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Pippin (musical)

Pippin is a 1972 musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and book by Roger O. Hirson. Bob Fosse, who directed the original Broadway production, also contributed to the libretto. The musical uses the premise of a mysterious performance troupe, led by the Leading Player, to tell the story of Pippin, a young prince on his search for meaning and significance. The 'fourth wall' is broken numerous times during most traditional productions.

The protagonist, Pippin, and his father, Charlemagne, are characters derived from two historical figures of the early Middle Ages, though the plot is fictional and presents no historical accuracy regarding either. The show was partially financed by Motown Records. As of January 2024, the original run of Pippin is the 37th longest-running Broadway show.

Ben Vereen and Patina Miller won Tony Awards for their portrayals of the Leading Player in the original Broadway production and the 2013 revival, respectively, making them the first actors to win Tonys for Best Leading Actor and Best Leading Actress in a Musical, for the same role.

Background
Pippin was originally conceived as a student musical, Pippin, Pippin, performed by Carnegie Mellon University's Scotch'n'Soda theatre troupe. Stephen Schwartz collaborated with Ron Strauss, but when Schwartz decided to develop the show further, Strauss left the project. Schwartz had said that not a single line or note from Carnegie Mellon's Pippin made it into the final version.

Act 1
This musical begins with the Leading Player of a traveling performance troupe and the accompanying Players inviting the audience to witness their show, breaking the fourth wall ("Magic to Do"). They begin telling the story of Pippin, (who they say is being portrayed by a new actor making his stage debut), the first son of King Charlemagne. Addressing the Players as if they are the professors at his college graduation, Pippin sings of his wish for fulfillment, believing he must find his purpose in life ("Corner of the Sky"). Pippin returns home to the castle and estate of his father. Charlemagne and Pippin don't get a chance to communicate often, as they are constantly interrupted by nobles, soldiers, and courtiers vying for Charlemagne's attention ("Welcome Home"). Pippin also meets with his ambitious stepmother Fastrada, and her dim-witted son Lewis. Charles and Lewis are planning on going into battle against the Visigoths soon, and Pippin begs his father to take him along as a soldier to prove himself. Charles reluctantly agrees and proceeds to explain the battle plan to his men ("War is a Science"), interrupted repeatedly by an over-enthusiastic Pippin.

The Players express the battle through song and dance, with the Leading Player and two lead dancers in the middle (performing Bob Fosse's famous "Manson Trio") whilst depictions of violence and dismemberment occur behind them ("Glory"). Charles declares victory, and leads his army off to the next battle, eager for more glory. A disillusioned Pippin has a cynical discussion with the severed head of an enemy soldier, recognizing the futility of battle. He flees to the countryside as the Leading Player sings of the pleasures of a free and easy life ("Simple Joys"). There, Berthe, his paternal grandmother, exiled by Fastrada, tells Pippin to stop worrying about his future, and rather to enjoy the pleasures and comforts of the present ("No Time at All"). Pippin takes this advice to heart and searches for more lighthearted pastimes. He begins to enjoy many meaningless sexual encounters, but it soon becomes overwhelming and Pippin forces all the women away ("With You"), discovering that relationships without love leave you feeling "empty and vacant".

The Leading Player enters and talks with the now exhausted Pippin, suggesting that fulfillment can be found in fighting against his father's tyrannical ways. He agrees, and becomes the leader of a revolution against his father. Fastrada learns of Pippin's plan, and she takes advantage of it by devising a plan of her own— if Pippin either successfully kills Charlemagne, or fails and is arrested for treason, Lewis will be next in line for the throne either way. She manipulates Charlemagne into going to his annual prayer early, and she tells Pippin that he will be at the chapel unarmed ("Spread a Little Sunshine"). At the royal chapel in Arles, Pippin confronts his father, who justifies his cruelty and tyranny as being necessary tools to achieve peace and prosperity for the realm. He dismissively tells Pippin to do what he must. Pippin assassinates his father, and the people bow to their new king, rejoicing that the tyranny has come to an end ("Morning Glow"). The Leading Player mentions to the audience that they will break for now, but to expect a thoroughly thrilling finale.

Act 2
As king, Pippin brings peace to the land by giving to the poor, eradicating taxes, ending the military, and peacefully settling foreign disputes. However, this soon falls apart, as Pippin is forced to go back on many of his promises, reverting to the tyrannical ways of his father. At Pippin's request, the Leading Player revives Charlemagne, who takes the throne back, and Pippin is left discouraged, as his life is still unfulfilled. The Leading Player counsels him to keep going down his life's path ("On the Right Track"), but after experimenting with art and religion, Pippin falls into monumental despair and collapses on the floor.

Widowed farm-owner Catherine finds him on the street and is attracted by the arch of his foot ("And There He Was"), and when Pippin comes to, she introduces herself ("Kind of Woman"). From the start, it is clear that the Leading Player is concerned with Catherine's acting ability and actual attraction to Pippin — after all, she is but a player playing a part in the Leading Player's yet-to-be-unfolded plan. Catherine has Pippin help as a farmhand on her estate. At first, Pippin thinks himself above such things ("Extraordinary"), but after comforting her son, Theo, on the sickness and eventual death of his pet duck ("Prayer for a Duck"), he warms up to Catherine and finds himself attracted to her ("Love Song"). However, as time goes by, Pippin realizes he's grown too comfortable in monotony, and leaves the estate to continue searching for his true purpose. Catherine is heartbroken and reflects on him, spontaneously beginning a song that was not initially in the script, much to the Leading Player's anger and surprise ("I Guess I'll Miss the Man").

All alone on a stage, Pippin is surrounded by the Leading Player and the various Players. They tell him that the only fulfilling thing is their one perfect act, the Finale, in which Pippin will light himself on fire and "become one with the flame", implying that he will die in the process. They compare him to the sun, convincing him to sacrifice his life for one burst of glory, Just when he is about to do it, he realizes that there has to be something other than death and chooses not to follow through. Catherine and Theo enter, defying the script, and stand beside Pippin. He sings to her, realizing that his purpose was never in magic or spectacle, but rather to live an ordinary life ("Finale"/"Magic Shows and Miracles"). The furious Leading Player throws a fit, calling off the show and telling the rest of the Players and the orchestra to pack up, leaving Pippin, Catherine, and Theo alone on the empty stage without sets, lights or costumes. Alone and abandoned by the troupe, Catherine asks Pippin how he feels. Pippin answers, "Trapped...but happy—which isn't too bad for the end of a musical comedy."

Extended ending
The "Theo ending" was originally conceived in 1998 by Mitch Sebastian, and is included in all newer productions of Pippin, including the 2013 Broadway revival. After the Players shun Pippin for not performing the grand finale, and he avers his contentment with a simple life with Catherine, Theo remains alone on stage and sings a verse of "Corner of the Sky", after which the Leading Player and the Players return, backed by the "Magic to Do" melody, implying that the existential crisis at the heart of the play is part of a cycle and will now continue, but with Theo as the Players' replacement for Pippin. Current productions vary between the two possible endings, though Schwartz himself has expressed his preference for the newer ending. This is also the ending used in most licensed versions of the musical.

