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SOME MAGIC TO DO
April, Eliot said, is the crudest month. Lucky'
for us, it's more or less at an end; doubly lucky
that the local theatre community has prepared
some pleasures to shepherd you through these
final days of confused weather and pollen-thick air.
Y Meaning from Mayhem: For better or worse,
Pippin is distinctly a product of its age. lhe 1972
musical, which plays through Apr. 30 at UGA's
Fine Arts Theatre, was composed by Stephen
Schwartz and Roger 0. Hirson and was irrevo
cably shaped by the direction and choreography
of Bob Fosse. The show's music is of its time and
includes some distinctly Bowie esque musical
flourishes (which are made all the more palpable
by this production's inclusion of some Fosse-influ
enced, slithery, sexualized dancing and, er, lots of
tights). For so many productions of this show, the
clash between this tendency toward glitter-bomb
extravaganza and the constantly inaccurate his
torical plot end up as little more than a convo
luted ball of kitsch. To be sure, co-directors
George Contini and Mirla Criste haven't shied
away from this aspect. There zre stylized
medieval-cum-Ziggy Stardust costuming (noting,
in particular the codpieces that so often thrust
across the stage), plenty of tongue-in-cheek ges
tures toward Christian symbols, and enough self-
against a towering, impressionistic set piece
(complete with four different "stages''). The
effect of this deliberately uneven pastiche is,
finally, mental surfeit. This is where this produc
tion is at its most canny. They whip the tangled
mass into such a flaming fury in the jaw-dropping
finale as to expose it for what it is, an overblown
mechanism of smoke and mirrors. Pippin stands
finally, in the midst of the audience, stripped of
costume, under houselights, his wireless mic vis
ible, wholly apart from the spectacle. His search
for an extraordinary purpose for his life leads him
to the conclusion that what he lacked was, in
fact the ordinary. This final point in its uncom
fortably baring simplicity, can only be made dear
if the glut of the preceding hours is complete. It
is this particular production's greatest triumph
that it explodes the preposterous so exhaustively
(no small accomplishment), that the protagonist
and the audience arrive at this conclusion almost
simultaneously. It is, I think, an exceedingly rare
and fulfilling occurrence.
Still Good Griefing: The musical day-in-the-life of
Charles Schulz's football-headed everyman You're
a Good Man Charlie Brown is still on the stage at
the Athens Community Theatre off Grady Avenue.
The folks from Town & Gown bring a nickel-jan-
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Pippin
consdous references to the theatre and won't-
take-no-for-an-answer enjoinders for audience
partidpation to thoroughly dislodge the fourth
wall. The folks at UGA seem determined to
embrace the inherent absurdity of this whacked
out, quite obviously drug-inspired take on the life
story of Charlemagne's firstborn. The propensity of
this show to spin uncontrollably toward being, at
best, a psychedelic freakout. is an inherent
hazard of the script But amidst the tumbling,
juggling, dismembered body parts and simulated
sex acts, the UGA production has managed to dis
till a modicum of sincere meaning from a show
that can be, to put it lightly, resistant to such
attempts. If you were to skip the second act,
however, you might very well think otherwise. The
first act has all the over-the-top gesture, silliness,
and mock-drama of a Monty Python sketch—a
nod the directors choose to make manifestly
unambiguous in the long, largely improvised
introduction to the show by quoting the infamous
'she's a witch' sketch. There are goofy battle
scenes and slapstick humor butting up against
cheeseball dancing and gaudy props. The product
can be, at turns, hilarious and ludicrous to the
point of being off-putting, especially when juxta
posed with some of the softer ballads (particu
larly the oddly endearing but dangerously tilted
towards cloying 'Comer of the Sky"). The deter
mined absurdity, 70s schtick and shadows of
many a medieval morality play that Contini points
to as central to his conception of the show are
thrown, in a seemingly haphazard manner,
gling Lucy, fighter-pilot Snoopy, and a schoolbus-
full of memorable tunes for one more weekend. If
you're on the ball, hurry out to the free
switcheroo showing on Apr. 27 when the under
studies will be taking the lead. If the gratis
option has already passed you by, there are still
performances Apr. 2830 at 8 p.m. with a Sunday
matinee at 2 p.m. on May 1. Call 208-TOWN.
Italian Idob UGA's resident Renaissance-esque rap
scallions I Commedianti Georgian! take the
Cellar Theatre stage in the Fine Arts Building on
Monday, May 2 at 8 p.m. for their final helping of
masked misrule of the year. This time around, the
old improv will be an extra spicy meatball full of
song and dance for the inventively titled new sce
nario Commtdia! The Musical. Original music by
capocomico Justin Birdsong will accompany the
customary fare of off-color comedy, colorful bat
tles, and hyper-colored costumes, and there are
certain to be plenty of nasty villains getting their
comeuppance and star-crossed lovers fawning and
finally finding each other steeped in as much
hilarity as humanly possible. This show will likely
be the last chance to catch this particular batch
of clowns and, gasp! it won't cost you a dime.
Contrary to popular belief, it appears that there is
in fact such thing as a free lunch.
Brandon Waddalt
Send theatre news to outthereOflogpole. com
and put Theatre Notes in the subject line.
bob SALON
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APRIL 27, 2005 - FLAGPOLE.COM 19