Matthew James Thomas 100%!! Saw him 3 times on Broadway during the 2013 Revival with Patina Miller...It doesn't get any better than that!! ❤❤❤ William Katt, a close second. 😊
saw john in it many times- and i love this purer version than the new pop stuff. Its vocal gymnastics...it was always meant to be a simple show....even stripped bare for the finale- theater and simple costumes- loved it
My vote goes to William Katt. I like what he, how "corner" sounds gravely, and what he does accentuating his his falsetto with the music. My favorite by far.
Matthew James Thomas. Definitely. I totally agree with the "way over the top" syndrome. These guys do suffer from making a song their own, to the point of destroying the song. Matthew sings it straight ahead. Plus there is strength he puts behind his voice. I listened to him four times.
I've always been partial to William Katt's performance. But I did like what Josh Kaufman did with the song, as he gave it a unique interpretation rather than just sing it in the style that John Rubenstein did back in the 70s when the musical originally opened..
Having listened to these contenders as impartially as I can (I am an Aussie) I just have to agree. Farnham nailed. Vocally and emotionally. Far more maturity than his 25 years at the time. Listen for yourselves, it’s on RU-vid.
I'm also partial to fellow Australian Matthew Lee Robinson, who played the role in the 2007 Sydney production. He's the only Pippin I've seen who could belt the high C at the end.
Oh my goodness. William Katt nailed it - so beautiful without stretching into showing off. I could listen to him all day long. But I also have toy commend Paul Jones - lovely rendition despite horrible audio.
Some of these young bucks suffer from BDS (Broadway Diva Syndrome) where they feel they simply MUST make it their own and consequently end up going way over the top. So, for me, it's John Rubenstein (for old times' sake - classic), then Josh Kaufman. Nod to Gavin Creel.
Blind evaluation: #1. Yikes. #2. Solid B. #3. Yikes x 2 #4. Best so far. #5. Meh. #6. A. #7. C. #8. Meh. #9. B+. 10. OK. 11. B+. 12. B+ Lesson to be learned: only put into performance what you can nail every single time. Simple and well done always beats a fancy train wreck.
I'm annoyed that the vocal arrangement was unnecessary changed in these revival versions. Most of the singers are hampered by poor recording quality as well. My vote goes to someone who is not represented here. In 1974 Barry Williams (yeah, Greg Brady of the Brady Bunch) did a touring company production of Pippin that I saw in Miami, Florida and he blew it away! He had a beautiful, strong, voice. With respect to all the other contenders.
Only Gavin Creel for me. The 1st & 3rd are just poor nasally off key impressions of Elmo whose balls havent dropped yet (or constipated) whoever cast them in the role should be put to jail.
The only one who absolutely made it sound absolutely perfect to me was Benn Platt and i’m not doing favoritism of actor,but the others just sound like absolute amateurs to me no disrespect.