Notes

Musical numbers
Though Pippin is written to be performed in one act and its single-arc structure does not easily accommodate an intermission, many performances are broken into two acts. In the two-act version currently licensed by Musical Theatre International, the intermission comes after "Morning Glow", with an Act I finale – an abridged version of "Magic to Do" – inserted after Charles' murder. As with the new ending, the intermission can be added at the director's discretion without additional permission required. The 2013 Broadway revival is performed with an intermission.

Original Broadway production
• "Magic to Do" – Leading Player and The Players

• "Corner of the Sky" – Pippin

• "Welcome Home" – Charlemagne and Pippin

• "War Is a Science" – Charlemagne, Pippin, and Soldiers

• "Glory" – Leading Player and Soldiers

• "Simple Joys" – Leading Player

• "No Time at All" – Berthe and The Gang

• "With You" – Pippin

• "Spread a Little Sunshine" – Fastrada

• "Morning Glow" – Pippin and The Players

• "On the Right Track" – Leading Player and Pippin

• "Kind of Woman" – Catherine and The Players

• "Extraordinary" – Pippin

• "Prayer for a Duck" – Pippin

• "Love Song" – Pippin and Catherine

• "I Guess I'll Miss the Man" – Catherine

• "Finale" – Leading Player, Fastrada, Pippin, and The Players

2013 Broadway revival
Act I

 * "Magic to Do" – Leading Player, Players
 * "Corner of the Sky" – Pippin
 * "War Is a Science" – Charlemagne, Pippin, Soldiers
 * "Glory" – Leading Player, Soldiers
 * "Simple Joys" – Leading Player
 * "No Time at All" – Berthe, Players
 * "With You" – Pippin
 * "Spread a Little Sunshine" – Fastrada
 * "Morning Glow" – Pippin, Leading Player, Players

Act II

 * "Entr'acte" – Players
 * "On the Right Track" – Leading Player, Pippin
 * "And There He Was" – Catherine
 * "Kind of Woman" – Catherine, Ensemble
 * "Extraordinary" – Pippin
 * "Prayer for a Duck" – Pippin, Theo †
 * "Love Song" – Pippin, Catherine
 * "I Guess I'll Miss the Man" – Catherine
 * "Finale/Magic Shows and Miracles" – Leading Player, Lewis, Pippin, and Ensemble
 * "Corner of the Sky (Reprise)" – Theo €

Notes

€ - Included as part of the "Finale" track on the Cast Recording † - Not included in the Cast Recording

Licensed version
Act I

 * "Magic to Do" – Leading Player, Fastrada, Berthe, Lewis, Charlemagne, and Ensemble
 * "Corner of the Sky" – Pippin
 * "War Is a Science" – Charlemagne, Pippin, and Soldiers
 * "Glory" – Leading Player and Soldiers
 * "Simple Joys" – Leading Player
 * "No Time at All" – Berthe and Ensemble
 * "With You" – Pippin
 * "Spread a Little Sunshine" – Fastrada, Lewis, Ensemble
 * "Morning Glow" – Pippin, Leading Player and Ensemble

Act II

 * "Entr'acte" – Ensemble
 * "On the Right Track" – Leading Player and Pippin
 * "There He Was" – Catherine
 * "Kind of Woman" – Catherine and Ensemble
 * "Extraordinary" – Pippin
 * "Prayer for a Duck" – Pippin, Theo, and Catherine
 * "Love Song" – Pippin and Catherine
 * "I Guess I'll Miss the Man" – Catherine
 * "Finale" – Leading Player, Lewis, Pippin, and Ensemble
 * "Theo's Corner"§ – Theo and Ensemble

In the original 1972 production, Fosse planned to use Stephen Schwartz's songs "Marking Time" and "Just Between the Two of Us", but before the show opened on Broadway the songs were replaced with "Extraordinary" and "Love Song" respectively. The songs "Spread a Little Sunshine" and "On the Right Track" were added to the show during its rehearsal period at the request of Bob Fosse. "And There He Was" was cut from the show before it made it to Broadway, but was incorporated into all future revisions.

Notable casts
Original Broadway Replacements:

 * Pippin: Walter Willison, Michael Rupert, Dean Pitchford
 * Leading Player: Samuel E. Wright, Northern J. Calloway, Ben Harney, Larry Riley
 * Berthe: Dorothy Stickney
 * Catherine: Betty Buckley, Joy Franz
 * Fastrada: Priscilla Lopez, Patti Karr

Broadway Revival:

 * Pippin: Kyle Dean Massey, Josh Kaufman
 * Leading Player: Ciara Renée, Carly Hughes, Ariana DeBose
 * Berthe: Tovah Feldshuh, Annie Potts, Priscilla Lopez
 * Charlemagne: John Rubinstein, Christopher Sieber, John Dossett

Original Broadway Production
The show premiered at the Imperial Theater on October 23, 1972, and ran for 1,944 performances before closing on June 12, 1977. It was directed and choreographed by Bob Fosse. The original cast was led by Ben Vereen as Leading Player, John Rubinstein as Pippin, Eric Berry as Charlemagne, Leland Palmer as Fastrada, Christopher Chadman as Lewis, Irene Ryan as Berthe, Jill Clayburgh as Catherine, and Shane Nickerson as Theo.

Clive Barnes commented for The New York Times, "It is a commonplace set to rock music, and I must say I found most of the music somewhat characterless....It is nevertheless consistently tuneful and contains a few rock ballads that could prove memorable." Advertising for the Broadway production broke new ground with the first TV commercial that actually showed scenes from a Broadway show. The 60-second commercial showed Ben Vereen and two chorus dancers, Candy Brown and Pamela Sousa, in the instrumental dance sequence from "Glory". The commercial ended with the tagline, "You can see the other 119 minutes of Pippin live at the Imperial Theatre, without commercial interruption."

Musical theatre scholar Scott Miller said in his 1996 book, From Assassins to West Side Story, "Pippin is a largely under-appreciated musical with a great deal more substance to it than many people realize....Because of its 1970s pop style score and a somewhat emasculated licensed version for amateur productions, which is very different from the original Broadway production, the show now has a reputation for being merely cute and harmlessly naughty; but if done the way director Bob Fosse envisioned it, the show is surreal and disturbing." Fosse introduced "quasi-Brechtian elements" to empower audiences. Brecht's 'distancing effect' breaks the illusion of reality to encourage analysis of the play's meaning. The ambiguity of Pippin's "trapped, but happy" line forces spectators to confront the frustrations of ordinary life as well as the fruitlessness of Pippin's attempt at revolution. Distancing empowers the spectator to think, and moreover to decide for themselves.

Original West End Production
The show opened in the West End at Her Majesty's Theatre on October 30, 1973, and ran for 85 performances. Louise Quick, Fosse's personal assistant, and Gene Foote, an original cast member, co-directed this production with Fosse's original staging and choreography. The cast included Northern Calloway as the Leading Player, Paul Jones as Pippin, John Turner as Charlemagne, Diane Langton as Fastrada, Elisabeth Welch as Berthe, and Patricia Hodge as Catherine.

