PIPPIN

Music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz. Book by Roger O. Hirson. Directed by Diane Paulus.

Presented by Broadway in Boston. At the Opera House, Feb. 2-14. Tickets: $20-$150, 800-982-2787, www.boston.broadway.com.

“I was very nervous,’’ John Rubinstein says of his audition for the Broadway revival of “Pippin.’’

Forty years after originating the title role on Broadway, Rubinstein was now looking to succeed Terrence Mann in the role of Charles, Pippin’s father, on Broadway and on the national tour, which plays at the Opera House Feb. 2-14.

“Of course, the music is embedded in my DNA,’’ Rubinstein says, but “I’d never done circus tricks before. It took me weeks to learn the knife-throwing routine. You’d be surprised how hard it is not to drop them.’’

“Pippin’’ tells the coming-of-age story of a naive royal prince who is trying to find his way in a world that is never quite what it seems. In the hands of legendary director and choreographer Bob Fosse, the 1972 Broadway production amplified the sense of reality versus illusion by recounting the tale through the eyes of a traveling group of players. Diane Paulus’s Tony Award-winning revival, which originated at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge in 2012 before moving on to Broadway, integrates elements of acrobatics, magic, and circus performance into the idealism of Stephen Schwartz and Roger O. Hirson’s musical.

“I had to pinch myself when I found out John was coming in to read for the role,’’ says Paulus, ART’s artistic director. “He’s a legend and we all had crushes on him. For me, the karma of him returning to the show as the father, after playing Pippin in the original production, is so perfect. No one understands this show as profoundly as he does.’’

Rubinstein, 69, says he has always loved “Pippin,’’ in which he made his Broadway debut — he later won a Tony for “Children of a Lesser God’’ — even after going on to a busy career in TV, film, and writing film scores.

“I always wondered why it was never revived,’’ he says. “I mean, it ran for five years on Broadway. But I think Diane is the first one who knew how to keep a percentage of the Fosse feel while adding the circus elements and magic that makes it so fresh.’’

Paulus laughs at Rubinstein’s struggle to learn the knife-throwing trick. Gypsy Snider of the Montreal-based acrobatic troupe Les 7 doigts de la main created a blueprint of acrobatic routines for the show.

While Rubinstein admits it took a while to get used to walking between two guys juggling knives, “it makes every performance an adventure,’’ he says. “I’m not afraid, but I am extremely alert.’’

Adrienne Barbeau, who plays Pippin’s grandmother, Berthe, and performs the show-stopping number “Time to Start Living,’’ says she’s always been “a gym rat and worked out with weights’’ so she didn’t think twice about the physicality required in the show.

“A gift of this show has been the great trust that has developed among the performers,’’ she says. “We rely on each other in a way that’s even more intense than in a more straightforward play.’’

Barbeau, who exuded sex appeal on TV (the ’70s sitcom “Maude’’ and HBO’s “Carnivale’’), in horror and science-fiction films (“The Fog,’’ “Swamp Thing,’’ and “Escape From New York’’) and the comedy “Cannonball Run,’’ began her career in musical theater, making her Broadway debut in “Fiddler on the Roof’’ in 1968 and originating the role of Rizzo in “Grease’’ on Broadway.

“I never consciously capitalized on my sexuality,’’ Barbeau says. “And I think I’ve gotten cast more often as a strong woman. Ruthie in ‘Carnivale’ was a snake charmer who had a romance with a 26-year-old. Well, I guess the roles I get are a little out there,’’ she says with a laugh.

“When I was on ‘Maude,’ ’’ Barbeau says, “I was so worried about delivering my lines to get the laughs, and my friend said, ‘Nobody’s listening. They’re watching you walk down the stairs.’ I probably lost a few jobs that were more character-y, but I tried just to keep working.’’

In fact, Barbeau, now 70, has had a steady career, except for the time she stepped away to raise her three sons, two of whom are twins, now in their first year of college. (“No one told me 51 was too old to give birth,’’ she says.) She’s had regular guest appearances on a variety of TV shows, including “Criminal Minds,’’ “The Drew Carey Show,’’ “Dexter,’’ “Sons of Anarchy,’’ and “Grey’s Anatomy.’’ She also published her autobiography, “There Are Worse Things I Could Do’’ in 2006, followed by three novels, one of which has been optioned for a film.

“I guess I’ve always ascribed to Berthe’s philosophy in ‘Pippin,’’’ Barbeau says. “I try to live in the moment and enjoy whatever I’m doing.’’

PIPPIN

Music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz. Book by Roger O. Hirson. Directed by Diane Paulus.

Presented by Broadway in Boston. At the Opera House, Feb. 2-14. Tickets: $20-$150, 800-982-2787, www.boston.broadway.com.

Terry Byrne can be reached at trbyrne@aol.com.