"...Circus and all, this is still Fosse’s show—it’s come straight out of the carny midway, the ragged burlesque show, the vaudeville bill, the song-and-dance and chorus line of the American musical, where Fosse made his bones, changing the genre in his image. Think “Cabaret.” Think “Chicago” and “Sweet Charity” and “All That Jazz” with a Miller Lite fizz to it. Every move by Allen, the girls, the leaps and jumps, the sexy “flesh” scenes, the hands, the moves, low to the ground or high in the air are like a love song to Fosse."
MD Theatre Guide - Highly Recommended
"...Overall, what lifestyle does Pippin end up choosing? What are some core values and deeply held cherished beliefs Pippin ends up following as his ultimate life path and destination? Should he ultimately follow a life of practicality and simplicity with the woman he loves? Or does he follow fame, glitz, glamour, in the name of power and glory? The Broadway National Tour of Pippin has opened my ways of thinking about the production to many new dimensions provided its several interesting fresh takes. With the number of instrumentalists identical to the number of instrumentalists in the NYC production, producing a powerful, crisp and tight, enriched sound, while playing Larry Hochman’s orchestrations, this is one production not to be missed."
DCTheatreScene - Recommended
I loved Lucie. In fact, the highlight of the touring production of Pippin, coming to us from a Broadway run that nabbed a few Tony Awards including Best Revival of a Musical, is “No Time at All.” That’s the show-stopping Act One number delivered by Berthe, the wise and eternally youthful grandmother of the show’s title character.