National Tours
The first national tour opened on September 20, 1974, at the Scranton Cultural Center. The production starred Irving Lee as the Leading Player, Barry Williams as Pippin, I. M. Hobson as Charlemagne, Louisa Flanigan as Fastrada, Adam Grammis as Lewis, Dortha Duckworth as Berthe, Carol Fox Prescott as Catherine, and Eric Brown as Theo. The production closed at The Playhouse on Rodney Square in Wilmington, Delaware, on April 5, 1975.

A second tour starring Michael Rupert as Pippin, Larry Riley as the Leading Player, Eric Berry as Charles (reprising his role from the original Broadway cast), and Thelma Carpenter as Berthe opened at the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera on August 2, 1977. The tour closed at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion back in Los Angeles on August 26, 1978.

A third tour began opened on October 7, 2006, at the Eisenhower Hall Theatre in West Point, New York. The cast was led by Andre Ward as the Leading Player, Joshua Park as Pippin, Micky Dolenz as Charlemagne, Shannon Lewis as Fastrada, James Royce Edwards as Lewis, Teal Wicks as Catherine, and Jason Blaines as Theo. The production ended its run on January 15, 2007, at the Forrest Theatre in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The fourth US tour (the 2013 Broadway revival version) launched in September 2014, at the Buell Theatre in Denver, Colorado, with Sasha Allen as Leading Player, Kyle Selig as Pippin, John Rubinstein as Charles, Sabrina Harper as Fastrada, Kristine Reese as Catherine, and Lucie Arnaz as Berthe. Selig was placed on vocal rest just one week before the tour was scheduled to open and was replaced by Matthew James Thomas. Despite being said to be on a medical leave of absence, Selig never rejoined the touring company; but instead, when Thomas left the production, he was replaced by Kyle Dean Massey. Andrea Martin reprised her role as Berthe for the last two weeks of the San Francisco engagement and the entire Los Angeles engagement of the tour. In Dallas in summer of 2015 the role of Berthe was played by Adrienne Barbeau and Pippin by Sam Lips. Gabrielle McClinton (who performed the role on Broadway as Tony Award Winner Patina Miller's understudy) replaced Sasha Allen as Leading Player on July 29, 2015, in Chicago, and Brian Flores replaced Sam Lips as Pippin.

Broadway Revival
A new production was developed for the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The production was directed by Diane Paulus, with choreography by Chet Walker, scenic design by Scott Pask, costume design by Dominique Lemieux, lighting design by Kenneth Posner, sound design by Clive Goodwin, orchestrations by Larry Hochman, music supervision by Nadia DiGiallonardo, and music direction by Charlie Alterman. Notable in this new production are its integration of illusions by Paul Kieve and circus acts created by Gypsy Snider and performed by the Montreal-based troupe Les 7 Doigts de la Main. The cast was led by Matthew James Thomas as the title prince, Patina Miller as Leading Player, Andrea Martin as Berthe, Rachel Bay Jones as Catherine, Erik Altemus as Lewis, Terrence Mann as King Charles, Charlotte d'Amboise as Fastrada and Andrew Cekala as Theo. The players were Gregory Arsenal, Lolita Costet, Colin Cunliffe, Andrew Fitch, Orion Griffiths, Viktoria Grimmy, Olga Karmansky, Bethany Moore, Stephanie Pope, Philip Rosenberg, Yannick Thomas, Molly Tynes, and Anthony Wayne. Miller was nervous to take on the role of the Leading Player, re-creating a character originated by the highly acclaimed Vereen. However, the challenge presented by such a role, and the representational power of the gender-blind casting, outweighed the apprehension. "I know there are people who wonder why the Leading Player has to be a woman this time, but one of the great things about revivals is to be able to do things in a new and exciting way," Miller said. Composer Stephen Schwartz was present to oversee the sitzprobe. The production omits the first act number "Welcome Home". The A.R.T. production opened on December 5, 2012, and ran through January 20, 2013.

The production transferred to Broadway beginning with previews on March 23, 2013, at the Music Box Theatre, followed by an opening on April 25. The same cast that performed at the A.R.T. transferred to the Broadway production. Diane Paulus again directed, with circus choreography and acrobatics by Chet Walker and Gypsy Snider. This revival won four categories at the 67th Tony Awards out of 10 nominations, including Best Revival, Best Leading Actress for Miller, Best Featured Actress for Martin, and Best Direction for Paulus. On April 1, 2014, the roles of Pippin and Leading Player were taken over by Kyle Dean Massey and Ciara Renée, respectively. The role of Berthe was taken over by Tovah Feldshuh, Annie Potts, and then Priscilla Lopez. On June 19, 2014 John Rubinstein, the original Pippin in 1972, replaced Terrence Mann in the role of Charles. From September 2, 2014, through September 21, 2014, the role of Berthe was played again by Andrea Martin, who won the Tony for her portrayal of Berthe in 2013. In September 2014, Carly Hughes replaced Ciara Renee as the Leading Player. In November, Josh Kaufman, winner of the sixth season of U.S. television series The Voice, took over the role of Pippin from Kyle Dean Massey.

The Broadway revival closed on January 4, 2015.

Other productions
The original Australian production (a replica of the Broadway production) opened in February 1974 at Her Majesty's Theatre in Melbourne. It starred John Farnham as Pippin, with Ronne Arnold as the Leading Player, Colleen Hewett as Catherine, Nancye Hayes as Fastrada, David Ravenswood as Charles and Jenny Howard as Berthe. The production transferred to Her Majesty's Theatre in Sydney in August 1974. A cast album was released and it reached 60th on the Australian charts according to the Kent Music Report.

Following an 8-month suspension of theatrical performances due to the global coronavirus pandemic, Pippin was the first major musical to open in Australia, produced by the Gordon Frost Organisation at the Lyric Theatre in Sydney. Previews began 24 November with an official opening on 3 December 2020, and a planned closing on January 31, 2021. The production reproduces the 2014 Broadway revival and is directed by Diane Paulus. It stars Ainsley Melham as the title character and Gabrielle McClinton, reprising her Broadway role as Leading Player. The cast also includes: Simon Burke as Charlemagne, Lucy Maunder as Catherine, Leslie Bell as Fastrada, Euan Doidge as Lewis and Kerri-Anne Kennerley as Berthe. Theo is alternated between Ryan Yates, George Halahan-Cantwell, Andrew Alexander and William Wheeler. The production was criticized for failing to cast a local woman of colour as the Leading Player.

In 1974, Pippin made its Spanish-language debut at Teatro de los Insurgentes in Mexico City. It was produced by Mexican pop singer Julissa, who also played Catherine. Also in the cast were Burt Rodríguez as Leading Player, Héctor Ortiz as Pippin, Guillermo Rivas as Charles, Anita Blanch as Berthe, and Jacqueline Voltaire as Fastrada. A cast album was released by Discos Gas.

