The nature of love and the meaning of life are two abstract concepts which Broadway shows seem to be in a constant struggle to forever define. Fortunately, I saw two shows on my recent trip to Broadway which employed unconventional methods to answer these unconventional questions.
Pippin – The Music Box Theatre
The theatre was pitch black, the curtain a dingy tent flap and from the orchestra a faint piano could be heard as a slinky black shadow slithered toward the audience beckoning, “Join us…”
It’s easy to hook an audience with a great opening number, and Pippin has one of the best in “Magic to Do.” But it’s also easy to lose an audience when trying to define an abstract question, which is what Pippin is all about.
The musical follows the story of a boy named Pippin as he searches for the meaning of life. It’s a quest everyone in the audience is familiar with, both personally and on-stage, for Pippin’s journey is not unlike Princeton in Avenue Q or Candide in Candide.
What makes Pippin’s journey different from those before (and after) him is the honesty with which life’s choices are laid out. Pippin, like many of us, searches through life’s all too familiar phases including: military glory, sex, politics, family and even ordinary life before finally arriving at what he views as the best way to make his life extraordinary.
The emotional and physical choices Pippin must address are conveyed by the fact that the show is performed by a troupe in a circus like atmosphere. This troupe not only breaks the fourth wall in addressing the audience, but uses the circus setting to symbolize the hoops one must jump through and the beams one must walk across to find the answers to life’s most complex questions.
Life as circus is not an original metaphor, but it is an honest one. And Pippin’s quest to find life’s meaning is an innocent and honest enigma we all try to solve. Pippin’s greatest attribute as a musical is the clarity in the portrayal of life’s choices through its spectacles.
The Last 5 Years – Second Stage Theatre (Off-Broadway)
Countless musicals have told love stories on linear paths regardless of their ending. But what about telling the story from two different angles and time perspectives? That’s what makes The Last 5 Years a modern classic.
The Last 5 Years is a one act, two character, 90 minute show. It tells the story of Jamie and Cathy over their five-year relationship, from the first date to their divorce. Now, I’m not spoiling the ending, because the audience learns of the couple’s demise within the first song. But the real question is how did they get there?
To answer that question composer Jason Robert Brown, who also directed this magnificent production, told their story in two distinct directions. The songs alternate between Cathy and Jamie, with Cathy starting the show at the end of the marriage, and Jamie starting at the beginning of the relationship. When the show concludes, it is Jamie who laments the marriage’s demise while Cathy is celebrating their meeting.
The real joy in watching The Last 5 Years is seeing this one-story told in two different and opposing emotional directions. Even more fascinating is that both characters only meet and appear onstage together one-time throughout the show. That happens mid-way thru when both stories intersect, at their wedding. The scene is both heartbreaking because you know what’s coming, but also thrilling because you see the joy in their eyes. Now, that’s great storytelling!
Finale
I saw The Last 5 Years and Pippin on the same day, one at the matinee and the other in the evening. It was perhaps one of the greatest days in my theater-going journey, and reinforced what I love so much about the American theater: its ability to tell a story and the creativity involved.
The Last 5 Years will conclude its limited run on May 18, tickets are available by clicking here.
Pippin currently has an open-ended run, tickets are available by clicking here.