Durango High School, Fort Lewis College stage performances through Saturday

Durango has a long history of being known as a theater town. Our reputation splendidly continues with two high-energy American musicals running simultaneously through Saturday.

Durango High School Troupe 1096 is staging an astonishingly creative production of “Hadestown.” Fort Lewis College’s Department of Performing Arts has mounted a challenging revival of “Pippin.” Together, they offer a short course in musical theater history. Both run through this weekend and should not be missed.

WHAT: Durango High School Troupe 1096 performs “Hadestown,” by Anaïs Mitchell, co-directed by Ben Matson and Jenny Fitts-Reynolds.

WHEN: 7 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday; and 2 p.m. Saturday.

WHERE: Durango High School, 2390 Main Ave.

TICKETS: $15, available online at troupe1096.weebly.com.

MORE INFORMATION: Visit troupe1096.weebly.com.

NOTE: Running time 150 minutes.

IF YOU GO

WHAT: “Pippin,” music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, book by Roger O. Hirson, directed and choreographed by Teri Hansen, Fort Lewis College Department of Performing Arts.

WHERE: MainStage, FLC Drama Building, 1000 Rim Drive.

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

TICKETS: Adults $28; FLC faculty/staff $15; non-FLC students $15; FLC Students free. Available at www.durangoconcerts.com.

MORE INFORMATION: Visit www.fortlewis.edu/theatre or call 247-7657.

Stylistically, “Pippin,” directed by Teri Hansen, harks back to the British Music Hall and American Vaudeville. Composer Stephen Schwartz began work on his quest fantasy in the 1960s. “Pippin” opened on Broadway in 1972, flourished on Broadway and surprisingly flopped in London.

Basic vaudevillian structure begins with a master of ceremonies who guides the audience through a set of discreet musical numbers, short scenes with dialogue, dances, audience sing-alongs and acrobatics. All that happens in “Pippin” with an onstage band that plays a variety of musical styles. The vaudeville format has remarkable staying power from Schwartz’s “Pippin” and “Godspell” right up to Kander and Ebb’s “Chicago.”

In contrast, “Hadestown” is fluid, almost filmic in its structure. It opened on Broadway in 2019, winning eight Tony Awards. Like opera, it is through-sung with no dialogue. Everything is seamlessly woven into a rippling fabric as plot elements merge and flow forward. Stylistically, “Hadestown” offers a very different theatrical experience from the stop-and-start structure of “Pippin.”

Both musicals are rooted in history and/or myth. “Pippin” is loosely based on Charlemagne, a ninth century European ruler, and his heir, Prince Pepin. In the musical, Pippin, the hero, arrives fresh from university studies in Padua in search of meaning and purpose. Composer Schwartz and his collaborator Roger Hirson framed the journey by dropping the young prince into a circus troupe. Its leader describes, and even interrupts, relationships, conflicts and Pippin’s adventures.

“Hadestown” retells the Greek myth of Eurydice who, after dying unexpectedly on her wedding day, enters the Underworld. In despair, her husband, Orpheus, follows and tries to retrieve her. Grafted onto the famous love story, a parallel myth, Hades and Persephone, complements and deepens the major plot line. American composer Anaïs Mitchell weaves the two myths together through her jazzy, folk-pop mix, embedding ballads into a complex and propulsive musical landscape.

FLC’s “Pippin” unspools on a colorful, circus-like set with a central playing area topped by balconies, swathes of curtains, a movable staircase, sliding starburst panels and a trapdoor for a spectacular opening entrance. Set Designer Eric Bulrice, Tech Director Jeff Widen and a crackerjack light and sound team work magic. Costume Designer Megan Sander and her team exaggerate a ’60s hallucinatory vibe with patterned tights, tattoos, fringe, tie-dye and hoops, not to mention sequins and glitter.

The dire Underworld set for “Hadestown” is the opposite. Tech Director Natalie Cohn and her crew have conjured a vast high-ceilinged factory with bleak brick walls, sheathes of muslin curtains and three continuously burning furnaces. It’s a huge Orwellian dungeon flanked by two side entrances – the Gate of Hell – and an elegant little balcony for the Boss. In addition, the company uses a passerelle, a semicircular walkway that extends into the audience. This old theatrical device separates intimate scenes and also provides an avenue for fast-moving action.

Both productions involve large casts. “Hadestown,” ably co-directed by Jenny Fitts Reynolds and Benjamin Mattson, seems to have a cast of thousands. The ensemble is headed by five major players and a trio known as The Fates (Angel Safari, Sofia Guiterrez and Tiana Batiste). Noah Oury portrays Hermes, the gods’ messenger, as a savvy, smart-suited and swiftly-moving narrator. It is Hermes who skillfully intertwines the two Greek myths: Orpheus and Eurydice (the engaging Gillian Reynolds and the soulful Bella Lucero); Persephone and Hades (the song-and-dance powerhouse Ava Allen and the snarky, entitled baritone Donovan Dalton). Brilliantly choreographed by Fitts Reynolds and her team, every movement has meaning – from clearing furniture to circling the doomed lovers.

In “Pippin,” Katelyn Bowie’s mesmerizing interpretation of the Leading Player sets a tone of knowing artifice that drives the musical. She is ably joined by Warren Rockett in a nuanced portrayal of the changeable Pippin; Calvin Marshall as a comically insipid king; and others who cross the prince’s path.

Both productions have live accompaniment. The onstage band in “Pippin,” directed by Holly Quist, sits behind a scrim and romps through its variety of styles with confidence. The DHS pit orchestra, directed by Petra Lyon, features a string section, a bit of brass, guitars and an outstanding percussion section.

Post-COVID-19, may we look forward to live music for Durango’s ongoing musical history?

Judith Reynolds is an arts journalist and member of the American Theatre Critics Association.

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