On June 10, 1975, the musical made its African debut at His Majesty's Theatre in Johannesburg, South Africa. It was produced by musical duo Des and Dawn Lindberg and starred Sammy Brown as Leading Player, Hal Watters as Pippin, Robin Dolton as Charles, Andre Haddingh as Catherine, Jo-Ann Pezarro as Fastrada, and Bess Finney as Berthe. A cast recording was released by Satbel later in 1975.

In 1986, a production of Pippin toured throughout the US, directed by Ben Vereen. Vereen also reprised his original role of the Leading Player. The production was choreographed by Kathryn Doby, who was also in the original production. The cast featured: Sam Scalamoni (Pippin), Betty Ann Grove (Berthe), Ginger Prince (Fastrada), Rae Norman (Catherine), and Ed Dixon (Charles).

In June 2000, the Paper Mill Playhouse in Milburn, New Jersey, staged a revival with director Robert Johanson, choreographer, set design Michael Anania, costume design by Gene Meyer and Gregg Barnes, lighting design Kirk Bookman, and orchestrations by David Siegel. The cast starred Jim Newman (Lead Player), Ed Dixon (Charlemagne), Jack Noseworthy (Pippin), Natascia Diaz (Catherine), Sara Gettelfinger (Fastrada), Davis Kirby (Lewis), and Charlotte Rae (Berthe).

In 2004, the first major New York revisitation of the show was featured as the second annual World AIDS Day Concert presented by Jamie McGonnigal. It featured Michael Arden as Pippin, Laura Benanti as Catherine, Julia Murney as Fastrada, Terrence Mann as Charlemagne, Charles Busch as Berthe, and the role of the Leading Player was split up among five actors including Rosie O'Donnell, Darius de Haas, Billy Porter, Kate Shindle and a surprise guest appearance by Ben Vereen, making his first New York stage appearance in over a decade.

In 2005, the Bay Street Theatre in Sag Harbor, New York, staged a production starring BD Wong (Leading Player), Stephanie Pope (Fastrada), Anastasia Barzee (Catherine) and James Stanek (Pippin). The production ran from August 9, 2005, through September 4, 2005.

East West Players (EWP) produced a diverse and inclusive version of the musical featuring a cast with all artists of color as a part of their 42nd season under the artistic direction of Tim Dang. At the time, Pippin was the highest grossing production ever produced by EWP in their 50-year history (later surpassed by Allegiance in 2018). Stephen Schwartz had reached out to Tim Dang on multiple occasions prior to the show's run, playfully noting that EWP had a penchant for hosting the works of Stephen Sondheim while "never [doing Schwartz's] work -- the other SS." From this interaction, a new version of the musical was conceived.

As with other interpretations of this musical, the music and aesthetics of EWP's iteration were a vast departure from the original. Both aspects of the production were heavily inspired by the animated works of Shinichirō Watanabe, who is most well known for his work on the Japanese anime series Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo; as such, the production incorporated aesthetic aspects of both anime and hip-hop. The set, designed by Alan Muraoka, was constructed in the image of a dance club with characters sporting vibrantly colored costumes and slicked neon hairstyles. Dang saw this blend of cultural elements as a reflection of the youth at the time:"A lot of the younger audiences, the younger performers, don't want to be defined by race anymore. They're not necessarily Asian anymore, or African American or Latino. They're this urban, metropolitan, cosmopolitan kind of generation."The show was produced in Los Angeles at the Mark Taper Forum, from January 15, 2009, through March 15, 2009, in a radically different form. The play's setting was changed to reflect a modern tone and was subtly modified to include deaf actors using American Sign Language. The production was choreographed and directed by Jeff Calhoun for actors from both the Deaf West Theatre Company and the Center Theatre Group. The title character was played by Tyrone Giordano and was voiced by actor Michael Arden. The Leading Player was played by Ty Taylor. The rest of the cast included Troy Kotsur as Charles (who was voiced by Dan Callaway), Sara Gettelfinger as Fastrada, Harriet Harris as Berthe, and Melissa van der Schyff as Catherine. Nicolas Conway and José F. Lopez Jr. alternated as the role of Theo (and they were voiced by Bryan Terrell Clark). The New York Times noted that the duality was required by the situation, but effectively showcased the character's "lack of a fixed self" in an exciting new fashion.

The Menier Chocolate Factory opened a revival of Pippin on November 22, 2011. The cast was made up of Frances Ruffelle, Ian Kelsey, Matt Rawle, Carly Bawden, Ben Bunce, Louise Gold, Bob Harms, Harry Hepple, Holly James, Anabel Kutay, David McMullan, Stuart Neal, David Page, and Kate Tydman. The creative team was led by director/choreographer Mitch Sebastian.

The Kansas City Repertory Theatre produced and performed a version of Pippin that opened on September 14, 2012, and closed on October 7, 2012. The score was adapted to reflect a punk-rock style by Curtis Moore. The cast included Wallace Smith as the Leading Player, Claybourne Elder as Pippin, John Hickok as Charles, Katie Kalahurka as Fastrada/Ensemble, Sam Cordes as Lewis, Mary Testa as Berthe, Katie Gilchrist as Catherine/Ensemble, and Utah Boggs as Theo. The ensemble was made up of Jennie Greenberry and Gil Perez-Abraham Jr.

The creative team was headed by Director Eric Rosen, Production Stage Manager Samantha Greene, Music Director/Orchestrator/Arranger Curtis Moore, Choreography Chase Brock, Scenic Design Jack Magaw, Costumes Alison Heryer, Lighting Design Jason Lyons, and Sound Design Zachary Williamson. A Spanish-language version of Pippin, produced by the Lily Alvarez Sierra Company in Caracas, Venezuela, directed by César Sierra, opened on December 12, 2013. The cast featured Ruthsy Fuentes as the Leading Player, Wilfredo Parra as Pippin, Anthony LoRusso as Charlemagne, Marielena González as Fastrada, Orlando Alfonzo and Gerardo Lugo shared the role of Lewis, Violeta Alemán as Berthe, and Rebeca Herrera Martinez as Catherine.

In August 2017, a scaled down production opened at the Hope Mill Theatre in Manchester. It featured a ten-person cast and a scaled down set to focus more on the story. This production transferred in late February 2018 to the Southwark Playhouse in London for a limited run. The production starred Jonathan Carlton as Pippin and Genevieve Nicole as Leading Player.

A Japanese-language version of Pippin, produced by Fuji-Television, Kyodo-Tokyo and Watanabe-Entertainment in Tokyo, directed by Diane Paulus, opened on June 10, 2019. It then commenced a tour in July in Nagaoya, Osaka and Shizuoka. The cast featured Yu Shirota as Pippin, Crystal Kay as the Leading Player, Kiyotaka Imai as Charlemagne, Hiromu Kiriya as Fastrada, Ryosuke Okada as Lewis, Mie Nakao and Beverly Maeda shared the role of Berthe, Emma Miyazawa as Catherine, and Jian Kawai & Seishiro Higurashi shared the role of Theo.

