Last Updated on 18 June 2021 by Showcall Editorial Team
Stephen Schwartz’s musical Pippin is bringing a ‘summer of love’ to Charing Cross Theatre in London’s West End
Stephen Schwartz’s classic musical, Pippin, is returning to London with a new version of an acclaimed “hippie” production that premiered last year.
With an ensemble cast of eight players, the show will be performed in the round at Charing Cross Theatre in the West End from 30 June to 14 August, with press night on 5 July.
Directed by Steven Dexter, the stripped-back production was staged at the smaller outdoor Garden Theatre at The Eagle in Vauxhall in September and October last year, produced by Peter Bull for Lambco Productions.
It is being brought to Charing Cross Theatre by leading international producer Adam Blanshay Productions with Edward Johnson and Steven M Levy.
The cast and full creative team are still to be announced.
Schwartz said: “I’m delighted that Steven Dexter’s new and re-imagined production of Pippin will have further life this summer at Charing Cross Theatre. By stripping back Pippin to its essence, it draws the audience directly into the heart of the story. I’m excited to come over to see it for myself, and if Covid rules permit, I will be there!”
Dexter added: “Pippin opened on Broadway in October 1972; however Stephen Schwartz started writing an early version of the show while he was a student at Carnegie Mellon University in 1967. Flower power was at its peak, war was raging in Vietnam and Hair opened on Broadway. It was the year of the ‘Summer of Love’. My take on the show, which I have been lucky to direct three times before, is told by a group of hippie travellers of that time.”
With Schwartz’s infectiously unforgettable score and a book by Roger O Hirson, Pippin is the story of one young man’s journey to be “extraordinary”. Set in the “Summer of Love” of 1967, it follows the young prince on his quest to find passion, fulfilment and meaning.
It features hit songs such as “Magic to Do”, “Corner of the Sky”, “No Time at All”, “Morning Glow” and “Extraordinary”.
Update 18 June 2012: Full casting announced for Pipping at Charing Cross Theatre
