PIPPIN The Bob Fosse Lines After Godspell had had opened, its composer, Stephen Schwartz, returned to looking for a producer for a show he had written called Pippin, Pippin . Stuart Ostrow agreed to produce it, but wanted a new script. By the time the new book was written by Roger O. Hirson, now called The Adventures of Pippin , an entirely new score had to be written as well. To direct the show, Ostrow hired the respected director/choreographer director/choreographer Bob Fosse. B ut Fosse didn’t like the show. It was cute and ver y sentimental and Fosse had developed a reputation for dark, often disturbing musical theatre. He wanted to make Pippin more into his kind of show. show. Historians and people involved with the show say Fosse greatly re -wrote Hirson’s script, but he asked for no official credit. (Hirson strongly denies that Fosse wrote any part of the show.) show.) Neither Schwartz nor Hirson liked the re-writes or the style of the show as it was finally set. After the Broadway run, Schwartz had much of Fosse’s material taken back out of the script and his and Hirson’s work restored. restored. It is this tamer, watered-down version which was available for amateur productions for many years, and though the 1981 videotaped production of the show that was released commercially did include many of Fosse ’s rewrites, one couldn’t change the licensed version without permission. Around the early 2000s, Schwartz and Hirson began to reintroduce Fosse’s contributions to the script without credit, no doubt in response to repeated queries from people asking w here the stuff that made the show work had g one (though Schwartz now claims that the older—and thusly more cynical—he gets, the more he has become the defender of Fosse’s F osse’s vision, which could be equally true). Some lines were re-added, but not all; some were merely never restored, while others were either cut or replaced with either something wholly different or something in a similar spirit, but not the exact wording. This is a list of Fosse lines, along w ith notations as to which of the two scr ipts you now have include them. A specific line in the script will be listed before and after Fosse’s line to give you an idea of w here it would go in either script. scr ipt. In these instances, Fosse’s line will be rendere d in bold. Just for jolly, I also threw in notes of lines that that got changed further by Schwartz/Hirson under under the New Script column. Page numbers indicate the actual number printed in the script, not the page number in the PDF. Fosse Line A PLAYER: PLAYER: Holy war! A PLAYER: Love! LEADING PLAYER: PLAYER: And a climax… LEADING PLAYER: PLAYER: That he was… A PLAYER: A midget. LEADING PLAYER: PLAYER: That he was…
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LEADING PLAYER: He may be a little nervous. This is his first time playing this role. PIPPIN: Could I have have some more lights, please? please? LEADING PLAYER: PLAYER: Well, he’s he’s not that nervous. PIPPIN: I promise not to to waste my my life on commonplace, ordinary pursuits. A PLAYER: (Sarcastically) Terrifi Terrific. c.
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PIPPIN The Bob Fosse Lines Fosse Line PIPPIN: Yes. That’s it. Something completely fulfilling. A PLAYER: Oh, fantastic. PIPPIN: The first day I was home from Padua I tried to get an audience with my father, but they told me he was too busy. The second day I tried to speak with him at dinner, but he was too drunk. The third day, today... he came to visit me. CHARLES: Well, welcome home, son… well… PIPPIN: Oh, Father, I’ve wanted to talk with you so badly. CHARLES: Talk… talk… yes, talk… talking is good. CHARLES: LAST NIGHT, DIDN’T YOU MISS DINNER? PIPPIN: No, Father, I was right there, but you were… drinking… CHARLES: Oh. (beat) Ah, yes… I remember… I always remember. Well, how did things go in Padua? PIPPIN: Not very well, sir, some of my tutors… LEWIS: …And it’s going to slay even more Visigoths. Right, Father? CHARLES: (aside) Why do I always get nauseous when he calls me father? PIPPIN: Glory’s in the air! And what am I doing? Running around on a dark stage like an idiot.
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PIPPIN: Prince Pippin. One day I will be King. (rises on tiptoes) A PLAYER: And one day I’ll be queen. BARON: But, sire, my cattle are dying and my fields are barren and my soldiers have the French disease. BARON: But, sire, that is unjust and tyrannical. I object… (realizing too late he has spoken his mind, clapping a hand over his mouth) Oops! CHARLES: Take that man away and hang him! BARON: (as he’s dragged off) Charlie! You are a tyrant!!! CHARLES: Next!