Cast recordings
In 1972, a cast recording of the original Broadway production was released on LP by Motown Records. It was the label's first musical cast recording and featured the entire original cast. In 2000, it remastered and released on CD by Decca Broadway. This version featured The Supremes' cover of "I Guess I'll Miss the Man", The Jackson 5's cover of "Corner of the Sky", and Michael Jackson's cover of "Morning Glow" as bonus tracks.

A cast recording was made for the Australian premiere, starring John Farnham and Colleen Hewett in 1973. It was released on LP and later CD by EMI.

The first non-English cast album was made for the 1974 Mexico City production produced by and starring Julissa. Also featured were Hector Ortiz as Pippin, Burt Rodríguez as Leading Player, Guillermo Rivas as Charles, Jacqueline Voltaire as Fastrada, and Anita Blanch as Berthe. The recording was released by Discos Gas on LP in 1974.

A 2013 revival cast recording was released on CD by Ghostlight Records on April 29, 2013. This version included four karaoke tracks as bonus tracks. A competition was held to find 700 fans of the show to sing the section of "No Time at All" where Berthe invites the audience to sing along with her.

Additional cast albums were released for the 1975 Johannesburg production and the 2014 Poznań production. Los Angeles Harbor College also recorded and released a cast album of their production in 1980.

1981 filmed production
In 1981, a stage production of Pippin was videotaped for Canadian television. The stage production was directed by Kathryn Doby, Bob Fosse's dance captain for the original Broadway production, and David Sheehan directed the video. Ben Vereen returned for the role of Leading Player, while William Katt played the role of Pippin. However, this version was a truncated adaptation and several sections of the play were cut. Originally, Catherine sings "I Guess I'll Miss the Man" after Pippin departs, but this song does not appear in the video.

The cast included:
 * Ben Vereen as Leading Player
 * William Katt as Pippin
 * Leslie Denniston as Catherine
 * Benjamin Rayson as Charlemagne
 * Martha Raye as Berthe
 * Chita Rivera as Fastrada
 * Christopher Chadman as Lewis

Proposed feature film
In 2003, Miramax acquired the feature film rights for Pippin, following the success of the film adaptation of the musical Chicago.

It was announced in April 2013 that The Weinstein Company has set director/screenwriter James Ponsoldt to pen and adapt the film. In December 2014, Craig Zadan announced that his next project with coproducer Neil Meron would be Pippin, to be produced for The Weinstein Company. In April 2018, the film rights quietly reverted to Schwartz following The Weinstein Company's bankruptcy filing with the project being shopped to other studios.

title: Pippin (musical)


text:
Talk:Thrymr (moon)

Pronounciation
When I asked Cambridge how adding the ar affects the pronunciation, they said, "Yes, the r is pronounced as another syllable -- spelt in modern Icelandic -ur for this reason." --kwami 05:35, 14 Aug 2004 (UTC)

 * Since adjectival forms in English are usually based on the root of the word rather than the nominative form (compare Iris/iridium, Venus/venereal, Mars/Martian, Pluto/Plutonian, etc.), the r would be dropped. 'Thryman' would probably be used, but *'Thrymran' is out. kwami 2005 June 30 06:47 (UTC)

 * Modern Icenlandic spelling -ur is not equivalent to Old Norse spelling -r, AFAIK. The -u- is a later development, and corresponds to Continental Scandinavian -e-, as in åker. --Njardarlogar (talk) 09:40, 24 March 2013 (UTC)

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WFXT

WFXT (channel 25) is a television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, affiliated with the Fox network and owned by Cox Media Group. Its studios are located on Fox Drive (near the Boston-Providence Turnpike) in Dedham, and its transmitter is located on Cabot Street in Needham. WFXT is the largest Fox affiliate by market size that is not owned and operated by the network, although it was previously owned by Fox on two occasions (1987–1990 and 1995–2014).

Early years (1977–1986)
The station first signed on the air on October 10, 1977, as WXNE-TV (standing for "Christ (X) in New England"); originally operating as an independent station, it was founded by the then–Portsmouth, Virginia–based Christian Broadcasting Network. After being awarded a construction permit to build the station from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in June 1972, CBN targeted the new channel 25 to begin operations within one year. However, various delays in obtaining both a studio and transmitter location resulted in a wait of over five years for the station to finally sign-on. WXNE-TV's early programming format was targeted at a family audience, consisting of older syndicated reruns and a decent amount of religious programming—including CBN's flagship show, The 700 Club, hosted by the ministry's founder Pat Robertson. Religious programs ran for about six hours a day during the week, and throughout the day on Sundays. The station also carried the daily and Sunday Mass from the Boston Catholic Television Center. Secular programming consisted of westerns, older movies, family-oriented drama series, old film shorts, and classic television series. For several years under CBN ownership, Tim Robertson served as the station's program director, appointed by his father, Pat Robertson.

The station began adding more cartoons, made-for-TV movies, and off-network sitcoms and family dramas during the early 1980s. Most notably, in 1980, WXNE took over production of the weekday bowling program Candlepins for Cash, which had just been canceled by CBS affiliate WNAC-TV (channel 7, now WHDH) after seven seasons. With new host Rico Petrocelli, the show moved production from WNAC-TV's studios, in bowling lanes that were built in the basement of the facility, to the now-defunct Wal-Lex Lanes in Waltham. After only a few months as host, Petrocelli was ousted in favor of the program's original host when it aired on WNAC-TV, Bob Gamere, who remained on Candlepins until it ended its run on channel 25 in 1983. During this time, the station rebranded itself as "Boston 25", as it converted into a true independent. While the station was carried only on cable providers in the Greater Boston market, WXNE-TV held a solid third place among the area's independent stations, behind the longer-established WSBK-TV (channel 38) and WLVI-TV (channel 56), and sixth in the ratings among the market's commercial television stations.

In April 1986, WXNE and the other two CBN-owned stations—KXTX-TV in Dallas and WYAH-TV (now WGNT) in Portsmouth—were put up for sale. That August, News Corporation announced that it would purchase channel 25, with plans to make it an owned-and-operated station of its Fox Broadcasting Company. Fox had been in preliminary negotiations to secure an affiliation with either WSBK or WLVI, but ended its pursuit of both outlets. Until the sale was completed, channel 25, upon the Fox network's startup on October 9, 1986, did not air the network's inaugural program and what was then its lone offering, The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers, a late-night talk show that aired opposite The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson on NBC. The outgoing CBN ownership believed that the program did not fit its strict content guidelines. Fox instead contracted Boston radio station WMRE (1510 AM, now WMEX) to carry the audio portion of The Late Show in the interim.

