Stars in the House, the award-winning streaming variety and fundraising show co-hosted by Seth Rudetsky and James Wesley Jackson, will live stream The Broadway Sitzprobe Experience: Pippin May 2 beginning at 2 PM ET.
The Pippin score will be performed by an orchestra made up of members from Musicians United for Social Equity (MUSE) and Maestra Music, joined by a bevy of Broadway vocalists.
Pippin will be conducted by Julie McBride and will feature Darius de Haas and Sis sharing the role of the Leading Player, Nathan Salstone and Zachary Noah Piser sharing the role of Pippin, Charlotte d'Amboise as Fastrada, Terrence Mann as Charlemagne, Autumn Hurlbert as Catherine, and Andrea Martin reprising her Tony-winning performance as Berthe.
An open call was announced last month for interested MUSE and Maestra instrumentalists, who have never held a Broadway or touring chair; 20 have been selected to join the Pippin orchestra.
鈥淚 ran into a Broadway bigwig who told me it鈥檚 difficult for him to hire diverse orchestra members because they 鈥榙on鈥檛 have the experience.鈥� So, I decided to give them experience! Each Project Broadway Sitzprobe is guided by veteran Broadway musicians in every section who generously donate their time to mentor these highly skilled musicians into being 鈥楤roadway ready!鈥� There鈥檚 also always a veteran Broadway conductor so the musicians can understand what鈥檚 expected of them, and it feels like a real Broadway sitzprobe because the songs are sung by Broadway stars!鈥� said Rudetsky in a statement. 鈥淲e hope that by livestreaming it to audiences around the country, we will inspire them to pursue their own artistic dreams and ultimately create a more diverse community of musicians.鈥�
A 鈥渟itzprobe鈥� is the rehearsal when a musical鈥檚 cast sings through the score for the first time with an orchestra.
Bob Fosse directed and choreographed the original 1972 Broadway production of Pippin, imposing his conceptual vision onto composer Stephen Schwartz and librettist Roger O. Hirson's bittersweet fairytale. Ben Vereen was the Leading Player ("Magic to Do," "Simple Joys"), John Rubinstein played the searching Pippin ("Corner of the Sky," "With You"), Jill Clayburgh was his love interest ("I Guess I'll Miss the Man," "Kind of Woman"), Leland Palmer his evil stepmother ("Spread a Little Sunshine"), and Irene Ryan was Pippin's feisty grandmother ("No Time At All"). The show ran 1,944 performances, closing June 12, 1977.
The original production won five 1972 Tony Awards: Best Actor in a Musical (Vereen), Best Scenic Design (Tony Walton), Best Lighting Design (Jules Fisher), and Best Choreography and Best Direction of a Musical, both for Fosse. The 2013 Broadway revival, which featured Martin, Mann, d'Amboise, Patina Miller, Matthew James Thomas, and more, won four Tonys, including Best Revival of a Musical.
The upcoming performance is presented by MUSE, in partnership with the Library for the Performing Arts, Music Theatre International, and SiriusXM On Broadway host Rudetsky.
The event, which is free and open to the public, will be held at the Library for Performing Arts' Bruno Walter Auditorium. The live stream on will be hosted by Rudetsky and Wesley Jackson.
