Kyle Dean Massey Puts the 'Pip' in Pippin

The oohs, the aahs, the screams begin for Kyle Dean Massey the second he takes center stage as the title character of the long-running Broadway revival of the musical "Pippin" at the Music Box Theatre. And they're coming from everyone: teenage girls, their moms, and the gaggles of gay men who have come to gander at Massey. And that's even before he takes off his shirt to reveal a pair of pecs seemingly created by God and a six-pack that could rival Zac Efron's.

"It's cool that there are these teenage girls who have crushes on you because of who you are on stage," says Massey, who previously starred on Broadway in "Next to Normal" and "Wicked". "And it's even better that once they meet you after the show and realize you're a 32-year-old gay man, they still tell you that they love you."

As Massey freely admits, he has a lot of competition in the eye candy department, surrounded by some of the Great White Way's fittest dancers, acrobats, and circus performers, most of whom spend the show somewhat scantily clad. "It's crazy. Our show's tagline should be 'Pippin: The Show that Gives Everyone Body Dysmorphia,'" he says with a laugh. "The costumes, or should I say the lack of them, are really motivating."

Not that Massey needs to go the gym all that often given the enormous physical demands of his role, which range from pole climbing to running around the stage. "This is the most physical part I've ever played - perhaps the most physical thing I've ever done," he says. "Prior to coming into the show in March, I had no gymnastic or circus training. It turns out I could do barely a somersault, though I thought I could. When I did 'Wicked' (in which he played Fiyero), I made sure to go to the gym every day. I started to do the same thing here, and then I realized it was pointless. Playing Pippin is a great cardio workout in itself."

Watching Massey in the show seems like the perfect match of actor and part. Technically, he's playing a young inexperienced actor who is recruited by a visiting circus troupe to play the role of Pippin, the aimless eldest son of King Charlemagne who yearns for an extraordinary life, in their nightly extravaganza. It's exploring that duality that most excites Massey. "What I was most drawn to in auditioning for the role was the idea of playing these two characters who first seem very similar, but who you begin to realize during the second act how different they really are. It's unlike anything I've ever done," he notes.

Ironically, it was a role he was first attracted to 15 years ago. "Pippin's big ballad, 'Corner of the Sky,' was the song I used to audition for college," says Massey. "Except that I didn't get accepted to any of those schools. I eventually went to Missouri State, where you didn't have to audition until after your first year. And then everything went great. But I think because of that early experience, I shelved the whole idea of playing Pippin until this opportunity came along."

Once it did, he only had one minor reservation: until the second act number "On the Right Track," Massey (as Pippin) has to dance very badly. "First off, it's hard to dance badly when you can dance. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to do it badly enough," he says, with a chuckle. "And then I wondered if everyone would wonder all through the first act why I was on Broadway if I couldn't even dance. But now, I think it's kind of nice that people are confused for a while."

He's also enjoying working with his co-stars, who currently include Tony Award winner John Rubenstein as Charlemagne and Priscilla Lopez as his grandmother, Berthe. Both were members of the original Broadway company of "Pippin" in the 1970s; Rubinstein actually originated the role of Pippin. "We haven't really talked about what John's experiences were, in part, because the show now is so different than it was then, both in terms of its script and its execution," he says. "But what's so great about this production is that everyone, from an acrobat to a star, has been given great freedom to develop their character as they see it. It's been so much fun finding my way into this show."