‘Pippin’ hits all the big Broadway notes

I was raised by a theater-addicted mother, who instilled in me a lifelong love of stage performances. And although I spent a large part of the ’70s seeing musical and non-musical Broadway blockbusters, somehow my repertoire didn’t include “Pippin,” the 1972 Bob Fosse-directed Tony Award winner, which made Ben Vereen famous.

I filled that missing slot Wednesday during the Denver launch of the national tour of the 2013 revival version of “Pippin,” playing at The Buell Theatre through Sept. 20.

My theater pal Bradley Joseph and I experienced a good old-fashioned spectacular romp into a classic musical event that’s been enhanced by the addition of a circus setting complete with trapeze artists, contortionists and aerial performers. Throw in performances by Lucie Arnaz (daughter of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz), John Rubenstein (the original Pippin character on Broadway who now plays the king) and Matthew James Thomas, the 2013 Tony-Award-winning Pippin character, and you have an out-of-this-world experience.

Arnaz, who plays Pippin’s grandmother, gets her sexy on by showing off her 6o-plus bangin’ bod in a bustier while hanging from a trapeze. Who knew?

“I didn’t know how I could do that until five weeks ago (when she joined the cast),” Arnaz told us during the boffo after-play reception under the big top in the Seawell Ballroom.

For an evening of throw-back theatrical fun, don’t miss “Pippin”. Tickets at www.denvercenter.org.