A Magical Tale with an Acrobatic Twist

A Magical Tale with an Acrobatic Twist

EAST LANSING - A young college graduate seeks to make his life extraordinary in order to find his "Corner in the Sky," this sounds like an average coming of age tale but throw in some magic and music and a lot of acrobatics and you get "Pippin" the Musical now showing at the Wharton Center in East Lansing.

Pippin is a 2013 Tony Award winning musical that was first performed for audiences 40 years ago. Some of the original cast is back in new roles, such as John Rubinstein who originally played Pippin in 1972 and is back as King Charles, Pippin's father.

While some would say Rubinstein's transition from playing Pippin the son to now playing his father brings him full circle he feels differently.

" I don't feel that full circle business, I feel that its my old great show that I've always loved and was so important to my life and my career," he said, adding that it was like reuniting with family.

The original musical was performed with an emphasis on dance, this show takes a different approach in telling the story.

"This background is circus, so here we have circus performers and acrobats and all the singers and dancers have had to learn circus skills and we have 7 or 8 professional circus acrobats," said Rubinstein.

This totally re-imagined version of Pippin is showing at the Wharton Center from January 27th to February 1st.

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