“Pippin” is coming to the stage this weekend at Parkland High School.

“There is spectacle; there is magic; there is fun and there is color,” Director Frank Anonia said.

With music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, book by Roger Hirson, and originally directed on the Broadway stage by Bob Fosse, “Pippin” has amazed audiences for decades.

The story of an ambitious young man searching for his own “Corner of the Sky, the title character is played by high school junior Reese Diaz in his first title role.

“I’ve always wanted to do this show,” Diaz told The Press. “It’s just always been a role I’ve wanted to do.

“I saw the revival on Broadway and I really fell in love with the show, the whole thing, everything about it.

“For years, I would just keep singing the songs.”

Diaz said he relates to Pippin.

“Pippin is lost and trying to find himself,” Diaz said.

Anonia said the message of the story is always fresh.

“And it’s always relatable to any kind of audience from the 1970s to now,” he explained. “You just figure out what the core of the story is and relate it.

“I needed a concept … so we have set ours as a rock concert, and you will see that instantaneously with big hair, big makeup, trusses and lots of pleather.

“We are going to take this story and we are going to marry it with this concept of doing a rock concert for three hours.”

The result provided opportunities for students such as senior Mara Cohen, who plays the Leading Player, to discover themselves.

“The Leading Player is so extravagant and that has been such a differentiation between any other roles I’ve played,” Cohen said. “Last year, I played Kate Mullins (in Titanic) and I had to honor her in any way I could.

“I feel now like I am on two different sides of the spectrum.”

Cohen who plans to attend New York University in the fall, majoring in theater, looked for inspiration from her favorite stars such as Beyoncé and Bruno Mars.

“I am probably one of her [Beyoncé’s] biggest fans,” Cohen said. “I did the same with Bruno Mars. I really took his mannerisms.

“I embodied how they perform on stage. Those two performers are characters in of themselves. It was really fun to bring them into my character.”

The speaking cast is small, with two leading and five supporting roles, which helped bring closeness to the actors.

“I just feel a special bond that’s hard to get with a bigger cast,” said Diaz, who opens Act II with his favorite number “Right Track.

“I really like ‘Right Track,’ I like to dance, though I’m not the best, but she (Leading Player) really inspires me to do my best and keep up with her.”

“Even though it’s a small cast, I think we exude a huge amount of energy throughout each production number,” Cohen added.

Behind the small cast is a large ensemble, crew and creative team that adds an entirely new depth and dimension to a classic production.

“We had to approach this differently and put our Parkland spin on it,” Anonia said. “It was clear when I decided on “Pippin” that I wasn’t going to copy the original from the ’70s and I didn’t feel we would adequately copy the Cirque du Soleil version.

“But, I believe we are going to shock people in a really different way.

“I have a great artistic staff who came on board with me and I want people to say this is a ‘Pippin’ is unlike anything we’ve never seen before.”

With an orchestra featuring the musical talents of students under the direction of Jim Tully and choreography by Kelly Jean Graham, “Pippin” promises to be a unique high school theater experience.

The show will be performed in the high school auditorium 7:30 p.m. April 6, 7 and 8 and 3 p.m. April 9.

Tickets are still available for all performances.

Tickets for Friday and Sunday are limited to balcony only. Tickets can be purchased by cash or check only on the day of each performance

Box office opens 1 hour prior to show time.