Artistic Director Beaten Almost To Death In Dallas Says He Survived Partly Because Of ‘Pippin’

Derek Whitener, whose brain was damaged in the savage January beating in the parking lot of a Dallas Target, couldn’t move or speak or recognize anyone. But, he says, his brain was busy thinking about how to direct certain parts of Pippen, which opened last week. “As he struggled to heal enough to leave the hospital, he thought about Pippin’s troubled journey as he searches for meaning and purpose.”