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PIPPIN The Bob Fosse Lines Fosse Line CHARLES: …You, on the other hand, are educated. (begins to exit) PIPPIN: But Father, I have to talk to you! CHARLES: I’m busy! PIPPIN: You’re always either busy or drunk! CHARLES: (turns, in a fury) Or suffering the insults of ungrateful offspring! PIPPIN: (chastened) I’m sorry, Father. CHARLES: Very well. Go ahead. I’m listening. PIPPIN: I’m your oldest son… CHARLES: …to the entire world, even if we have to kill every non-believer to do it. A SOLDIER: Blood! ANOTHER SOLDIER: Glory! PIPPIN: Father, why can’t we just go out there and slaughter them? SOLDIERS: (in rhythm) Yuk-yuk! PIPPIN: …and kill at will? SOLDIERS: (in rhythm) Doo dah, doo dah! CHARLES: …WITH RULES TO BE APPLIED SOLDIERS: (interjecting, accompanied by stage business) Yeah! CHARLES: …RECALL AND RECAPITULATE SOLDIERS: (interjecting, accompanied by stage business) Hah! CHARLES: …AND RETIRE TO POINT “A” (punctuating, accompanied by stage business) Skidoo!
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PIPPIN: …A GRATEFUL NATION’S CHEERS! (punctuating, accompanied by stage business) Doo dah! CHARLES: …A BREEDING GROUND FOR BRAINS SOLDIERS: (interjecting, accompanied by stage business) Ha-cha-cha! CHARLES: FOR THOUGH I CANNOT WRITE MY NAME SOLDIERS: (interjecting, accompanied by stage business) Yuk-yuk!
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PIPPIN The Bob Fosse Lines Fosse Line CHARLES: …WE’LL HAVE OURSELVES A MASSACRE SOLDIERS: (punctuating, accompanied by stage business) Yeah! CHARLES: Pippin…! I shall not caution you again. War is a very serious business. PIPPIN: I’m sorry, Father… CHARLES: AND GENTLEMEN, AND THEN… SOLDIERS: (punctuating, accompanied by stage business) Doo-dah! LEWIS: Nicely done, Father. CHARLES: (confronting PIPPIN) Pippin, I find your attitude disturbing. Perhaps it wasn’t a good idea to bring you along on this campaign… PIPPIN: Oh, Father, don’t send me home! Please! I’m sorry! I don’t know what happened to me! I’ll be fine in battle, sir! It was just all that talk about enfilade and defilade… CHARLES: That’s the way it’s done. LEWIS: (echoing, smart-ass tone) That’s the way it’s done. CHARLES: That’s the rules. LEWIS: That’s the rules. (CHARLES silences him with a withering look) CHARLES: …ask for victory in combat tomorrow. Give us the power to butcher the Infidel, that the righteous may flourish upon the face of the earth. Disc jockey sequence of “Glory” (radio station scene a la Hi-Lo’s [music partially recycled as entr’acte in 2013 revival] , and “Let’s hear it for those all -time favorites…” recounting a list of all the war casualties from the Holy Wars to World War Two, just before Manson Trio) LEADING PLAYER: Ahh, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet, folks! ALL: THE GATES OF HEAVEN AWAIT… ALL: …YEAH! SOLDIERS: (acknowledging applause, shell-shocked, zombie like) Thank you. CHARLES: We’ve won! PIPPIN: (ruefully) I’m a soldier. (seeing a head) I suppose it’s a little late to wonder…
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PIPPIN The Bob Fosse Lines Fosse Line
HEAD: It is a little late. PIPPIN: (a double-take) Did you say something? HEAD: I said it is a little late. But as long as you’re interested… LEADING PLAYER: Charlemagne’s mother… exiled from court due to a personality conflict with her daughter-inlaw Fastrada. Now living in the country where she enjoys those… BERTHE: …some frolicking… some hanky-panky maybe? PIPPIN: I don’t know what I need, Grandma. BERTHE: Well, I know what I need, Pippin. (before the audience can fill in their own punch-line mentally) I need some juicy gossip. You’ve got to tell me what’s happening at court. Is that handsome priest listening to confession? PIPPIN: You haven’t changed… BERTHE: Now let me take this one all by myself, all right? And I’m gonna do it from center stage. LEADING PLAYER: (back to PIPPIN now) That’s right… PIPPIN: It’s got to stop. LEADING PLAYER: It has got to stop. PIPPIN: I think it’s time… PIPPIN: …terror and bloodshed must be ended. (to the LEADING PLAYER) I’m a politician. (LEADING PLAYER swaps out straw hat for a different one, trademark “Castro hat”) LEADING PLAYER: You’re a revolutionary, and baby, you’re beautiful! PIPPIN: We need a leader… FASTRADA: …than think I was in any way responsible for what happened next! After all, I’m just an ordinary housewife and mother, just like all you housewives and mothers out there. The fact that my husband is King and my son Lewis heir to the throne (after Pippin, of course) doesn’t make my problems any different from your problems. I try to run a good home, make things pleasant for Charles, despite the fact that he kidnapped me from my father, raped me, and committed other indignities upon my body before marrying me. I don’t hold grudges. (Cue first verse of “…Sunshine,” followed by :) Word had come to me… (the song is then broken up slightly differently in following scene; see page 11 for the breakdown)
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PIPPIN The Bob Fosse Lines Fosse Line CHARLES: …But, by God, I blew my breath across a
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continent and shaped an empire with it. LEADING PLAYER: (appears, applauding) Bravo! That was beautiful, Charles! CHARLES: Oh, did you like it? LEADING PLAYER: I loved it. (gestures to audience) They all did. CHARLES: Thank you so much. (CHARLES turns back to PIPPIN as LEADING PLAYER exits) So you think you could do better than I. PIPPIN: Yes, I do. I have to. CHARLES: Well, if you really believe that, there’s only one thing you can do. (CHARLES takes out the knife and hands it to PIPPIN) PIPPIN: Thank you, I brought my own. (PIPPIN takes out a knife from his sleeve) CHARLES: Then use it. PIPPIN: (trying to reason) Father, there must be another way… CHARLES: None! Now if you have no further business… PIPPIN: …MORNING GLOW IS LONG PAST DUE. (spoken) I’m sorry, Father. I hope I can make a better world. BEGGAR: …I am a very poor man. I have eighteen children and I can’t find work. You have much and I have nothing. Is that fair? PIPPIN: No. That’s completely unfair. Treasurer? (TREASURER steps into the light) I order you to distribute money for the poor, with an extra allowance for every child. (THEY ALL applaud as the BEGGAR thanks him) PIPPIN: Well then I hereby abolish taxes. (THEY ALL applaud) LEADING PLAYER: King Pippin, the Generous! PIPPIN: …No more taxes, no more army. LEADING PLAYER: King Pippin, the Magnanimous!
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PIPPIN The Bob Fosse Lines Fosse Line LEWIS (or FIELD MARSHAL): He has. (THEY ALL turn to PIPPIN) I await your orders. PIPPIN: I hereby order you to seek out the enemy and negotiate a settlement. LEADING PLAYER: King Pippin, the Peaceful! (FASTRADA runs on, briefly “grieving” over CHARLES before cutting to the chase) FASTRADA: Sire, the Treasurer refuses me my royal allowance. PIPPIN: (nods) From now on, all royalty, including myself, must forgo luxury and extravagance. FASTRADA: (“cheerily”) Oh! (exiting) Isn’t that a crock! LEADING PLAYER: King Pippin, the Humble! (FIELD MARSHAL [or LEWIS] returns) LEWIS (or FIELD MARSHAL): Sire, I have met with the Hun! He will withdraw… on one condition. PIPPIN: There! You see? I told you, there isn’t one problem that can’t be settled by sitting down and talking it over! What’s the condition? LEWIS (or FIELD MARSHAL): He demands your reproductive organs separated from the rest of your anatomy. PIPPIN: (in shock) What? (LEADING PLAYER whispers in his ear) Oh. (crosses his legs) Well then, in that case, I hereby declare… (PLAYERS’ eyes turn to him) …a limited police action. (Half cheer, other half boo) LEADING PLAYER: (reassuring) Well, what the hell? You can’t please everybody!
