Photo Coverage: 'Pippin' Opens at Taper in LA

Los Angeles welcomed Pippin, the latest production from Center Theatre Group and Deaf West Theatre, Sunday, January 25 at the Mark Taper Forum.  The new production displays a mix of music, voice, American Sign Lanuage and dance.

"Pippin is the captivating coming of age story about a young man’s search for meaning in his life, as told by a lively band of troubadours in the Roman Empire," state press notes.  "The episodic quest of Pippin, the son of the powerful Charlemagne, takes him through battlefields, orgies, revolution, and finally, love and domesticity, as he tries to find a place for his 'spirit to run free,' for his 'corner of the sky.'"

The Los Angeles cast includes Michael Arden, Jonah Blechman, Dan Callaway, Bryan Terrell Clark, Nicolas Conway, Rodrick Covington, James Royce Edwards, TL Forsberg, Sara Gettelfinger, Tyrone Giordano, Harriet Harris, Rebecca Ann Johnson, Troy Kotsur, José F. Lopez, Jr., John McGinty, Anthony Natale, Aleks Pevec, Victoria Platt, Ty Taylor, Nikki Tomlinson, Melissa Van Der Schyff and Alexandria Wailes.

Tony Award winning, the musical is composed by Stephen Schwartz (Wicked, Godspell) and is directed by Jeff Calhoun.  Deaf West Theatre is best known to Los Angeles audiences for their CTG productions of Big River, at the Taper and Sleeping Beauty Wakes at the Kirk Douglas Theatre.

Pippin runs at the Mark Taper Forum through March 15, 2009.  Tickets can be purchased online at www.centertheatregroup.org or at the box office located at 135 N. Grand Ave, at the Music Center in downtown Los Angeles.

Photos by ©Ryan Miller/Capture Imaging.

Courtney B. Vance, Ben Vereen and Angela Bassett

Ben Vereen

Sara Gettelfinger, Tyrone Giordano, Director Jeff Calhoun and Michael Arden

Alexandria Wailes, Melissa Van Der Schyff, Ty Taylor and Nikki Tomlinson

Tyrone Giordano, Shoshannah Stern and Michael Arden

Tyrone Giordano and TL Forsberg

Tyrone Giordano and Michael Arden

Ty Taylor and Tyrone Giordano

CTG Artistic Director Michael Ritchie and Deaf West Artistic Director Ed Waterstreet

Ty Taylor and Stephen Schwartz

Ty Taylor and Stephen Schwartz

Michael Arden and Sara Gettelfinger

Melissa Van Der Schyff, Associate Director Coy Middlebrook and Bryan Terrell

Christian Coulson and Michael Arden

John McGinty, Troy Kotsure and Dan Callaway

Ty Taylor, Michael Arden, Stephen Schwartz and Tyrone Giordano

Eden Espinosa

Eden Espinosa

Disney's Thomas Schumacher, Jeff Calhoun and Disney's Chris Montan

David Hyde Pierce and Brian Hargrove

Bonnie Burgess and John Rubinstein with family