![]() Imagine, if you will, a genre being ever so slightly heightened, and presented while at the same time being affectionately observed – dialogue interspersed with the reason for it being thus phrased – and you’ll begin to grasp what Leacock is doing. How to describe these pieces? They are not spoofs, because they are too kind and too subtle for that. The ‘other fancies’, at the end, are not we will come onto those. Like other Leacock books, it is a collection of short pieces – in this case, they are mostly – as the title suggests – theatrically themed. ![]() What’s the opposite of burying the lede? Obviously you’ll have gathered by now that I did, very much, enjoy Over The Footlights and Other Fancies (1923). Would I still like him after all this time, with at least a thousand more books read since I last read one of his? Delafield, and Richmal Crompton, he was in the first tranche of authors I collected – and those who helped form my taste. Which is fairly absurd, given how many I have unread, and how much I enjoy him. I would probably cite Leacock as among my favourite writers, and have read a fair few of his books (and amassed more), but I haven’t actually read one of his since I was 18, around 13 years ago. I wanted to read something reliably enjoyable on Christmas Day (and, as it turned out, Boxing Day) and was mulling over what it would be – when Stephen Leacock leapt to mind. If you’re in or near JP, make your way to the Footlight Club to see Pippin before it closes on September 29th.It is for books such as this that I put off creating my Top Ten Books of the year until the last possible movement. I can’t imagine how long they rehearsed that! The Bob Fosse choreography screams FOSSE, but it’s still awe-inspiring. Mary O’Donnell’s performance as Pippin’s grandmother Berthe provided the standout musical number of “No Time at All.” Not only was O’Donnell’s singing humorous and heartwarming, but the ensemble helped the audience participate by displaying the lyrics to the chorus through a remarkable trick of opening trunks and suitcases. The Footlight Club cast is absolutely wonderful. Andrea Giangreco needs to be singled-out for her performance as the Leading Player which she filled with exuberance and joy, cleverly uncovering the character’s manipulative and cruel side over the course of the play. It’s a much darker play than I imagined, and the music and the humor balances a sometimes cynical, sometimes sarcastic critique of the human condition. ![]() The finale features Pippin deciding between the temptation of the Leading Player’s “perfect” but self-destructive act, or a quiet life with Catherine and Theo. ![]() While Pippin does not enjoy the daily routine of manual labor, he falls in love with Catherine and grows fond of her son, Theo. In the second act, he falls into despair and is restored to health by the widow Catherine, who owns a large farm. In the first act he joins his father’s army, experiments with meaningless sexual encounters, and plots a revolution to overthrow is father’s tyranny. The basic plot is young Pippin’s yearning to find meaning to his existence. In fact, the show is designed to remind the audience that what we’re seeing is an artifice, a performance but on by a troop of players (who are performed by our real live actors). Vague is more accurate than I realized. Pippin, Charlemagne, and the other characters share the names with historical figures, but otherwise have no historical parallels. I had a vague understanding that this musical was about Pippin, the son of King Charlemagne, and his involvement with a troop of players. Second, I’ve liked the music from Pippin – especially the song “Corner of the Sky” – for a long time, but I’d never seen it performed. First, after eleven years living in Jamaica Plain, we finally made it to a show at the Footlight Club, a lovely and historic playhouse. Taking a Friday night date night performance of Pippin at the Footlight Club in Jamaica Plain fulfilled two long-term goals.
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