As WFXT (1987–present)
When the sale to News Corporation was completed on December 31, 1986, WXNE-TV, renamed WFXT on January 19, 1987, became the seventh Fox-owned property and the first to be acquired separately from News Corporation's 1986 purchase of Metromedia's six television stations that served as the foundation for the new network. Besides adding The Late Show to the schedule, airings of The 700 Club were cut to once a day, and the daily broadcast of the Roman Catholic Mass was moved to an earlier timeslot. The station also began airing the syndicated, Fox-produced tabloid magazine A Current Affair on weeknights; WFXT was the second station, after producing station and Fox flagship WNYW in New York City, to air the program. WXNE staff announcer Chris Clausen had already been let go in late 1986 (promptly joining WNEV-TV in January 1987) in favor of the services of Fox affiliate voiceover Beau Weaver, who would remain with both the station and Fox Television Stations for over a decade. The station's schedule, however, was largely unchanged at the outset, aside from the removal of several older sitcoms that soon resurfaced on WQTV (channel 68, now WBPX-TV). The Sunday evening religious program block was finally discontinued on April 5, 1987, when Fox launched its prime time lineup, which initially aired only on Sundays before expanding to Saturdays that July (as such, WFXT is the only Boston television station that has never changed its network affiliation, as it has been with Fox since the network's prime time expansion; it wasn't until 1993 that Fox had programming on all seven days of the week).

Over the next few years, WFXT, for the most part was unable to acquire the better syndicated programs and continued to only acquire shows that WSBK, WLVI, and the market's network affiliates passed on. In addition to Fox programming, most of the shows added to WFXT's schedule were low-budget, first-run syndicated programs and cartoons. However, in 1988, the station did manage to buy two popular weekday syndicated shows away from WNEV—Hollywood Squares (the then-current John Davidson version) and Entertainment Tonight—when the CBS affiliate phased them off its schedule, due to other programming commitments. WFXT aired Squares through its 1989 cancellation; it carried ET weeknights at 7 p.m., as the lead-in to A Current Affair, until selling the show back to WHDH-TV (the former WNEV) in 1990. WFXT has again aired ET since 2015.

Sale to the Boston Celtics
As the FCC prohibited the common ownership of a television station and a newspaper in the same market, in purchasing channel 25, News Corporation had to apply for and was granted a temporary waiver in order to retain WFXT and the newspaper it had also published, the Boston Herald. On April 21, 1988, Rupert Murdoch, who had earlier stated his intention to retain the Herald, announced that WFXT would be put up for sale. In 1989, Fox proposed placing WFXT in a trust company as it sought to find a buyer willing to meet its $35 million asking price; on April 26, the FCC ruled that the trust would be required to sever all of the station's ties to Fox, including the network affiliation. That September, Fox agreed to sell the station to the Boston Celtics' ownership group for $20 million; the sale was completed on May 11, 1990. As part of the deal, News Corporation was given the opportunity to eventually buy back a 37.5-percent stake in the station. The Celtics made WFXT the NBA team's flagship station starting with the 1990–91 season, following the expiration of its existing contract with WLVI-TV. The station also gained a radio sister station, as the Celtics also purchased WEEI (then at 590 AM, now WEZE; now at 850 AM) at the same time.

The Celtics did not have the financial means to compete as a broadcaster. Nonetheless, under Celtics ownership, WFXT finally began to acquire stronger programming, becoming a serious competitor to WSBK and WLVI for the first time. In 1990, among securing the rights to several new, high-profile rerun syndication packages, WFXT managed to buy rights to The Cosby Show, reruns of which had been airing on WCVB-TV (channel 5) for the past two years. WCVB, which had lost a lot of money airing The Cosby Show in weekend blocks only, retained a small portion of the show's syndication rights for weekends and occasional airings in prime time (in the event that they chose to preempt an ABC network program). WFXT, meanwhile, began airing Cosby Show reruns on weekdays in the fall of 1990; aside from a couple of years off between 1994 and 1996, The Cosby Show would remain a staple of WFXT's schedule for well over a decade.

Return to Fox ownership
By 1992, WFXT was carried on many cable providers in areas of New England where there was no locally-based Fox affiliate station. Locally, however, the station was still rated in third place (though not as distant as the CBN or early Fox days), behind WSBK and WLVI. Still, for a while under the Celtics' watch, WFXT was perceived to be in danger of losing its Fox affiliation. As early as March 1993, Fox was again considering the purchase of a Boston television station, even though News Corporation still owned the Boston Herald, and entered into preliminary discussions with Boston Celtics Communications about reacquiring WFXT; the Celtics subsequently said, in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), that Fox had warned the company that it could pull its affiliation from the station if it were to acquire another property in the market. By this point, Fox held a 25-percent convertible interest in WFXT, and indicated it was seeking to expand this interest. That October, Fox obtained a 10-year option to repurchase the station as early as 1995, and immediately announced that it would not seek a waiver to own both channel 25 and the Herald; News Corporation sold the newspaper to its publisher, Pat Purcell, in February 1994, clearing the way for a potential purchase of WFXT. The Celtics also moved their games off their own station, shifting the team's over-the-air broadcast rights to WSBK-TV in a five-year deal that began with the 1993–94 season; this move followed WFXT's increasing difficulty in scheduling Celtics telecasts around the Fox lineup.

WFXT's Fox affiliation again came into question in 1994, in the wake of the network's affiliation deal with twelve New World Communications stations, when reports emerged that then-CBS affiliate WHDH-TV was considering a switch to Fox. After Westinghouse Broadcasting signed a deal that July to affiliate all of its stations, including WBZ-TV (channel 4), with CBS, WHDH was given the opportunity to choose between Fox and the NBC affiliation being vacated by WBZ; it elected to sign with NBC in August 1994, keeping Fox on WFXT. On October 5, 1994, Fox announced it would exercise its purchase option and buy WFXT. That November, the deal, as well as Fox's concurrent purchase of WTXF in Philadelphia, encountered objections from NBC, alleging that Fox's interest in SF Broadcasting, in connection with the Boston and Philadelphia purchases, would put Fox over the FCC's twelve-station ownership limit; NBC subsequently filed a separate petition concerning Fox's ties to the then-Australian-based News Corporation. NBC withdrew its petitions on February 17, 1995, allowing Fox to retake control of channel 25 on July 7.

As the 1990s progressed, WFXT began phasing in more talk and reality programs. It continued running cartoons (including the Fox Kids block) each weekday—later becoming the last station in the market that had run a morning children's program block—and sitcoms during the evening hours. WFXT served as the television flagship of the Boston Red Sox for three seasons from 2000 to 2002 (before that and since then, WFXT only carried Red Sox games that were televised by Fox itself, including games from its four World Series victories in 2004, 2007, 2013, and 2018).

In the fall of 2001, WPXT (which served as the over-the-air Fox affiliate for the Portland area since the network launched) disaffiliated from Fox due to a payment dispute between Pegasus Broadcasting (the station's owner at the time) and the network. This left Portland and the entire state of Maine without a Fox affiliate until then-Pax TV affiliate WMPX-TV switched to the network in April 2003; during this time, WFXT served as the default Fox affiliate for the New Hampshire side of the Portland market, while Foxnet provided the network's programming throughout Maine.

