And it continued fascinating through the final notes. Hirson and direction and choreography by Bob Fosse, began casting its magic – both figuratively and literally – over an enraptured crowd. This was how the musical, Pippin with a score by Stephen Schwartz, book by Roger O. As the hands begin to move in a slow circular motion, the face of actor Ben Vereen becomes visible amid the glowing mass as he begins to sing the opening song “Magic To Do.” It swells to a crescendo and the darkened stage suddenly becomes illuminated with a large wall of glowing, seemingly disembodied hands while a piano begins to play an infectious R & B-style ‘vamp’. As the house lights dim, you hear the faint distant sound of a single note (an ‘E’, to be specific) being played on an organ. Imagine, for a moment, you are sitting in the Imperial Theatre on Broadway on October 23rd, 1972. I knew every lyric and note thanks to the cast album and the original vocal selection book (now barely held together by yellowing scotch tape). The amazing score had been ingrained in my life since I was a teen. It was a thrill to connect with several super-talented musical writers that I so admired, all of whom recognized Stephen Schwartz’s score as being something almost revolutionary for Broadway. Twenty years ago, I was invited to write an article about the score of Pippin, and its significant influence on the Broadway scene and especially its composers and lyricists. (See also The Schwartz Scene Fall 2022 issue for the latest news.) It includes quotes from his interviews with noted musical theatre writers Craig Carnelia, Andrew Lippa, and Glenn Slater, as well as comments made in later years by Jeanine Tesori and Jason Robert Brown. (Photo by Michael Cole).Įditor’s note: For this guest blog post celebrating the golden anniversary of Pippin’s Broadway opening, Shawn McCarthy updates an article he wrote earlier that helps us appreciate the show’s role in musical theatre history. PHOTO: Composer-lyricist Stephen Schwartz stands beside posters of Pippin and his other hit musicals Wicked and Godspell, October 2022.
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