VEREEN BACK AT ‘PIPPIN’ STAND

“Whenever I’m in the public eye, I’m working,” Ben Vereen said cheerfully, settling into a plush chair at his West Hollywood hotel. “That’s what I do. I entertain. And when people see me upbeat, they can identify with something positive--so I make them feel good.

“They, in turn, make my life easier: by recognizing me, by turning on their television sets, by coming out to the shows. I’m thankful for that exchange. But it’s a 24-hour job.”

At 39, Vereen is at it again: headlining and directing a production of the musical “Pippin” (opening Wednesday at the Pantages), reprising his 1972 Tony award-winning role.

This day, dressed in all-white and sporting six wristwatches for various time zones, Vereen was his usual sunny self, earnestly defending the revival.

“When they first asked me to do this, I said, ‘It’s been done.’ They said, ‘Well, you could direct.’ I said, ‘Now, that hasn’t been done.’ ”

“ ‘Pippin’ had its problems and still does. I know that. When Bob Fosse did it, it had a Fosse energy. What I’m doing is putting the Vereen energy into it.

“Of course the show’s going to be dated, and you’re going to look at it as a nostalgia piece: the way music and dance were then. It was a period when we were in search of who we were, falling on our faces, trying to decide what we were going to do with our lives. So now, going back, I was able to give it the experience of 14 years of living.

“These (cast members) are my children. It’s nice, coming full circle. Some nights I’m on stage and it’s like a flashback: the costumes, makeup, some of the kids look so much like the originals . . . But these children are bringing an energy of today, which is completely different than the one we had in 1972.

“Doing this now gives me the luxury of staying in the theater, while trying to find another (original) project to do. So, no, this is not a big challenge. I’m still looking for that one.”

In the meantime, he’s got his hands full. Vereen will be hosting two new syndicated series’ this fall: “Zoobilee Zoo” (“letting children know how to use their creative energy”) and “You Write The Songs,” a “Star Search”-type program that showcases material from songwriters around the country.

Between travels (he jokes that home is a 747 parked at the airport) he throws himself into charity work: “I’m about preserving the human race, so I do what I can (for causes like leukemia, sickle cell anemia, heart disease and AIDS). The wonderful thing about being where we (celebrities) are, is that we can give back to people in some way.”

Vereen, who was Florida-born, New York-raised and educated at the High School of Performing Arts, speaks forcefully, his words resounding with a preacher’s soothing cadences and rich, emotional delivery.

“There’s so much negative destruction going on in the world. So I get people to preach construction. I want to stop talking about God and start living it. It’s more than doing penance on Sunday. It’s a commitment that the love-bond flows between us. It’s tough, because this planet is filled with obstacles and pitfalls. The test is to rise about them.”

As with the flop 1985 Broadway musical “Grind.”

“I don’t mind talking about it,” he shrugged. “I took ‘Grind’ and I knew it had problems. I walked into it with my eyes wide open--with a director (Hal Prince) I respected, a fabulous team of producers, writers whose work I admired, a choreographer I’d known and loved for years and a very strong cast--and we just hit a wall. We had great sets, great lighting, everything going for us, but we couldn’t bring it around. The wall was the material.

“Hal said, ‘We’re going to make it work,’ and we tried. The producers spent millions of dollars, we did advertisements, kissed the babies. . . . The show had holes the size of large cheese--we’re talking Swiss, folks--but it was an interesting concept. If we’d pulled it off, it would’ve been really sensational.

“And we were doing something that has to be applauded: trying to save the American musical theater. It’s fine that our brothers across the ocean are giving us such wonderful plays, but what about the home-grown stuff? We’ve got to find a way to preserve it, support it.”

In that regard, he was especially hurt by the Tony Committee’s treatment of “Grind.”

“It was horrible. They decided they were going to delete a whole (Tony) category because there was nobody to run against me. It was like a bad dream: ‘What are you doing? We have the critics to fight and now we have to fight you? We’re trying to save this show--going out there, razzle-dazzle every night--and you’re slapping our faces.’

“It was a madhouse. But you go on. Families have their squabbles and they’re still a family.”

No grudges at all?

“Too much good has happened to me,” Vereen said. “The positiveness is part of my makeup. You need it, too, because of all the disappointments and disillusionments. I came into this business wide open. And I got stepped on a lot: ‘Oh, here’s one, let’s step on him.’ Crush .

“You get up, patch it here and there, and you learn a thing called dodge-and-duck. Your eyes become opened, but you don’t lose your dreams.”