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PIPPIN The Bob Fosse Lines
Fosse Line NOBLE: …I have neither money nor power over the peasants. PIPPIN: Oh, yes, that’s a very good point. PLAYERS: (mockingly, imitating his tone) That’s a very good point. PEASANT: …when the poor get handouts from the royal treasury? BEGGAR: (to other PLAYERS) I bet he says, “You’re absolutely right.” PIPPIN: You’re absolutely right. PIPPIN: Could you just let me think a minute… Please… VARIOUS PLAYERS: (mockingly) Oh, the King is thinking… please, let the King think… FASTRADA: Darling, you’re a born ruler. You’re doing a wonderful job. PIPPIN: But I haven’t been able to change one single thing since my father died! FASTRADA: That’s exactly what I mean. Your father would be so proud of you. Now about my royal allowance… PIPPIN: Nothing turns out the way I thought it would. Alright, I know this is a musical comedy. But I want my life to mean something! LEADING PLAYER: But it will. It will. It will. (into song) CATHERINE: God! What a challenge! That was my best number! For a long time…
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PIPPIN The Bob Fosse Lines Fosse Line CATHERINE: Couldn’t you please help me … LEADING PLAYER: (appears suddenly) Hold it! Hold it! You’re supposed to read the line “naggingly.” CATHERINE: But he touched my hand. They don’t usually do that. LEADING PLAYER: I don’t care where he puts his hand. Read it naggingly! CATHERINE: (to PIPPIN, naggingly) Pippin, this is a large estate. I’m all alone here and I can’t do all this work by myself. Couldn ’t you please help me!? PIPPIN: All right! All right! (HE starts to go) Anything to shut you up. LEADING PLAYER: …a whole lot of that. (PIPPIN and CATHERINE come around the bed now, and start to move downstage) But, the season changed as it always does. Pages flew off the calendar and blew away in the wind. And then… it happened. Suddenly, shamelessly, and without warning, as it does in all musical comedies, they were struck by a love song. CATHERINE: In the year that you’ve been with us, a lot of water has flowed under the dam, and – LEADING PLAYER: (appearing suddenly) Over the dam. Water flows over the dam. CATHERINE: I’m sorry, I know. I seem to be a little bit confused. LEADING PLAYER: I can see that. Try sticking to the part, huh? CATHERINE: I will. (SHE turns to PIPPIN) In the year that you’ve been with us, a lot of water has flowed over the dam. You’ve come to mean a great deal to me… CATHERINE: The years we spent together were the happiest of my life. And then he was struck by… he was struck by… what’s my line? I can’t remember my next line… (losing it) Something’s going wrong! It’s not supposed to be like this! Pippin, I really want you to stay! I love you, Pippin! (on the verge of tears) I love you… (The lights begin to go out on CATHERINE) Could you hold the light… CATHERINE: HIS FACE WAS FAR FROM FINE… LEADING PLAYER: What are you doing?
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PIPPIN The Bob Fosse Lines Fosse Line CATHERINE: AND WONDER IF HE’S MISSING MINE… LEADING PLAYER: You don’t have a song here. CATHERINE: I do now. (SHE continues to sing as the orchestra sneaks in) SOME DAYS… CATHERINE: WHEN HE WAS REALLY… EVEN WORSE… LEADING PLAYER: I really don’t think you should sing anymore. (But when CATHERINE persists, HE smiles to the audience, graciously makes a “presenting – Catherine” gesture, and exits) BERTHE: …and life again… LEADING PLAYER: Why, the final affirmation of life: death. (turns to the audience) Ladies and gentlemen … LEADING PLAYER: Now, Pippin… it’s time. Hey, you’re not going to disappoint all these people at __ dollars a seat, are you? ALL: Compromiser! LEADING PLAYER: (to CATHERINE) I might’ve known you’d screw this up, you and that damn lovable kid of yours! CATHERINE: How do you feel…? PIPPIN: Trapped… (HE looks from one to the other and smiles) which isn’t too bad for the end of a musical comedy. Ta da!
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“Trapped… but happy…”
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PIPPIN The Bob Fosse Lines
Appendix: “SPREAD A LITTLE SUNSHINE ” (à la Fosse) Breakdown (NOTE: You will mainly be following the old script if you decide to do this production “the Fosse way.” Chunks of this scene were cut in the MTI script.)
Printed opening by FASTRADA up through “…responsible for what happened next! ” “I don’t hold grudges” section “BACK IN MY YOUNGER DAYS…” “Word had come to me…” “Revolution” scene where PIPPIN’s followers run off “You’ll be next in line for the throne, darling!” exchange “In fear of my beloved husband ’s life…” through “I felt… deeply” “LORD KNOWS WE’VE SEEN ENOUGH…” “Will you be praying at Arles next month?” through “…what sweeter words could a mother hear ” “I KNOW THE PARABLES …” “Completely forgot to warn him” section (ending with “My son, the King ”) DANCE BREAK (optional in MTI score) Song ends as in script
