Magic to do Pippin's fantastic, fraught journey to Broadway and beyond

A 1972 musical takes shape amid clashing outsize personalities in journalist Gardner's fizzy debut. Pippin, which follows the medieval misadventures of King Charlemagne's son, enjoyed an initial five-year run on Broadway and many revivals, its success due less to its theme of youthful questing and composer Stephen Schwartz's forgettable pop score (the New Yorker called the music "competent but not very interesting") than to director and choreographer Bob Fosse's dazzling production and sensational dance numbers (one routine featured chorus members representing soldiers who left fake body parts strewn across the stage). Gardner meticulously details Pippin's first production, but the narrative is dominated by Fosse, who made changes that Schwartz thought to be "cheap, vulgar humor" (for example, he added the suffix "hole" to a line where a character calls another man an ass), juggled affairs with cast members, and had substance abuse issues (cast member Candy Brown recalls a rehearsal in which Fosse made them "move one finger back and forth" for hours because he was "on something"). The narrative loses steam when Gardner dispenses cursory rundowns of revivals, but readers will stick around for the meaty depiction of Fosse. Broadway buffs will fall under the spell of this showbiz saga. Photos. (Nov.)

Theater critic Gardner marks the 50th anniversary of Pippin with a deep dive into the Broadway musical's creation, adapted from the story of Charlemagne's son, and his quest for an extraordinary life. Gardner traces the various transformations that Pippin has undergone, with frank reflections from the surviving original team, which lay bare the joys and challenges of making the show. Musical theatre aficionados will delight in the name dropping and candid behind-the-scenes stories. Where the book shines is in locating Pippin in its contemporary cultural and political moment, not only within the archives of musical theater history, but alongside the rise of Motown and Black popular music of the 1970s. The book also explores how issues like the Vietnam War and Nixon politics fed the show and its audiences. With revivals reimagined over the decades--lines rewritten, scenes added or altered, casting bent to be more inclusive, and settings in entirely new locations--the musical's legacy underlines how the show's inherent fluidity is its most enduring appeal. VERDICT An intimate and insightful addition for die-hard fans of Pippin, musical theater, and pop culture history.--Zhui Ning Chang