Baldwinsville Theater Guild resurrects ‘Pippin’ with jazz hands and ’70s sensibilities intact (review)

Long before his Broadway mega hit “Wicked” hit the stage, composer Stephen Schwartz scored a big hit with “Pippin.” His 1971 “Godspell” had been an off-Broadway triumph, but this new musical, produced on the Great White Way the following year, was imbued with the zeitgeist, not yet so far removed from the Summer of Love. Now enjoying a lush production of Baldwinsville Theater Guild“Pippin” may show its age, but it is still a very enjoyable roller coaster show.

An episodic story of a young man trying to find his way in life, the show resurrects an obscure figure from medieval history as its hero. We know very little about the historical Pépin le Bossu, son of Emperor Charlemagne and leader of an abortive rebellion against his father. “Pippin,” the musical, reimagines his character as the prototypical seeker trying to find “his thing.”