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November 14, 2014
Pippin's Josh Kaufman on his B'way Debut, his New Album, and Serendipity's Pippin Sundae

-9We've got eating to do at popular coffee shop Serendipity 3, which has just unveiled a dessert in honor of Tony Award-winning musical Pippin. The "Pippin High-flying Sundae" is a big top extravaganza consisting of three scoops of ice cream doused with a river of hot fudge, served in a ring-sized bowl dipped in raspberry sauce, a high-wire of sour rainbow ribbon candy with a magical mountain of whipped cream, topped with a circus swirl lollipop and covered with a mysterious showering of dark chocolate covered popcorn.

We attended a private tasting party with actor Josh Kaufman, who is playing the leading role until the show's closing early next year. “It’s tasty. But I don’t think I should eat anymore," he said after the first official taste.  Best known for winning the sixth season of The Voice, Kaufman took over Pippin duties from Kyle Dean Massey in October after less than four weeks of rehearsal. We talked to Kaufman about his new album, how he's adjusting to Broadway, and what he likes about the part.

So this is your first Broadway show. How do you feel so far?

I feel good. I’ve enjoyed doing it and felt like the three and a half that I had to get ready were enough to be prepared to start and then the more I do it the more I kind of can get comfortable with it and kind of…less thinking and more really getting deeper with the part and what’s going on. So yeah, it’s been a great experience so far.

Had you done theater before this?

Yeah, I mean on a much smaller scale. Just typical, kind of, like doing it when I was in school and, you know, smaller productions back when I was at home, but obviously nothing to this extent.

What was your first impression of the show? Had you seen it before you were offered the part?

I was familiar with a lot of the music but I hadn’t seen the show. So when they had me come out the first time, which was back in August, I saw it then and then I saw it again when they had me come out for another work session in September. And my first impression was that it just felt like something very easy to relate to. Like the story of somebody searching for that thing that’s going to be the answer to life, the thing that’s going to be fulfilling, you know? And that kind of struggle between the spectacular and kind of sparkling magic and the genuine...and trying to balance those things and trying to figure out what’s real.  I don’t know, the story itself and the way it plays out, and the way this particular production is put together, what Diane Paulus has done with it: it really resonated with me. For sure.

Because Pippin is a show within a show and you’re an actor playing an actor who’s playing Pippin, did the show make you create a character like they did for all the other players?

One time one of the assistant directors and I talked a little bit and she was like, “How do you see Pippin? Is this person somebody who’s been with the company and has seen the show and is coming into it? Or is it somebody brand new?” And to me it’s like you kind of have to view it as somebody who's brand new, like you’re just experiencing this as it happens and it’s kind of all new and strange and like, wait a minute, this is cool and I’m discovering this, but at the same time I don’t quite understand it all. So that’s kind of the mindset of it at least.

Lastly, I know you’re working on an album. How’s that going?

The record company is going to put out a single first and then ideally, hopefully go forward with an album after that. The single's scheduled to release early next year, and [I'm] working with a booking agency to get a little bit of a tour booked after this show. But right now, I'm just working on the show, and when that’s done we really get right into getting the single out and promoting that.

See Pippin now in its finale weeks at the Music Box Theater and try the Pippin sundae before its limited engagement at Serendipity 3 ends. You’ll be sorry if you miss either.

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