‘Feeling Afraid’ explores life of a neurotic stand-up comic

“Pippin”
Until July 26th
signature theater
4200 Campbell Avenue
arlington, virginia
$47-$153
sigtheater.org

In the lead role in Signature Theatre’s revival of Pippin, Cedric Neal plays the manipulative narrator who guides the title character, a young medieval prince, on a quest for meaning. Neil has also been receiving rave reviews for the role he has long wanted to play.

Neil recently shared his thoughts after the first Pippin preview performance. “Last night was exciting, mysterious and exotic. It was magical. It’s an overused word, but that’s what it was all about.”

With a powerful, rich tenor voice, Neil is best known as a charismatic West End and Broadway star (Back to the Future, Hadestown, Guys and Dolls) and as a memorable semi-finalist on The Voice UK in 2019.

This time, Stephen Schwartz’s “Pippin” will be performed for the second time at the Signature Theater, which Neil loves dearly. His first role was as Jimmy Early in Dreamgirls in 2012, for which he won a Helen Hayes Award for the raucous role. During its production, Neal developed deep friendships with actor Nova Y. Payton and director Matthew Gardiner. Plus, I met my husband while rehearsing for the show.

“He likes to say he met him on Match.com, but that’s not what I remember,” Neil says. “It was called ‘Adam4Adam’. It could have been a hookup, but instead we ended up talking for hours over coffee in Shirlington Village. Two years later we were married.”

blade: The triumphant return to the city is so wonderful.

Neil: I’m having the best time of my life. It takes 30 minutes to get off after the show. It’s explosive.

blade: Was Leading Player the role you wanted to play?

Neil: Very and exactly like this. Rather than relying on the circus troupe aspect, our director Matthew [Gardiner] It explores the darkness of the story and the dangers of falling prey to cult ideology.

blade: How ferocious are the leading players?

Neil: I’m not judging my character. I believe that at some point, the leading players have good intentions. At some point ego becomes involved. Promises become distorted.

blade: When performing “Pippin,” is it possible to separate the iconic Bob Dyan choreography and Ben Vereens’ sexy portrayal of the lead role from the original production?

Neil: Although not complete, in our work Matthew [Gardiner] and Rachel Leigh Dolan meticulously respected the choreography and storytelling of Foss’ work, rather than carbon copying it. I think it’s amazing.

blade: Was joining ‘The Voice UK’ a strategic career move?

Neil: it was. At the time, I had just been flatly rejected for a West End show and was told by the casting director that the role should have been mine, but that there would be an uproar if they cast a then-unknown American.

Then when ‘Voice UK’ scouted me, my agent said this was a great opportunity to raise my profile. Ultimately, I was given the worldwide opportunity to stand on stage and sing as Cedric.

blade: A thrilling original rendition of Stevie Wonder’s “Higher Ground” thrilled the audience and judges like Jennifer Holiday and Sir Tom Jones (in a good way). Would musical theater similarly make beloved and well-known songs like “Join Us” and “Glory” from Pippin their own?

Neil: I couldn’t always do it, but now I can. When I talk to young performers, I talk about the song “Gypsy,” in which an experienced stripper says that if you want to be a star, you need a gimmick.

I come from a gospel, R&B, and serious classical background, and have always had a gospel and soulful flair. When I entered the world of musical theater, I put a twist on a song, but the music director asked me to tone it down.

Ten years into my career, I became known for my musical talent, which became my gimmick. In musical theater, it is a legitimate term to refer to a song as “sedrifi.” And you’ll see that we bring it to “Pippin.”

blade: From what I’ve read about you, it seems like you’ve made bold choices and surrounded yourself with supportive friends and family who chose you by blood.

Neil: Yes, it’s not an accident. I come from a lineage of revolutionaries and pioneers, and I stand on their shoulders. All my ancestors were warriors and their fights will not be in vain. I also always go up to the podium and represent all the marginalized communities that I’m a part of: black people, gay people, interracial people, liberals.

blade: Are you and your husband still living in a windmill?

Neil: We’ve left the windmill and we’re still in Britain Imagine our story. A poor black boy from Dallas, Texas meets a fifth-generation rancher from Alberta, Canada, and they move to England, adopt a Labradoodle, and live in an actual windmill. Isn’t that the gayest shit you’ve ever heard?

blade: It’s like a fairy tale.

Neil: it was. It’s still there.