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WILKES-BARRE — Ask what kind of a father King Charlemagne is, and Wilkes University student Michael Rogers will tell you, “He’s not interested at all in what his sons are doing.”
Maybe Charlemagne doesn’t care, but many other people are interested in his sons, particularly “Pippin,” and they’ll follow that prince’s adventures onstage at Wilkes University and Misericordia University this month.
Both schools are presenting the musical, which shows Prince Pippin as a recent graduate, trying to find his place in the world.
“It’s a journey, a boy growing into a man,” said Justin Gaskill, of Ocean City, N.J., who has the title role at Wilkes. “By the end, he’s his own person.”
“By the end, after all these life experiences, he finds out what he was searching for was in front of him all along,” said Adam Ercolani, of Bear Creek, who plays Pippin at Misericordia.
Pippin will experiment with war, casual relationships and politics and even scheme to replace his father as king before he finds his bliss.
Along the way, there will be lots of humor and enough anachronistic elements to remind audience members they’re not completely back in the Middle Ages, plus plenty of music and dancing.
“We have everything from tap dance to soft shoe to bloody battles,” said Teresa Fallon, director at Wilkes.
“Almost every song is hummable,” she added. “Oh my God, it’s (composer) Stephen Schwartz. He did ‘Wicked.’ He did ‘Godspell.’ “
Speaking of Schwartz, Misericordia director Jeff Kelly consulted his office about changing the gender of a youthful character named Theo from boy to girl because he had a lot of interested high school students who wanted to audition.
“I wanted it to be open to everyone,” Kelly said.
Schwartz gave his approval via email, Kelly said. “Honest to God, it was probably a page and a half response. It was rather exciting.”
The show is not only exciting but fun, said Sinclair Mason, the stage manager at Wilkes, who is keeping track of props that range from swords to plastic body parts to a stuffed toy duck.
Audiences will have the fun of meeting such characters as Pippin’s warlike half-brother, Lewis — he kissed his own bicep during a rehearsal at Wilkes — and his stepmother, Fastrada, who would like nothing better than to see Lewis on the throne.
“He could be the head, and she would be the neck,” said Melissa Berardelli, of Dunmore, who plays Fastrada at Wilkes.
And, if you’ve ever wondered about your own place in the world, you’ll likely identify with Pippin.
Ercolani saw a touring version of “Pippin” in Scranton last spring and “fell in love” with the role.
When he auditioned for the Misericordia show by singing the prince’s number “Corner of the Sky,” director Kelly was more than impressed. “It sent chills down everybody’s spines,” Kelly said. “He has the voice. He has the character. I’d put my professional reputation on the line and say one day we will see Adam Ercolani in New York.”
