Troupe closes its 50th season with coming- of-age musical

In “Pippin,” a young man searches for meaning and happiness amid political and social chaos.

Weathervane Playhouse will end its 50th summer season with the Broadway musical, which will open Thursday in Newark.

“Pippin is an everyman trying to find himself,” director Valerie Accetta said.

“The creators use Charlemagne and that era, but it’s more of a fantasy coming-of-age saga than a historical piece.”

The French king Charlemagne and his son, Pippin, lived in the eighth and ninth centuries in Europe, but the plot of the 1972 musical is fictional.

With music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz (“Godspell,” “Wicked”), a book by Roger O. Hirson and original choreography by Bob Fosse, “Pippin” frames the coming-of-age of Pippin through a mysterious performance troupe led by a Leading Player that tells Pippin’s story. What: "Pippin” Who: Weathervane Playhouse Where: 100 Price Road, Newark Contact: 740-366-4616, www. weathervaneplayhouse.org Showtimes: 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Tuesday through Aug. 11; and 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday Tickets: $37, or $35 for senior citizens, $26 for students, $15 for children 12 and younger; $19 on Tuesday

Weathervane’s production, choreographed by Tracy Wilson, is loosely inspired by the clowning and physicality of the English Punch and Judy puppet shows, Accetta said.

“‘Pippin’ is a concept musical that imagines the Leading Player as a sort of master manipulator or puppeteer who is controlling Pippin’s journey of self-discovery,” Accetta said.

Kenneth Remaklus, an Otterbein University junior, plays the title role.

“I’ve wanted to play this role (for) a long time,” he said.

“I like Pippin’s energy, hope ... (and) huge character arc. He doesn’t want to just live on a farm or have a commonplace life but wants to do something extraordinary.”

Among Pippin’s songs are “Corner of the Sky,” “Extraordinary,” “Morning Glow” and “With You.”

“The music is the strongest aspect of the show,” Remaklus said.

“For me, it’s very Disneyesque but also an ode to traditional Broadway songs.”

“Morning Glow,” sung just after Pippin kills his tyrannical father at the end of the first act, reflects Pippin’s mixed feelings but also his idealism.

“He’s feeling excitement, like he might be able to change things, but also the shakiness of what he’s just done,” Remaklus said.

“He saw his father abuse the people of the land and his soldiers, who he used to wage war. ... Pippin hopes to create a world where everyone is equal, but very quickly he realizes that his ideals don’t match up with what being a king requires.”

New York actress Paloma D’Auria plays the Leading Player.

“The Leading Player is the puppet master and a narrator,” she said. “She wants the show to go off without a hitch and champions art above life.”

A 2018 graduate of New York’s Marymount Manhattan College in her first summer at Weathervane, D’Auria is applying the knowledge of Fosse’s choreography that she acquired in college from an original Fosse dancer.

“It’s my first Fosse musical, and I really admire that style,” D’Auria said. “Through Fosse’s choreography, I will physicalize the character to suggest an androgynous dark side.”

The Leading Player sings the opening number “Magic to Do” and “On the Right Track,” a duet with Pippin. But her favorite song is “Simple Joys.”

“She’s trying to make Pippin do what she wants him to do, and the song is her