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Cherry Jones and director John Tiffany at Zero Church Street last month preparing for “Glass Menagerie,” which opens Saturday at ART’s Loeb Drama Center.

Staying atop what’s called a “rolling globe” also offers a handy metaphor for the balancing act that ART artistic director Paulus is attempting with “Pippin,” much as she did with her Tony Award-winning revivals, “Hair” and “The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess.” She has to honor the 1972 Broadway hit, with its iconic songs by Stephen Schwartz and its Tony Award-winning choreography and direction by Bob Fosse, while at the same time appealing to a new generation of theatergoers.

Michael Jackson didn’t invent the moonwalk. Bob Fosse did.

“The main purpose [of ‘Pippin’] is to thrill, to re-establish a sense of mystery in the world. This show hits home with every single person,” he said.

Life is a circus, not only for the characters in “Pippin,” the musical revival that opens Dec. 5 at American Repertory Theater, but also for the actors preparing the show.