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Dear Potential Audience Member,
Thank you for your interest in our production of Pippin. This show is both entertaining and visually engaging, while also exploring meaningful, thought-provoking themes.
Pippin is PG in tone, with some mild language and suggestive humor. These moments are handled thoughtfully and serve the story’s deeper purpose as the main character searches for meaning.
We find it helpful to view Pippin alongside the journey of King Solomon in Ecclesiastes. Solomon writes that he applied his heart “to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven.” He explores pleasure, wisdom, wealth, achievement, and power, only to find each one lacking….what he calls “futility of futilities.” Even wisdom, he admits, falls short: “with much wisdom comes much grief.”
His conclusion is simple and grounding:
Fear God and keep His commandments,
for this is the whole of man.
On stage, with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, Pippin follows a young prince who believes:
“When you’re extraordinary, you gotta do extraordinary things.”
Like Solomon, he pursues glory, pleasure, power, and purpose and yet none satisfy. Only when he encounters a quieter, more ordinary life does he begin to glimpse something real.
Near the end, he reflects:
*They showed me crimson, gold, and lavender
A shining parade
But there’s no color I can have on earth
That won’t finally fade
When I wanted worlds to paint
And costumes to wear.”
We wanted to give you insight into the content before attending. I work closely with Steve O’Neil and other teachers to choose a show that highlights the specific students’ gifting and has life lessons to teach.
Thank you,
Melinda Carlson
Theater Director, VCHS
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