At one point in 2006, the station was "tentatively planning" to carry programming from News Corporation-owned MyNetworkTV (a sister network to Fox) on weekdays from 1 to 3 p.m. if the new network was unable to find an affiliate in the Boston market. On July 21, 2006, News Corporation announced that Derry, New Hampshire–based WZMY-TV (channel 50, now WWJE-DT) would become the market's MyNetworkTV affiliate when the network began operations on September 5, 2006. Channel 50 ended its affiliation with MyNetworkTV in September 2011, shortly after changing call letters to WBIN-TV; WSBK (a CBS-owned sister station to WBZ-TV that had shunned the network at its formation) took over the affiliation at that time. Before MyNetworkTV became a programming service consisting solely of reruns, WFXT occasionally promoted that network's programming.

On October 12, 2007, Comcast began blacking out Fox prime time and sports programming from WFXT on its systems in Bristol County due to an invocation of the FCC's network non-duplication rule by WNAC-TV, the Fox affiliate in Providence, Rhode Island, leaving only channel 25's syndicated programs and newscasts available in that area. On July 31, 2008, Charter Communications' system in Westport also became subject to the blackouts, this contributed to WFXT's eventual removal from that system on September 23, 2008.

Trade to Cox Media Group
On June 24, 2014, Fox announced that it would trade WFXT and Memphis sister station WHBQ-TV to the Cox Media Group, in exchange for the San Francisco duopoly of Fox affiliate KTVU and independent station KICU-TV. The trade was completed on October 8, 2014. Following this deal, CBS-owned WBZ-TV and Telemundo-owned WNEU briefly became the only network O&O stations in the Boston area (prior to the launch of NBC Boston in January 2017), and also made WFXT the largest Fox affiliate not owned by the network (prior to the completion of the swap, KTVU held that title). In November 2014, shortly after the closure of the sale, WFXT was briefly pulled from Verizon FiOS in the Boston area for a week due to a discrepancy in contract negotiations.

On October 27, 2015, WFXT dropped the Fox O&O-style branding and introduced a new logo and on-air appearance; the logo was criticized by some viewers for its simplified appearance—omitting the standard Fox network logo in favor of an italicized Helvetica logotype—and received national attention when Larry Potash, anchor of the Morning News on WGN-TV in Chicago, criticized the change as a move by station-hired consultants to help bring in viewers who defected from WFXT's newscasts following the departure of longtime evening anchor Maria Stephanos earlier that year (Stephanos would join WCVB-TV in 2016). Prior to Super Bowl LI in February 2017, the station began downplaying the Fox name from its overall branding; this was reflected in a promo that aired prior to and during the game (which itself used the same music, tagline, and overall format as a 2014 image promotion made by Australia's Seven Network) that referred to the news operation as "25 News".

On April 13, 2017, the station announced that it would rebrand its newscasts as Boston 25 News on April 24, 2017; from then on, the "Fox 25" branding was retained as a generalized identity restricted to WFXT's entertainment programming and station promotions (the move followed a similar split branding structure that Cox Media Group employed when it operated KTVU as a Fox affiliate between 1986 and 2014, in which references to the Fox network were omitted from use within that station's local news programs). General manager Tom Raponi told The Boston Globe that the change was made to eliminate a perception that WFXT's newscasts leaned conservative, which the station attributed to an internal survey taken in 2015 in which 41% of Boston area news viewers that were polled associated its newscasts with the national Fox News Channel, rather than its sister broadcast network (as an affiliate of the Fox Broadcasting Company, WFXT's only association with Fox News is through a compulsory content arrangement with Fox News Edge, which supplies national and international news footage, and reports from FNC correspondents to Fox stations for potential but not mandatory inclusion in their local newscasts). In February 2018, the station dropped the "Fox 25" branding entirely and began referring to itself as "Boston 25" full time, including in promotions for syndicated and Fox network programming, making WFXT one of only a handful of Fox affiliates that does not use "Fox" in its branding.

Sale to Apollo Global Management
In February 2019, it was announced that Apollo Global Management would acquire Cox Media Group and Northwest Broadcasting's stations. Although the group planned to operate under the name Terrier Media, it was later announced in June 2019 that Apollo would also acquire Cox's radio and advertising businesses, and retain the Cox Media Group name. The sale was completed on December 17, 2019.

Canceled sale to Standard General
On February 22, 2022, as part of Standard General's acquisition of Tegna Inc., as well as Cox Media Group's acquisition of the four Standard Media television stations, along with WFAA, KMPX, KVUE, KHOU and KTBU, Cox announced that it would sell WFXT to an affiliate of Standard General. The deal was canceled on May 22, 2023.

Sports programming
Through the NFL on Fox, WFXT typically airs two New England Patriots games a year, usually when the team plays host to an NFC team at Gillette Stadium. However, the institution of the NFL's new 'cross-flex' rules in 2014 (in which Patriots games involving an AFC opponent are moved from WBZ-TV), along with Fox's broadcasting rights to Thursday Night Football starting in 2018, has given the station more opportunities to air regular season Patriots games. The station has aired five of the Patriots' Super Bowl appearances (XXXI, XXXVI, XXXIX, XLII and LI), including the team's championship victories (XXXVI, XXXIX, and LI).

The station also airs any Boston Red Sox games that are part of Fox's Major League Baseball telecasts. Owing to Fox's exclusive coverage of the World Series since 2000, WFXT has carried every Red Sox championship in the television era (2004, 2007, 2013, and 2018). It also served as the team's primary over-the-air broadcaster for three seasons from 2000 to 2002 as the flagship station of the "Fox 25 Red Sox Television Network". WFXT also carried a package of weekday afternoon Red Sox spring training games, produced by NESN, in 2018 and 2019. As mentioned above, it carried Celtics games under the team's ownership in the early 1990s.

When Fox held the NHL's U.S. over-the-air broadcast contract from 1995 to 1999, any games involving the Boston Bruins that were selected to air on the NHL on Fox were aired on WFXT.

News operation
WFXT presently broadcasts 64$1/2$ hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with 10$1/2$ hours each weekday, 5$1/2$ hours on Saturdays and 6$1/2$ hours on Sundays); in regards to the number of hours devoted to locally produced newscasts, it was the largest newscast output of any station in the Boston market and in New England until January 1, 2017, when WHDH-TV lost their NBC affiliation and became a news-intensive independent outlet by increasing their weekly news output to over 70 hours. During weather segments, the station utilizes live National Weather Service radar data originating from a radar site at the NWS Weather Forecast Office in Norton.

One of the few productive moves that WFXT made under the ownership of the Boston Celtics was entering into a news share agreement with regional cable news channel New England Cable News (NECN) to produce a prime time newscast at 10 p.m., which debuted on September 7, 1993. The half-hour Fox 25 News at 10 was initially anchored by Heather Kahn, with Tim Kelley on weather. Kahn lasted a year in this role before she was hired by ABC affiliate WCVB-TV (channel 5); Lila Orbach replaced her as anchor. In September 1994, NECN began to produce a half-hour midday newscast at 12:30 p.m. for channel 25, which was subsequently canceled.

