Rhombus Rota

Pippin is a 1972 musical, book by Roger O.Hirson and music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz (Wikipedia, 2025). If Stephen’s name rings a bell, he’s the composer of Wicked. I had very little understanding of Pippin going into the show. Since having the privilege of watching the show, it is so clever and fantastic pieced together. The key factor in this, other than an amazing score, is the Leading Player. The Leading Player, the head of the players, is a role played by different people of all different ethnicities, gender and race (Bard, 2025). In the version I saw, the Leading Player was played by a performer of she/her pronouns, so these are the pronouns I will use within this blog. Whilst watching the show, you start to learn about the Leading Player and understand her manipulation of Pippin.

The show within the show: Pippin’s core plot:

For context, Pippin is a show about a show being put on for the audience. The actors on stage are the Players: a group of circus-like performers who are aware that they are putting on the show to the audience. Pippin is the main role within this show. 

Magic To Do:

The show starts with a great tune ‘Magic To Do’: slowly becoming one of my favourite introduces to a musical. The music starts whimsical until the Leading Player is introduced when it becomes a bit more mysterious, foreshadowing the true identity of the Leading Player. Whilst singing, other Players crawl into the stage. This leads to an eerie feeling but also makes the audience interested. Moreover, the choreography is very tight and in sync: suggesting an almost control that the Leading Player has over the players. The Leading Player hopes to find a new individual to complete the ‘finale’, using illusions to trick them into committing to the role. Within the production I saw; they used the trope of choosing an audience member to join the show as ‘Pippin’: pulled into the story by the temptation of the songs. Pippin (the audience member) becomes part of the show. 

Lyrics within this song does suggest a deeper meaning. The Leading Player says ‘come waste an hour or two’. The show is about two hours long, suggesting that you may make it through to the finale. Moreover, the Leading Player says ‘Foible and fable to portray’. Fable refers to a story with a moral which is interesting considering the morals shown in the show. Foible suggests weaknesses. At this point, Pippin is now part of the show (potentially suggesting she will prey on his weakness).

Corner of the Sky:

‘Corner of the Sky’ is such a fantastic ‘I want’ song (an upcoming blog?). Within this song, Pippin discusses his dreams and what he wants to be fulfilled in life: even if he’s unsure what that is. It is noticeable that the players (including the Leading Player) do not participate within singing this song. Instead, they watch Pippin from the side of the stage. This implies they are trying to understand what this ‘Pippin’ wants so they can manipulate him to get to the finale.

War is a Science:

Pippin has started to be involved within the show. For awareness, the show they are currently putting on involves Pippin coming back from studying to his King father. Meanwhile, the King’s wife is manipulating him for money and also wants her son to become king (Pippin’s half sibling). ‘War is a science’ involves the king discussing war with Pippin. This is the players first attempt at a storyline which would fulfil the new ‘Pippin’s’ life. Pippin is not fully invested in his role yet and keeps interrupting his ‘father’ to sing a jolly beat. This leads to the king having to sing faster, in order to keep the show concise, to be able to get to the finale in the attended time.  

The choreography I got to witnessed used the players as puppets. This is interesting as there is an element of the morals of war: suggesting soldiers are puppets. Within the shows context, the players are being used as puppets by the Leading Player: to be able to get Pippin to the finale.

Glory:

‘Glory’ is the Leading Players attempt to actively engage Pippin within the story. She uses words such as ‘blood’ and bitter’ to discuss the harsh realities of war. Throughout the song, there is a lot of death imagery. This foreshadows the ‘finale’ that the Leading Player is leading Pippin too. Unfortunately, this war actually makes Pippin slightly snap out of the illusion as he does not like the death. This sets the Leading Player back a bit. 

Simple Joys:

Music that is akin to the ‘The Road to Hell’ from Hadestown (Spotify, 2019), the Leading Player discusses her plan. There is again lots of imagery of death: implying that the ‘finale’ is still upcoming. The Leading Player does not sing this song to Pippin, instead singing directly to the audience. The Leading Player is trying to keep the audience intrigued as she may be looking for the next ‘Pippin’ after this performance.

