The Schwartz Scene Blog

His name now appears in gold on the wall of Broadway’s Gershwin Theatre, where Wicked has played since 2003. Composer Stephen Schwartz was inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame on January 25, 2010. (Photo by Michael Cole.)

Schwartz formulated his dream of writing musical scores when he was a nine-year-old child watching a Broadway show for the first time. After writing four original shows in college, he had expectations for a successful career. He naturally hoped that his contribution would be acknowledged by his peers. He missed out on Tony Awards, and his work was often dismissed by critics.

This recent induction is a rare honor that Schwartz greatly appreciates. It is reserved for those with five Broadway credits to their name, whose work on Broadway encompasses at least a quarter of a century, and who are chosen by the membership for the Hall of Fame. For more about his Broadway shows, see
Godspell
The Magic Show
Pippin
Rags
Wicked
Working

Friday, March 5, Stephen Schwartz and Friends in Concert - New Canaan CT

Stephen Schwartz, Grammy Award, Academy Award and Drama Desk Award winning superstar composer and lyricist,  (Wicked, Pippin, Godspell & Disney Movies) will perform a concert with his friend and Broadway Tony Winner Debbie Gravitte and Broadway & Concert Singer and Actor Scott Coulter to benefit this regional theater company. Summer Theatre of New Canaan. Also meet Stephen, Scott, and Debbie at a special post concert reception. Schwartz Biographer Carol de Giere will also be there selling copies of Defying Gravity autographed by Schwartz. (photo by Maryann Lopinto)

Snapshots

Celebrated composer and lyricist Stephen Schwartz will host a “talk-back” after the 2pm matinee performance of SNAPSHOTS, A Musical Scrapbook on February 6th at Lyric Theatre.  This event is free of charge, but reservations are required.  To reserve a seat, call (405) 524-9312.   To read about the production go to: Snapshots in OK  or read more about Snapshots at

Snapshots

Newsletter

To stay updated on Schwartz’s activities and career, and on the forthcoming Broadway revival of Godspell, subscribe to The Schwartz Scene newsletter. 

“…our greatest illusion is to believe that we are what we think ourselves to be…” — Henri F. Amiel

The Art of Deception: Madoff in real life, Mrya in Stephen Schwartz’s Seance on A Wet Afternoon, Frollo in the Hunchback of Notre Dame, and the Wizard of Oz in Wicked

By Carol de Giere

Illusions and cover-ups were on my mind recently as I shopped for a dress for an upcoming opera premiere while wearing shorts, t-shirt, and a baseball cap. Actually, my husband and I don’t mind switching from our casual selves to dressed up versions for one night, and we’re looking forward to attending Opera Santa Barbara’s production of Séance on A Wet Afternoon, premiering September 26th. Still, it’s interesting to consider the range of topics suggested by facades.

Séance on A Wet Afternoon weaves itself around the subject area of illusion, deception, self-delusion, being “in denial”—the misty and twisted possibilities outside of straightforward thinking. The warped mindsets of the couple, Myra and Bill, in the movie version of Séance on A Wet Afternoon, captivated Stephen Schwartz when he first saw it. Years later, when he was commissioned by Opera Santa Barbara for a new opera, he thought Séance would be ideal as source material for something tragic. [Read more about the opera]

As I ponder the kidnapping deception plot of the movie and opera, I can’t help but think of news reports of recent months and years.  I think of master deceiver Bernie Madoff, and of politicians who create facades as model citizens and prove otherwise in their actions. And so it’s not surprising that an artist like Stephen Schwartz should want to depict deception. He has already touched on the topic in Wicked in terms of the Wizard of Oz. His original angle on Wicked was to create a musical that showed how “things are not what they seem.”

There’s another twist on the theme in Séance. Unlike Bernie Madoff, who apparently fully cognizant of the rules he was breaking, Myra doesn’t get what she’s doing wrong. She is in denial about the criminal nature of the kidnapping plan and only focuses on how to bring acclaim to her skills as a medium by revealing the location of the kidnapped child. She believes what she’s doing is legitimate. AND she thinks she’s better at her mediumship than she actually is—she is also self-deceived.

She is much like Claude Frollo in Disney’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame, for whom Schwartz wrote the lyrics for the song “Hellfire.” Frollo is the dark antagonist character who is personally haunted by his repressed desire for the gypsy Esmeralda. Writing the lyric, Schwartz has Frollo sing a prayer while saying “you know I’m so much purer than the common, vulgar, weak, licentious crowd.” Not so! He blames Esmeralda’s “witchcraft” for his own passion’s fire. He tries to destroy her.

