Magic To Do

Spectacle and somersaults catapult Pippin past the mediocre

With this Pippin, you ain't seen nothin' yet.

Photo by Terry Shapiro

The musical Pippin has always relied on showbiz dazzle to make it more than it is. In fact, when you think about the crux of Pippin and its message, it's that we all rely on costumes and lights and man-made excitement to make our lives more interesting.

In the original production, Bob Fosse's iconic choreography gave the show a distinct, sinister and sexy look. In this recent Broadway revival, brought here by Dallas Summer Musicals, it's the death-defying acrobatics and circus tricks that define Diane Paulus' vision. And that's a very welcome thing.

When you strip Pippin of its sparkles, it's not a particularly strong musical. Stephen Schwartz's score is flimsy, with the pop-tinged hit "Corner of the Sky" coming early and then a parade of bland, nearly forgettable tunes thereafter.

The episodic plot about a wayward prince trying to find his purpose through war, sex, fame and, ultimately, love, is — unsurprisingly — a popular choice for college theater programs. (My companion and I realized we had both been in productions during our younger years.)

It's up to the director's vision and the performers' skills to make Pippin more than a two-dimensional frolic. Embracing the spectacle, rather than scoffing at it, is what helps make this two-and-a-half hour musical fly by.

Using illusions and magic tricks, Cirque du Soleil-inspired feats of daring, and a welcome touch of that Fosse style (choreographer Chet Walker worked "in the style of" rather than straight-up copying), this Pippin is out to make you gasp.

Even the casting is surrounded by light bulbs, with The Voice star Sasha Allen starring as the Leading Player; '70s TV star Adrienne Barbeau as grandmother Berthe; and John Rubinstein, the original Pippin himself, donning the crown as a very charismatic king.

What's an even bigger surprise is that this star casting is terrific, with all three delivering devilishly good performances. (Sabrina Harper as Pippin's wicked stepmother and Kristine Rees as his simple love Catherine are also very good.) Using her raspy belt to make Schwartz's songs sound more powerful than they are, Allen slinks around the Music Hall stage like a cat hunting her prey. Her Leading Player (a narrator of sorts) feeds off Pippin's uncertainty, gaining vicious joy with each chance to manipulate him further.

Barbeau stops the show as the high-flying Berthe, who rips off her dress to reveal a corset before being daintily hoisted into the air for a sensuous routine on a hoop with one of the muscled ensemble members. The woman is 70 years old.

Rubinstein clearly relishes revisiting the show in which he made his Broadway debut; his acting could be termed "schmacting" if he wasn't so darn delightful. His king is blustery, easily distracted and wholly focused on winning a (seemingly pointless) war, but he's also invested in his son's future — namely that he should figure one out.

Sam Lips, as Pippin, could do with some of Rubinstein's excitement. Right now he's just an empty vessel, a blank-eyed hunk who pinballs between situations without ever stopping to decide what he really wants. But with so much magic going on around him, it's kind of okay that he gets lost in the circus.

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Pippin plays at the Music Hall at Fair Park through July 19, then at Bass Hall July 21-26.

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All Eyes on Them

Dallas alt hip-hop group wins prestigious Tiny Desk Contest by NPR

Cure for Paranoia/Facebook

As winners of the Tiny Desk Contest, Cure for Paranoia will record their own Tiny Desk concert and go on tour.

Few live recording studios or musical web series have the cultural sway of NPR's Tiny Desk, and a Dallas band is poised to make an impactful debut: Cure For Paranoia, an alternative hip-hop project by rapper Cameron McCloud and producers Tomahawk Jonez and Jay Analo, has won the high-stakes annual Tiny Desk Contest for 2026.

They'll record their official Tiny Desk show "soon," the announcement by NPR says.

Winning the concert also means Cure for Paranoia is going on tour. The only Texas stop will be at Emo's Austin on June 24.

Tiny Desk is known for platforming both niche and majorly successful artists — NPR posted a new Foo Fighters set on YouTube on May 13 — for stripped-down sets that are literally played behind former All Things Considered director Bob Boilen's old desk. (Fun fact for Texans: Tiny Desk was created because folk artist Laura Gibson was disappointed with the sound at her South by Southwest show in Austin in 2008, and she wanted a redo.)

Most artists who appear on Tiny Desk more than 15 years later are already well-known, at least in their specific circles. But the Tiny Desk Contest, which launched in 2015, helps a growing group of newer, unsigned artists get their foot in the door. Contestants record one video of them performing a single song behind a desk, and a jury of radio staff and musicians chooses their favorite.

In their audition video, Cure for Paranoia gathered 11 musicians around a truly tiny desk and in front of downtown Dallas' iconic gigantic eyeball sculpture. They played the song "No Brainer," a frenetic track that starts with clever boasts and becomes a criticism of racism in the United States.

McCloud, a pre-school teacher, is known independently of Cure for Paranoia for rapping to his social media following about politics and current events. Some of those lyrics made it into "No Brainer." He says he started the group because he found that music was more helpful than medication for coping with bipolar depression and paranoid schizophrenia.

Alex Marrero, host of the Austin-based KUTX show Horizontes, was one of the judges this year. He was impressed with the visuals in Cure for Paranoia's audition.

“When this popped up, I immediately felt something different," he wrote in a blurb for the announcement. "It just jumped out. The visuals were super cool and creative, BUT I could still totally envision them bringing the heat behind the Desk.”

Madison McFerrin, jazz vocalist and daughter of the famous singer Bobby McFerrin, was one of the musical judges.

"Cure For Paranoia’s energy is infectious, fresh and distinctly theirs — exactly what you want in a Contest winner!" she wrote.

McCloud's post on Instagram announcing the group's win has only been up for three hours at the time of this article's publication, and it already has more than 8,000 likes. The YouTube audition has garnered 74,000 views.

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