Is a musical that I've heard about all my life and never seen before this made for television filming of one of its stage performances. Staring Ben Vereen with William Katt, Martha Raye, and Chita Rivera, how could it be anything but fabulous? Directed, choreographed and in this very version produced for film by Broadway icon Bob Fosse--it couldn't possibly be a better representation of Pippin-essence, right? Well, if that's all true, then here's a news flash: Pippin sucks! I mean, it honestly couldn't have been more dated, more tedious, more unfunny, uninteresting or unworthy of my time. Ben Vereen sweats his way through the production, while the music and the choreography look like something out of a bad trip from the pill-popping seventies. Martha Raye is the only thing that was even mildly interesting in this production, and it's possible that it was just me trying to image Irene Ryan in the same role in the Broadway original.
Two enthusiastic thumbs down for this one.
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