In September 1995, WFXT announced that the contract with NECN would not be renewed, with the final broadcast airing on October 1. The next day, NECN moved the newscast to WSBK, which was more willing to commit to a longer-term deal with the channel, as channel 25 was planning to eventually replace the NECN production with its own news operation. For the next year, the only news programming on WFXT consisted primarily of national updates supplied by Fox News that aired during the day. During this time, Fox Television Stations created an in-house news department for the station, culminating on September 9, 1996, with the launch of a new 10 p.m. broadcast, initially branded as Fox News Boston before reviving the Fox 25 News title the following year. The 10 p.m. newscast has aired as an hour-long program since its inception, originally airing in the format on Monday through Saturday nights, while the Sunday edition aired for a half-hour in order to accommodate a sports highlight program, Sports Sunday on Fox; Sports Sunday ended its run on May 16, 2004, with the Sunday edition of the 10 p.m. newscast expanding to an hour the following week.

Over the next decade, channel 25 gradually expanded its news operation. On June 4, 2001, WFXT added a 4:30 p.m. newscast (making it the first Fox-owned station to have produced a newscast during the 4 p.m. hour) that was anchored by Jodi Applegate and was targeted at a female audience. By September 2002, the program had moved to 5 p.m., and on September 22, 2003, it was expanded to an hour and began using the same anchors and a similar format as the 10 p.m. broadcast, as Applegate became co-anchor, along with former WHDH-TV sports director Gene Lavanchy, of a three-hour weekday morning newscast from 6 to 9 a.m. that launched the same day. One year later, Applegate left WFXT to become co-anchor of Good Day New York on then-sister station WNYW and was replaced by former WHDH and WBZ-TV anchor Kim Carrigan. Concurrent with the debut of the morning newscast, WFXT unveiled a 90000 sqft newsroom similar to that of WHDH, which also serves as the station's news set; it remains in use to this day. Channel 25 also opened a news bureau on Beacon Hill near the State House in downtown Boston, which serves as an interview location for Massachusetts lawmakers as well as a home base for weekday morning commentator Doug "V.B." Goudie.

The station debuted an hour-long Sunday morning newscast at 9 a.m. on September 12, 2004; the program was canceled in July 2009. On May 19, 2009, WFXT and the CBS-owned duopoly of WBZ-TV/WSBK-TV entered into a Local News Service agreement, which allows the stations to share local news footage, along with a helicopter for traffic reports and breaking news. The helicopter originally used as part of the sharing agreement (which WFXT and WBZ/WSBK stopped using in 2013) was involved in a crash that killed two people in Seattle on March 18, 2014, while on loan by Helicopters, Inc. for use by KOMO-TV during technical upgrades to that station's own helicopter. On June 14, 2009, starting with its 10 p.m. newscast, WFXT became the last station in the Boston market at the time to begin broadcasting its newscasts in high definition (NBC owned-and-operated station WBTS-LD signed on in HD on January 1, 2017).

WFXT launched a Sunday through Friday 11 p.m. newscast on November 5, 2007; the weekday morning newscast has also expanded since its launch, and has aired from 4 to 10 a.m. since July 9, 2012. The 5 p.m. newscast, which consistently placed fourth in its timeslot, was discontinued in favor of a half-hour 6 p.m. newscast on September 14, 2009. That program was expanded to one hour with the launch of an additional half-hour newscast at 6:30 p.m. on March 14, 2011, which competes against the national network newscasts airing in the timeslot on WBZ, WHDH and WCVB. On July 7, 2012, WFXT expanded the 6 p.m. newscast to Saturday and Sunday evenings; as is common with Fox stations that carry early evening newscasts on weekends, the newscast may be subject to delay or preemption due to network sports telecasts overrunning into the timeslot. On October 7, 2013, WFXT relaunched its 5 p.m. newscast after a four-year hiatus.

Under Cox ownership, a number of significant changes began to occur within WFXT's news department. On November 13, 2014, Doug Goudie, who was well known for his commentary segments during the station's morning show, was released from the station; he stated that his presence did not align with Cox's "philosophy", since they "aren't big on opinions." The removal of "V.B." came as part of a retooling of the Morning News into a conventional newscast, rather than a morning show emphasizing light talk and interview segments (such as Goudie's "Heavy Hitters"). The station restored the weekend morning newscasts in September 2015. The station would also focus less on hard news in favor of a slightly softer format with an abundance of human interest stories, which the station's website termed as "uplifting" stories.

In September 2021, the station laid off several staffers, including sports director Tom Leyden, as part of a series of cuts that also saw the cancellation of WFXT's 4 p.m. newscast (which had launched in 2016) and its Saturday evening newscasts. The cuts followed a period, following Apollo Global Management's acquisition of Cox Media Group, of reduced investment in the station (with an unnamed staffer telling the Boston Business Journal that half of the station's staff had turned over since 2019), as well as a cyberattack against Cox that June.

WFXT airs half-hour In Depth news specials at 10:30 p.m. on Fridays. These are compilations of special reports often unified by a single theme.

Notable current on-air staff

 * Gene Lavanchy: anchor
 * Butch Stearns: sports reporter

Notable former on-air staff

 * Jodi Applegate: anchor (2001–2004); later at WNYW and WPIX in New York City
 * Chris Flanagan: anchor (2016–2022); now at WDCW in Washington, D.C.
 * Erin Hawksworth: reporter; later at WJLA-TV in Washington, D.C.

Subchannels
The station's signal is multiplexed: {{legend|#DFEBF6|Broadcast on behalf of another station}}

Analog-to-digital conversion
WFXT's analog signal began malfunctioning on November 1, 2008, as a result of a failing transmission line, forcing the station to reduce its power. By December 9, 2008, the transmission line had deteriorated to the point that the station's effective radiated power was reduced to levels where viewers could then only receive the station via cable, satellite or its digital signal in most areas. The station then began to state that the possibility existed that its analog signal might have to be shut down ahead of the analog-to-digital transition deadline for full-power stations, which at that time was scheduled for February 17, 2009. In the end, the station's analog signal remained on the air even after that date (a result of the transition being delayed to June 12, 2009). However, due to the continued failure of the transmission line (to the extent that the station estimated its analog signal was only reaching 3% of its former coverage area, with no signal at all at the station's Dedham studios), WFXT shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 25, on February 27, 2009, becoming the second English-language major network station in Boston to exclusively transmit a digital signal (WZMY terminated its analog signal in December 2008) and the only Fox-owned station to shut down its analog signal prior to the new June 12 transition date. The station's digital signal continued to broadcast on its pre-transition UHF channel 31, using virtual channel 25.

Many Boston area residents complained about poor reception from WFXT's digital signal compared to the market's other major television stations. This was due to the fact that the transmitter previously operated at a reduced power output of 78 kilowatts from an antenna mounted below one of the tines of the Candelabra tower in Needham. WFXT's vice president of engineering Bill Holbrook stated publicly that the digital signal would not reach full power until August 2009, when installation of a new antenna and transmitter was expected to be completed. However, the signal upgrades were completed in April 2009, giving WFXT a signal considered to be on par with the Boston market's other full-power stations. The new antenna and transmission feedline had been replaced two weeks earlier. The license to cover was filed on April 23, 2009.

title: WFXT