Schwartz claims that Frollo was a delight to write for. As quoted in the biography Defying Gravity: The Creative Career of Stephen Schwartz, from Godspell to Wicked, Schwartz says, “My favorite character I have ever written is Frollo, who is probably the most despicable human being in anything I’ve done; I love him as a character. He was so totally self-justifying and in such denial of his own true motives. It was really fun to go to dark places in myself I would never let myself do in real life. It made me understand why actors love to play villains.”

I’m sure Stephen Schwartz has also relished writing for Myra. He has commented that the movie’s characters struck him as operatic. Myra’s “intense neediness,” for example, “seemed very worthy of being sung, but at the same time, she is covering a lot of what’s really going on inside her with the veneer of calm and pleasantness.” [Comments quoted on a New York City Opera VOX Showcase video documenting his process for Séance.]

The opera depicts a difficult subject and is not meant as a feel-good show. We might consider it a kind of cautionary tale both for the times we live in and for the webs we spin for ourselves.

Says Daniel J. Boorstin about human psychology: “We suffer primarily not from our vices or our weaknesses, but from our illusions. We are haunted, not by reality, but by those images we have put in place of reality.”

Katie Rose Clark descends in her Glinda bubble during the Wicked tour on stages from Omaha to Seattle. She travels with Donna Vivino as Elphaba and the full large cast and crew. Another touring Glinda is Heléne Yorke who is paired with Marci Dodd as the green-skinned Witch.

Producer David Stone recently accepted the award for “Best Long-Running Touring Musical” for Wicked during the Broadway League’s 2009 spring conference. For the third year in a row, Wicked also received the “Touring Broadway Audience Choice Award.” These are among the many awards for the Stephen Schwartz/Winnie Holzman musical, one whose complete development has been revealed in a new book “Defying Gravity” named after a song from the show. http://www.defyinggravitythebook.com/

As announced earlier, two tours are now bringing their emerald green dazzle around North America. In this year that The Wizard of Oz movie celebrates its 70th anniversary, this musical can really show off its Wizard of Oz prequel story.

First tour with Donna Vivino and Katie Rose Clarke as Elphaba and Glinda:May 6-31 in Omaha at the Orpheum Theatre
June 3-28 in San Antonio at the Majestic Theatre
July 1-26 in Tempe at Gammage Auditorium
July 29-Aug. 23 in San Diego at the Civic Theatre
Aug. 26-Sept. 27 in Seattle at the Paramount

Second Tour gets Marci Dodd and Heléne Yorke as Elphaba and Glinda:

April 23-May 10 in Jacksonville at the Times Union Center
May 13-31 in Norfolk at Chrysler Hall
June 3-21 in Indianapolis at the Murat Centre
June 24-July 12 in Memphis at the Orpheum Theatre
July 15-Aug. 9 in Tulsa at the Chapman Music Hall
Aug. 12-30 in Austin at Bass Hall
Sept. 2-20 in Nashville at TPAC
Sept. 23-Oct. 18 in Des Moines at the Civic Center
Oct. 21-Nov. 8 in Wichita at the Century II Concert Hall

Newspaper reports have been trickling in for new tour cities for 2010:

• Greenville, South Carolina
• Dayton and Columbus, Ohio
• Miami, Florida
• Richmond, Virginia
• Durham and Charlotte, North Carolina
• and Milwaukee, Wisconsin

CATCH UP WITH THE WICKED TOUR http://www.musicalschwartz.com/wicked-tour.htm

and find out all about Wicked at http://www.musicalschwartz.com/wicked.htm

SCHWARTZ-RELATED EVENTS AND HONORS APRIL to AUGUST 2009

Posted April 19, 2009 by Carol de Giere, author of Defying Gravity: The Creative Career of Stephen Schwartz from Godspell to Wicked

This will be a LONG blog post because there are so many events for and about Broadway songwriter Stephen Schwartz. He will be honored in New York and Pittsburgh, and will appear in events in Kentucky, New York, California, and Connecticut.

Also, I’m speaking at several Schwartz-related events during which I’ll be sharing stories from my book. Some of the original cast members I interviewed will be sharing Schwartz songs at my events. See details below.

