Deaf Theatre West Presents Stephen Schwartz's "Pippin"
Premiering this January, Stephen Schwartz's 1972 musical Pippin comes to the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles. This promises to be another theatrical triumph by Jeff Calhoun, a director renowned for featuring both deaf and hearing actors. There is tremendous beauty to be discovered within sign language -- and even if one is not fluent in ASL (American Sign Language), the audience member understands the combination of movement, music, and facial expressions.
Previous Deaf West Theatre productions by Calhoun have including a captivating reworking of Big River, a musical adaptation of Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn. The themes of love and danger are explored in Deaf West's production of Sleeping Beauty Wakes. In each production, the audience -- whether deaf or hearing -- benefits from a unique and wonderful theatrical experience.
Comments
Pippin was tortorous to sit through. It wasn’t the sign langauage that was the issue, it was everything. I was bored to tears and I was never so happy to leave a performance.
It was wonderful. The signing was a bit too fast, but other than that, it was great. I enjoy the humors in Pippin.