No Time at All:

From the outside, ‘No time at all’ seems like a song that is innocent and sweet. This is until you realise that the ‘Nan’ singing the song is a player: potentially being manipulated by the Leading Player to persuade Pippin. This is the point in which Pippin starts to become committed to his role, as his ‘Nan’ is able to persuade him to not worry about time and live life to the fullest. At one point, the ‘Nan’ gets the audience to sing the song alongside her and the players. From my point of view, this could be because they want us to help persuade Pippin that what they are doing is right: leading him to the ‘finale’. 

Some of the lyrics within the song could be taken as more sinister when knowing the context. Lyrics such as ‘I hope you never are’ relate to the ‘Nan’ saying that she hopes Pippin will never be her age. Knowing that she’s a player being manipulated by the Leading Player, this could suggest that he will not live long enough to get to the correct age. Interestingly, the ending of the song seems to have the ‘Nan’ give genuine advice about living life. This could be a double bluff or the player playing ‘Nan’ breaking free from the illusion to offer real advice to Pippin. 

With You:

Following the advice from ‘Nan’, Pippin has sex with a bunch of people to find fulfilment. Unfortunately this illusion leads to him almost being raped which again makes him lose some of the illusion. Pippin breaks the illusion and starts to feel that war and sex are not fulfilment. This goes against the Leading Player plan so she gets Pippin to believe that being king would be fulfilment (the next storyline). 

Spread a Little Sunshine:

In order to persuade Pippin to be king, the kings wife changes the story in order to have Pippin kill the king. Other than that, this song is quite irrelevant to the Leading Players manipulation. It almost seems that the player just wanted a solo: who can blame her?

Morning Glow:

We are at the end of Act 1. Pippin has killed his dad and the actor is struggling to stay in the illusion during ‘Morning Glow’. The Leading Player uses the opportunity to remind Pippin that being king is fulfilling. By the end of the song, Pippin is fully committed to his role. The Leading Player sings a small part of ‘Magic To Do’ with a sinister tone: suggesting her plan is going well. During this song, we start to see what ‘finale’ they have for Pippin. Multiple times throughout the song we use the idea of ‘glowing’, ‘light’ and ‘fire’.

On the Right Track:

As implied, ‘on the right track’ is all about the Leading Player stepping into the story to get Pippin back on the right track to the ‘finale’. For context, Pippin didn’t enjoy being king regardless of the Leading Player’s manipulation. This led to him changing the story. After singing this song together, Pippin ends up feeling depressed as he is not fulfilled. On the other hand, the illusion seems to be working well as Pippin has no fulfilment in life. This suggests the Leading Player’s manipulation is working: shown by her positive attitude at the end of the song. 

Kind of Woman:

On a different note, we meet Catherine and her son, Theo. Both of these people are players within the show, not actually playing themselves. Catherine is fed up of singing the same role and playing the same script. Due to the Leading Player’s interruptions, it is clear that Catherine has already done this show multiple times: potentially leading lots of ‘Pippins’ to the ‘Finale’. She sings a song about how this is always the same. Catherine finds Pippin depressed and takes him home. Again, this is a role she has already played before. However, it is implied that there might be more to this Pippin compared to the past versions.

Extraordinary:

Pippin is ready to help around the farm as Catherine has told him too. The Leading Player and players try to persuade Pippin that he’s ’Extraordinary’ and therefore, shouldn’t just live an ordinary life. Throughout this song, the players take part in the farm. Within the production I saw, the Leading Player sat at the back of the stage: watching over everyone. This suggests that her manipulation is going well and they are heading in the right direction. 

Love Song:

Unfortunately for the Leading Player, Pippin and Catherine start to fall in love for real. This leads to Catherine suggesting that her and Theo are enough for Pippin. To the Leading Player’s joy, the illusion on Pippin outrides his feelings for Catherine: leading to him running away from their life together.