By the way, if you haven’t seen Schwartz’s biggest hit musical, Wicked, the tour schedule has been expanding - soon Wicked will be everywhere. So click around the Wicked home page at http://www.musicalschwartz.com/wicked.htm

2009-2010 North American Tour Cities announced in the press so far: Austin, Charlotte, Dayton, Denver, Des Moines, Durham, Greenville, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Kansas City, Memphis, Nashville, Norfolk, Omaha, Providence, Richmond, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Diego, Schenectady, Seattle, Tempe, Tulsa, Wichita

SCHWARTZ HONORS - SPRING 2009

OPERA MAY 1st

Stephen Schwartz was honored to have his opera selected for partial performance by the New York City Opera as part of a 10th anniversary celebration.

Schedule Friday, May 1

All events are free, but reservations are highly recommended. http://vox-nyco.com/html/current.html

To read more about the opera, see our previous blog post http://www.theschwartzscene.com/blog/2007/04/23/schwartz-opera-and-wicked/

RICHARD RODGERS AWARD May 9, 2009 Pittsburgh, PA

Award-winning composer and lyricist and Carnegie Mellon University graduate Stephen Schwartz will be the 12th recipient of the Richard Rodgers Award for Excellence in Musical Theater.

Established in 1988, the award recognizes the lifetime contributions of outstanding talents in musical theater. Awardees have included Mary Martin (1988), Dame Julie Andrews (1989), Harold Prince (1991), Cameron Mackintosh (1992), Stephen Sondheim (1993), Andrew Lloyd Webber (1996), Gwen Verdon (2000), Bernadette Peters (2002), Shirley Jones (2007), Kathleen Marshall (2008) and Rob Marshall (2008).

The Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera, along with the families of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II and the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization, will present the award to Schwartz at Civic Light Opera Guild’s Pink Frolic Ball on May 9 at the Omni William Penn Hotel, Downtown. The evening includes a gala dinner with performances honoring Schwartz’s career. Composer, author, and screenwriter Mary Rodgers Guettel, who composed a song for Schwartz’s 1978 Broadway musical “Working” and is the daughter of the late Richard Rodgers, will present the award. For information on tickets for the presentation, contact Stephanie Snyder at 412-281-3973, ext. 234.

Songwriters Hall of Fame Induction June 18, 2009

Tony Award nominees Stephen Schwartz, best known for smash stage hits including Wicked, and Galt MacDermot, James Rado and the late Gerome Ragni, all of the soon-to-be-revived Hair, will be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame on June 18, 2009. The ceremony for the honorees will take place at the Marriott Marquis Hotel, marking the 40th anniversary of the Hall of Fame. The tunesmiths will join such famed inductees as Bob Dylan, Billy Joel, Sir Elton John, Bernie Taupin, Cy Coleman and Hal David, among many others.

The Songwriters Hall of Fame was founded in 1969 by Johnny Mercer, Abe Olman and Howie Richmond. The organization works to educate the public about the work of great songwriters, producing a spectrum of professional programs devoted to the development of new talent through workshops, showcases and scholarships.

Schwartz Becomes President of Dramatists Guild

On March 19, 2009, it was announced that Stephen Schwartz has become the president of the Dramatists Guild of America, the national association of playwrights, composers and lyricists. Schwartz commented: “I’m extremely honored my fellow dramatists have chosen me to be the president of their Guild. On behalf of all of my fellow Guild members, I would like to thank John Weidman [former president] and Marsha Norman [former vice president] and the other officers for their amazingly productive work and the dedication that they’ve shown over the last ten years. I hope to continue to move the Guild forward in the direction they have led and to try to live up to their very high standards.”

EVENTS

April 20th, at 7:00 p.m. “May the Schwartz Be With You” concert at Don’t Tell Mama

Here’s our press release for a very special NYC event. Stephen won’t be there but many great singers will be:

Broadway originals Carole Demas, Teri Ralston and Dale Soules will be joined by Carol de Giere, author of Defying Gravity: The Creative Career of Stephen Schwartz from Godspell to Wicked in a truly memorable evening of song and stories.

This show presents three true Broadway luminaries with unrivaled pedigree. Carole Demas is known to all as Sandy in the original production of Grease, as well as Genevieve in the original production of The Baker’s Wife. Teri Ralston comes to us from the original companies of Company, A Little Night Music, as well as The Baker’s Wife. Dale Soules starred opposite Doug Henning in the original cast of The Magic Show, and played Big Edie in Grey Gardens on Broadway.

This all-star line up is joined by Shorey Walker, Kathleen Hennesy, Lara Janine, James Reimer, Natalie Ryder, and a performance by The Treats featuring Brooke Lyn Hetrick, Katie Danielowski & Emily Zempel. Musical direction is by BJ Gandolfo. Morgan LaVere is directing.

