Just short of a year and a half ago, Stephen Schwartz and Roger O. Hirson’s Pippin snagged four Tony Awards, including 2013’s Best Revival of a Musical. Inventively unorthodox, with endless OMG! physical and musical surprises — as well as a spectacularly funny/bizarrely poignant book — this Pippin sparks joy at every quirky twist, turn, bounce, swing, and swoop.

All of this is in keeping with the production’s tantalizing backdrop: a circus tent overflowing with big top paraphernalia, aerialists, clowns, contortionists, jugglers, tumblers, and more. Add in the pivotal Leading Player (Carly Hughes), wearing a ringmaster’s signature top hat (in this case, more of a cheeky fascinator), who serves as a combination tour guide and emcee through the fairy tale storyline that follows King Charlemagne’s son Prince Pippin on his quest to find his distinct “Corner of the Sky.”

Which brings us to the production’s newest leading man. On October 31, 38-year-old Josh Kaufman, the 2014 winner of NBC’s The Voice, makes his Broadway debut in the title role.

All photos: Joan Marcus

Known to fans for his renditions of Sam Smith’s “Stay with Me,” Bonnie Raitt’s “I Can’t Make You Love Me,” and John Legend’s “All of Me” — all of which reached the top 10 on iTunes — the Sarasota, Florida-born Kaufman readily admits his theatrical career is in its infancy. Still, that hasn’t diffused his optimism about taking the leap from singing sensation to Broadway ingénue.

“It’s something I’m really excited about. I tend to be the kind of person who doesn’t want to do just one thing. I get bored,” stated the Indianapolis native in a recent AP interview. “So I’m really excited about having a new challenge and having something different to do.”

Kaufman’s viewpoint conveniently parallels that of Pippin. Indeed, the young hero — at least in the early portion of the show — is driven by the need to steer clear of the humdrum at all costs. “I promise not to waste my life on commonplace, ordinary pursuits,” Pippin declares early on. “I am not going to be stuck doing the same damn thing every day,” he says at another point.

Additionally, Kaufman has a special familial link to the show’s musical nuts and bolts: It was his grandmother who first introduced him to the score by Stephen Schwartz (Wicked) — a collection of numbers that proved groundbreaking when the show premiered on the Great White Way in 1972 with a 27-year-old John Rubenstein playing Pippin to Ben Vereen’s Tony-winning Leading Player.

Kaufman with Carly Hughes

Today, that score has become a kind of nouveau touchstone for subsequent generations who find themselves swept up in the magic of this Tony-winning revival conceived and directed by Tony winner Diane Paulus.

Paulus, who won over Broadway theatregoers when she gave the rock musical Hair a new “do,” is responsible for this exuberant re-imagining of Pippin, jettisoning it into a playful world festooned with circus riggings, colorful costumes, and a cast of Broadway pros who have welcomed Kaufman into the company.

Kaufman with Rachel Bay Jones

Included here are Tony nominees John Dossett and Charlotte d’Amboise, who bring polished brio to the consummate Medieval power couple — he as Pippin’s dad, aka King Charles/Charlemagne; she as the ravishing Fastrada, Pippin’s conniving stepmom. (Naturally, it doesn’t hurt that the production features choreography by Chet Walker “in the style of Bob Fosse” since d’Amboise is a dancer with a resume teeming with Fosse musicals.) 

Also worth watching is Rachel Bay Jones (a Paulus Hair alumna) as love interest Catherine who, like d’Amboise, has been with the revival from the beginning.

As for Kaufman — whose period costumes, sadly, do not include his signature Norman Lear-esque mini fedora — it’s a good bet that one of his favorite lines is: “You can’t just go rushing into whatever comes along and hope for the best, but on the other hand, you can’t wait around wasting time and expect something to fall into your lap.”

Pippin is playing at the Music Box Theatre, 239 W. 45th St. For tickets, call 212-239-6200 or visit www.pippinthemusical.com.  Note: Josh Kaufman is slated for a limited run through 1/4/15.