After thorough auditions that included over 60+ people, The cast of Winthrop’s spring musical, Pippin has officially been announced. Showcasing on March 29th through April 2nd. Winthrop’s theater department will be putting on the tony award winning musical.
Joe Overton, junior musical theater major, was cast as the lead role, Pippin. They have been looking forward to the musical since it was announced last year that Pippin would be 2023’s musical.
“It’s one of my dream roles. I have loved the show since I first heard it,” Overton said. “ And I chose to go for Pippin. Because I love the character. I love the songs. I think it’s such a beautiful voice to bring to the stage.”
Although Overton is elated to play Pippin, they had also considered going after other roles as well.
“I did consider other roles. I definitely considered Charlamagne and Lewis as other potential options,” Overton said. “As they’re both, you know, fun characters, and they have different styles to them that I would also like to explore within my acting career.”
While this is not Overton’s first time being in a Winthrop production, as they were in the 2021 and 2022 musicals “Review” and “Spring Awakening” respectively. However, this is their first lead role at Winthrop and they’re ready to build their own rendition of the character Pippin.
“ I want to build a character that shows,” Overton said. “While Pippin is the lead character, he’s also the main character of the show within the show. So he has to have such a presence. And I’m super excited to work with our director, Rachel Dawson and build that presence. And I’m so excited to work with our music director, Dr. West Davis, and build the voice for that person.”
Even though Overton feels gratitude to be the lead of musical, they emphasize on the fact that they are not the lead of the production, highlighting the importance of every cast and crew member that is a part of this student led production.
“ I think that it’s important to know that everybody has equal weight in this show. I don’t want to lead this production, I want to walk arm in arm with the ensemble,” Overton said.
“I want to make sure that I am bringing all of their work with me and uplifting everybody together. There are talented people in every facet of this production. And it’s my role to bring my character to the audience. And it is my role as a performer to perform with my ensemble. And to make sure that everybody is noticed and everybody is brought to the forefront, because everybody can bring so much to this production.”
Another factor of the musical that Overton is looking forward to is the chance to sing with their co-star and explore the dynamic between Pippin and Sydney Largent’s character, Leading Player.
“The leading player is very momentous in making sure that the show stays going. And so when Pippin deviates, she’s there to try to correct him and try to bring him back into the show,” Overton said.
“I’ve been in multiple productions with Sydney in the past and I’m so excited that she got Leading Player. I just want to hear her voice and I want to sing with her, her presence on stage is phenomenal.”
Largent is a junior musical theater major and could not be happier to have the chance to be in this musical.
“When they announced we were doing Pippin, I was quite excited. Pippin is just renowned for its lifelike circus acts. And there was a lot of excitement surrounding it,” Largent said. “And I was just really excited to just be any character, I didn’t care who I was, I was just excited to do anything.”
Largent describes the theater community here at Winthrop as not so much as competitive but rather as a very uplifting environment and it was the same with her audition process.
“ It was a very open space where you were free to just show what you had on the table,” Largent said, describing the auditions. “It was just a really cool experience to just be in a room with people who are just like you, wanting the same spot. And it wasn’t like a competition kind of thing. It was just like, we all come here to celebrate our talents and our gifts and show off our gifts to everybody and see where we would fit into the show.”
Largent is vocal about the crucial message in the show which is about being grateful for what you have, and believes that this universal lesson is something that the audience is going to appreciate.
“[The Musical] is more than just about a boy who comes out of his childhood and goes into the circus, it’s about the exploration of the human experience, and how we take so much for granted in our lives. And we want so much more for ourselves but when it really comes down to it, we all have people in our lives that really matter that we take for granted and experiences that we take for granted,” Largent said.
“And so you know, this show explores why you should cherish those things and not want for so much, but appreciate the things that you have and just live life to the fullest.”
After years of performing with the theater department with her peers, one of the biggest lessons Largent has taken away is to not be afraid to rely on your cast and crew.
“Not to be cliche but we’re all in this together, we are all a part of this production. And you will see these people for the next two months and a half, so you might as well get used to them, you might as well be able to lean on them. I think sometimes it’s hard in any profession, to ask for help when you need it. I think it’s hard to remember that,” Largent said.
“Sometimes in life you do need to be able to lean on the people around you and be able to to give each other advice and help and and make sure that each one of us are safe and having fun throughout the entire process. I think that’s the most simple and important thing I could ever learn from any production that I’ve done here.”
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