Project Open, the outreach program for Lincoln Towers’ elder residents and their families, provides a range of social, educational and assistance programs regardless of income. From counseling, social activities and referral services to assistance with grocery shopping, home delivery of meals or aid in securing home and long term care, Project Open provides essential services to help older residents live with comfort and dignity in their own homes.

May The Schwartz Be With You, plays Don’t Tell Mama on Monday, April 20th, at 7:00 p.m. Don’t Tell Mama is located at 343 West 46th Street. There is a $25 cover charge, and a two drink minimum. All proceeds will go to benefit Project Open. Reservations required. Phone 212-757-0788 (after 4:00 PM daily).

Louisville, Kentucky May 2

“Wicked” composer Stephen Schwartz will attend the Kentucky Derby and perform a concert after the race for the Louisville-based charity Operation Open Arms. Schwartz will be joined in the concert by his wife and other singers who will come with him to Kentucky (including Liz Callaway).

For information on this event see Kentucky article

May 9, The Creativity of Stephen Schwartz: Tarrytown, NY

Photo: Author Carol de Giere speaking about her book.

MAY 9 EVENT: Carol de Giere, Carole Demas, and Lara Janine are appearing from 3:30 to 4:30 pm as part of the “Third Annual Meet The Authors @ Warner Library, Readings, Signings & Discussions.”

Carol de Giere, author of Defying Gravity: The Creative Career of Stephen Schwartz from Godspell to Wicked, will share behind the scenes stories. Carole Demas, known for her role as “Sandy” in the original production of Grease, as well as Genevieve in the original production of The Baker’s Wife, will perform the original “Meadowlark” and also “With You” from Pippin. Lara Janine, who performed the role of Elphaba in production of Wicked in Japan, will sing “The Wizard and I” and “Defying Gravity” at this event.

Photo: Lara Janine

It will be a full day of readings, signings, Q&A and Broadway musical numbers on May 9th at Warner Library in Tarrytown as 13 local authors and poets come together to share their stories and broaden your horizons. Check later on the Warner Library site for details: Warner Library Tarrytown

May 16, 2009 Schwartz at Andrea Marcovicci’s 60th Birthday Concert - Town Hall.

Join three-time Academy Award winner, Stephen Schwartz (Wicked) and Grammy award-winner Julie Gold, along with other noted ASCAP composers Francesca Blumenthal, John Bucchino, Craig Carnelia, Babbie Green, and Christine Lavin and as they celebrate Andrea’s dedication to the Great American Songbook. The evening not only includes contemporary songs from these guest artists but Andrea performs classic standards from Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, Johnny Mercer, and more. The Town Hall is located in Manhattan at 123 West 43rd Street. TICKETS: Ticketmaster for Town Hall concert or call (212) 307-4100

May 29 - Schwartz appears in Danbury CT

“Musicals at Richter”, Connecticut’s longest running outdoor summer theatre located in Danbury, Connecticut, will be celebrating its 25th season of Broadway musicals “under the stars” with a pre-season gala featuring award winning composer, Stephen Schwartz, as their very special musical guest. One of “Musicals at Richter’s” 25th season productions will be Mr. Schwartz’s own Children of Eden

The gala event, “25 Summers Under the Stars” will be held at The Amber Room Colonnade in Danbury, CT on May 29, 2009. There will be a performance by Stephen Schwartz (including a selection from Children of Eden), as well as music and entertainment provided by “Musicals at Richter” performers and alumni. A very special evening, indeed! Please visit M.A.R.’s website for more information on the 25th anniversary season and to buy your tickets now (either online or by check) to this very special event. Visit: www.musicalsatrichter.org

August 2009 in Los Angeles
Upright Cabaret’s Wicked Summer Nights includes Espinosa, Bean, and Stephen Schwartz

Beyond the Yellow Brick Road at the Ford Amphitheater.

A trio of shows directed by Billy Porter that celebrate life beyond the Wicked stage, starring pivotal figures who have created and defined this musical phenomenon. Former Elphabas Shoshana Bean and Eden Espinosa will be performing their own shows followed by a special cabaret with Stephen Schwartz.

• –Shoshana Bean: A Happening at the Ford. Thu. June 11 at 8:30 p.m
• –Eden Espinosa: ME. Fri. July 24 at 8:30 p.m.
• –Stephen Schwartz: Making Good. On Sun. August 23 at 7:30 p.m, Oscar and Grammy award-winner Stephen Schwartz presents a sneak peak of his new opera while Upright Cabaret All-Stars interpret some of his hits from productions such as Pippin and Wicked.

