Music Theater Works producing artistic director Kyle A. Dougan will be the guest on the Friday, June 2 episode for entertainment industry radio show and podcast It’s Showtime with Rikki Lee to discuss the company’s new, innovative mounting of the Broadway gem Pippin.
The musical features music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and book by Roger O. Hirson and Bob Fosse – who directed and choreographed the Tony-winning original Broadway production in 1972. Schwartz is also known for the stage musicals Godspell, Children of Eden, and Wicked and the films The Prince of Egypt (composer and lyricist), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (lyricist), Pocahontas (lyricist), and Enchanted (lyricist).
Music Theater Works is a resident professional, not-for-profit music theatre company operating out of the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie, IL just outside of Chicago. Dougan began his career as an intern with the company fresh out of college and returned to head the company as producing artistic director in 2018.
The Pippin revival has been creatively reimagined into a 1990s setting and features music direction by Justin Akira Kono. While choreography by Mollyanne Nunn and Kaitlyn Pasquinelli includes some nods to Fosse, much of the choreography is new and unique to this production – including variations on popular 90s dances to coincide with the unique universe Dougan has created for his players.
Pippin opens Thursday, June 1st with a press opening on Friday, June 2nd. The production runs Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays through June 25. Ticket information is available at www.MusicTheaterWorks.com.
The cast includes Sonia Goldberg as Leading Player, Connor Ripperger as Pippin, Thomas M. Shea as Charlemagne, Savannah Sinclair as Fastrada, Desiree Gonzalez as Catherine, Andrew Freeland as Lewis, Kathleen Puls Andrade as Berthe, and Di’ Aire Wilson as Theo.
It’s Showtime with Rikki Lee is a half hour, weekly interview program about the world of entertainment including theatre, film, television, music, and literature.
The radio program airs every Friday at 3 PM CST on 101.5 FM WHRU out of Chicago’s Huntley community. It can be streamed in real-time at www.HuntleyRadio.com.
It’s Showtime with Rikki Lee is also now available as a podcast on all major podcast platforms.
Spotify https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rikkileetravolta
Apple https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/its-showtime-with-rikki-lee/id1678965714
iHeartRadio https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-its-showtime-with-rikki-le-109097408/
Amazon https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/2c67ee2e-ea39-4700-afc4-ff5669e45437/it’s-showtime-with-rikki-lee
Google https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy83MGY3NzczNC9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw
Peace. Love. Trust.
Rikki Lee Travolta
SHARE
If you appreciate the nature of my words here, I ask that you take just a moment to share this article with your social media of choice. Please help spread the word about The Life and Times of Rikki Lee Travolta to family and friends.
FOLLOW
Follow me on Facebook The Life and Times of Rikki Lee Travolta (/rikkileetravolta), LinkedIn (/rltravolta) and Twitter (@RikkiLeeTV)
SUBSCRIBE
Don’t miss a review, feature story, news item, or editorial – Get every new Life and Times story delivered directly to your email!