[blu486]

So we were choreographing Finale today and we're doing the alternate ending where we come on to the stage with Theo holding a mask instead of walking with Pippin and Catherine (he breaks away from him) and the chorus and Leading Player comes on doing their woos and puts the mask on him. It's kind of depressing, but it's freaking sweat.

Anybody else use this ending?

[kozafluitmusique]

Is that where everyone leaves, and then Theo stays, singing "Rivers belong where they can ramble
Eagles belong where they can fly
I've got to be where my spirit can run free
Got to find my corner of the sky"
and then LP & ensemble come back on stage?

we did it if that's the case... the Theo we had for our production alternated between kakoforever's brother & the girl who played Fastrada's brother. it was so adorable!

but my mom thought the alternate ending was silly, i think.

[blu486]

We had the same little boy play Theo, and he rarely actually sang it on pitch, but he was cute and all of the mistakes he made on stage and in rehearsals actually worked for the part. Like when he was supposed to pray with Pippin over the duck he got bored and put his hands in his face. It worked just fine.

But yeah, we did that ending. I liked it better than the other ending in a sense.

[Brother Marvin Hinten, S.]

Well, the other ending is hard to like, but it has deep meaning. The last line of the show has been a cause for debate since the show opened in 1972. After the Players all leave, Catherine asks Pippin how he feels. Pippin's original reply was, "Trapped... but happy...which isn't too bad for the end of a musical comedy. Ta da!" According to most sources, Bob Fosse thought the "but happy" was a cop out. After all, Pippin can't yet be sure his decision was the right one. He hopes that it will be, but surely he hasn't gone from having no idea what he wants to knowing exactly what he wants in only a few minutes. Pippin has made a choice, but he is still scared. He knows that he has given up some of his ideals and he must accept compromises for the first time.

Fosse cut the "but happy." Neither composer Stephen Schwartz nor John Rubenstein, who played Pippin, was happy about the change. They both already felt like Fosse was making the show too cynical. But Fosse was the director and was also very intimidating, so the line was changed. After the show's Broadway run, Schwartz had the two words put back in the last line. So the standard licensed version contains the original line. Because the word "happy" carries extra baggage in the world of musical comedy in which so many shows must end "happily ever after," it is dangerous to use that word carelessly. So the debate rages on. Is Pippin really happy? Can you feel trapped and happy at the same time? Can he acquire that much wisdom and self-knowledge that quickly? It's a decision you have to make.

Personally, I'd go for a combo of the two. Pippin says the line, they do their bow, and the curtain is about to come down, as in the Fosse production and the original licensed script. Pippin and Catherine leave together, thinking Theo will just follow. They forget that Theo was a player, too. He's seen what was to come, and he's hit by the glamor and the promise of one truly fulfilling act. With only Pippin as a role model, he's got to find his corner of the sky. The Leading Player said many others would take the opportunity. Is Theo one?

[Monsieur D'Arque]

I've heard that the most common take on the "trapped section" cuts the "which isn't bad for the end of a musical comedy.

PIPPIN: Trapped... but happy.

Blackout!

[blu486]

[Salome]

the 2 productions I saw wisely cut the "But Happy" bit. and the "ta-da!".

[The Duchess of Mint]

Dear Pipppin Fans,

I'm wondering if perhaps Pippin could say "Trapped...but happy?", almost as though the "but happy" part of the line was a question. Has that ever been done before?

Thanks in advance for your replies.

[Monsieur D'Arque]

The "Trapped- but happy" was said as a Bobby-in-Company-like bit of self-convincing, more for his own benefit than Catherine's.

[Brother Marvin Hinten, S.]

I see no sense in trying to justify the line when you can just pay the extra royalty and cut it like Fosse did, thus eliminating the problem that leaves some feeling trapped...and just that.