The Voice winner Josh Kaufman debuts as Pippin tonight

Josh Kaufman, winner of the sixth season of NBC's 'The Voice', will begin performances tonight in the titular role of the Tony Award-winning revival of Pippin at the Music Box Theatre. He will play a limited engagement through to 4 January 2015. Kyle Dean Massey played his final performance as Pippin on Wednesday, 29 October.

Josh Kaufman is making his Broadway debut. He shot to fame as he was crowned the winner of The Voice's sixth season in May of this year, after successful coaching by Grammy Award-winning recording artist Usher.

The cast of Pippin currently features Josh Kaufman as Pippin, Carly Hughes as Leading Player, John Dossett as Charles, Charlotte d'Amboise as Fastrada, Rachel Bay Jones as Catherine and Lucie Arnaz as Berthe. Other members of the company include Kristin Allen, Mackenzie Bell, Colin Cunliffe, Ariana DeBose, Andrew Fitch, Lauren Joy Herley, Naël Jammal, Nicolas Jelmoni, Kai Johnson-Peady, Sam Lips, Richard Maguire, Brad Musgrove, Adam Roberts, Mike Schwitter, Masha Terentieva, Eli Tokash, Kristen Beth Williams, Ashton Woerz, and Lara Seibert Young.

Pippin features a book by Roger O. Hirson, music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and is directed by Diane Paulus with circus creation by Gypsy Snider of the Montreal-based circus company Les 7 doigts de la main (also known as 7 Fingers) and choreography by Chet Walker in the style of Bob Fosse.

The Broadway revival opened at the Music Box Theatre on 25 Apr 2013, following previews from 23 Mar 2013. The show opened to excellent reviews: Sensational revival (NY Post); Beautifully buoyant, intoxicatingly sensual revival (Back Stage); Eye-popping, jaw-dropping extravaganza (Time Out NY); A wonder to behold (Hollywood Reporter).

The production won four Tony Awards: Best Revival of a Musical, Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical (Patina Miller), Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical (Andrea Martin) and Best Direction of a musical (Diane Paulus).

Pippin is currently booking to 4 January 2015 at the Music Box Theatre.

- by Tom Millward