I Guess I’ll Miss the Man:

Catherine has had enough. She decides to sing a solo which is not usually in the song. The Leading player becomes frustrated with her disobedience and walks off. During the song, Catherine says about how ‘this man wasn’t one’. This suggests that he is different to all the other ‘Pippins’ that came before. She follows this by discussing how he was the best to come along. Interestingly, during this song Catherine mentions ‘Some men outshine the sun’. This directly links to the ‘finale’, a scene that Catherine has potentially seen a lot of times.

Finale:

It is finally the ‘Finale’. Pippin still believes that he is not fulfilled in life due to the manipulation of the Leading Player. The Leading Player suggests that Pippin diving into fire is his true fulfilment: the ultimate finale. Pippin is close to following through until Catherine breaks the story and runs into the stage. Pippin realises that he has fulfilment in his life with Catherine (even though he doesn’t actually know the ‘real’ person). The Leading Player tries to persuade Pippin to continue with the finale but Pippin refuses. The Leading Player loses it! At our production, she screams, demands the lights go on, rips the costumes off Pippin and Catherine and storms off. Thankfully Pippin and Catherine’s love saved Pippin from a cruel death: as they walk off into the future together. 

Unfortunately, Theo is left behind and finds a piece of costume. I have yet to mention the costumes, but they often included the sun (implying the ‘glowing’ from dying in the finale). Theo starts to sing a part of ‘Corner in the sky’. Whilst singing, the Leading Player appears at the back of the stage. Whilst walking to Theo, the other players crawl into the stage to take Theo away as the musical ends. 

Conclusion:

Throughout the songs and storyline, it is clear that the Leading Player is not to be trusted and is manipulating Pippin into killing himself for the speculate of the show. The thought behind the show Pippin really does open up many different interpretations depending on the production. It really has solidified itself amongst the greatest musicals for me and I’m looking forward to singing along to the songs.

Max

References:

Bard (2025) ‘Characters: Pippin’. Available at: https://www.bard.org/study-guides/characters-pippin/#:~:text=Leading%20Player:%20The%20leader%20of,fond%20of%20their%20son%2C%20Lewis.B

Butler, T. (2017) ‘TBC Pippin 2017 right track’. Available at: https://kensingtontheatre.org/2017/08/tbc-pippin/tbc-pippin-2017-right-track/

Champion, L. (2013) ‘The Magic Touch: Follow Pippin’s Extraordinary Journey from Student Production to Broadway Sensation’. Available at: https://www.broadway.com/buzz/168598/the-magic-touch-follow-pippins-extraordinary-journey-from-student-production-to-broadway-sensation/

Dilella, F. (2013) ‘Patina Miller Follows Famous Footsteps as The Leading Player in Pippin’. Available at: https://playbill.com/article/patina-miller-follows-famous-footsteps-as-the-leading-player-in-pippin-com-204155

Fandom (2013) ‘Pippin (2013 Broadway Revival)’. Available at: https://broadway.fandom.com/wiki/Pippin_(2013_Broadway_Revival)

Hack, M. (2014) ‘What Fourth Wall? Pioneer Theatre Guild Presents PIPPIN’. Available at: https://chscommunicator.com/37769/a-and-e/2013/11/what-fourth-wall-pioneer-theatre-guild-presents-pippin/

Parris, S. (2013) ‘Magnormos: Pippin review’. Available at: https://simonparrismaninchair.com/2013/09/17/magnormos-pippin-review/

Robinson, M. (2014) ‘Pippin’s Finale – When a Song Gets Inside your Soul’. Available at: http://markrobinsonwrites.com/the-music-that-makes-me-dance/2014/8/18/pippins-finale-when-a-song-gets-inside-your-soul

Spotify (2019) ‘Road to Hell’. Available at: https://open.spotify.com/album/0w1W96WCg0fPFUY4cK3zGO

Wikipedia (2025) ‘Pippin’. Available at: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pippin_(musical)