Wicked cabarets in LA - Ford Amphitheter Presented by Chris Isaacson and Shane Schee

RECENT PAST EVENTS

Photo: Godspell movie star Katie Hanley made plans with me to surprise Stephen when he came to Chicago for a January book signing. She and Stephen went to college together at Carnegie Mellon University in the 1960s. She’s holding my book.

In January, Stephen and I also spoke in San Francisco at the Museum of Performance and design where we also signed autographs for Defying Gravity.

KEEP UP WITH SCHWARTZ AND WICKED

The Schwartz Scene quarterly newsletter provides more detailed information about Schwartz’s schedule and also the latest news from Wicked and other shows. If you have not yet signed up for this free newsletter/ezine, or if you didn’t get a recent issue, please fill in the form at http://www.musicalschwartz.com/newsletter.htm

This January, Stephen Schwartz and I will be reprising our presentation from October 30th in two new locations: Chicago and San Francisco. See details below.

PHOTO:

Wearing lime green on Wicked’s 5th Anniversary October 30th, 2008, Stephen Schwartz came out to Barnes and Noble in New York City near Lincoln Center to talk about his songwriting process. The gathered audience of about 220 people listened to him play “Corner of the Sky” and “For Good.”

That’s me, the bird perched on the stool. I prompted Stephen with questions related to things that he and I discussed over the years I was writing Defying Gravity: The Creative Career of Stephen Schwartz, from Godspell to Wicked.

I managed to catch a corner of Stephen’s busy schedule to fit in the two upcoming events.

I’ll put the details in here in press release form. Note that the Skokie event is early evening so you can still make it to Wicked or another show that night. Stephen himself plans to attend Wicked that evening - the last time he’ll see the Chicago production before it closes on January 25th.

Meet Wicked’s Stephen Schwartz in Skokie Illinois

Two weeks before Wicked closes after its long run in Chicago, the show’s composer/lyricist Stephen Schwartz will appear in Skokie on January 10, 2009, with host Carol de Giere, author of Defying Gravity: The Creative Career of Stephen Schwartz from Godspell to Wicked. Schwartz will discuss his work, answer questions and perform several of his songs at Barnes & Noble Booksellers, 55 Old Orchard Center in Skokie at 5:30 pm. He will join Ms. de Giere in autographing the book, and will also sign other memorabilia for those who purchase the book.

Defying Gravity takes readers behind the scenes for the making of Schwartz-related musicals from Godspell in 1971 through Wicked in 2003. The Wicked section of the book spans 150 pages and covers the story of the show’s developmental stages.

Schwartz, whose hit musicals Pippin, The Magic Show, and Wicked have each run more than 1900 performances on Broadway, also holds three Academy Awards. He recently received a Grammy Award nomination for songs for Disney’s Enchanted, which he wrote with Alan Menken.

Stephen Schwartz In Conversation and Song in San Francisco

Monday, January 26, 2009 at 7:00 pm

Stephen Schwartz, composer-lyricist of the international blockbuster musical Wicked, will appear for an evening of conversation, song, and book signing at the Museum of Performance & Design (MPD) as Wicked returns home to San Francisco on January 27 for an open-ended engagement at the Orpheum Theatre. In conversation with host Carol de Giere, author of the new biography Defying Gravity: The Creative Career of Stephen Schwartz from Godspell to Wicked, Schwartz will describe some of his songwriting methods, answer questions about his work and the making of Wicked, and perform several of his popular pieces at the piano. Following the presentation, he will join Ms. de Giere in autographing the book.

The event takes place on Monday, January 26, 2009 at 7:00 pm at the Museum of Performance & Design (MPD), located on the Fourth Floor of the Veterans Building, 401 Van Ness Avenue (@ McAllister) in San Francisco. Admission is free, but space is limited and reservations are recommended — call 415-255-4800, ext. *810. For more information, visit the Museum’s website, www.mpdsf.org. Book sales for this event are courtesy of Books, Inc. in Opera Plaza (www.booksinc.net).

Defying Gravity takes readers behind the scenes for the making of Schwartz-related musicals from Godspell in 1971 through Wicked in 2003. The Wicked section of the book spans 150 pages and covers the story of the show’s developmental stages. More information is available on the book’s website at www.defyinggravitythebook.com

In 2008 at age sixty, Stephen Schwartz reached a new threshold. In July, Wicked passed Pippin and The Magic Show in number of continuous performances on Broadway. All three have run over 1900 performances, making Schwartz the only songwriter in Broadway history with three shows that have reached this milestone. He also holds three Academy Awards. He recently received a Grammy Award nomination for songs for Disney’s Enchanted, which he wrote with Alan Menken. Come meet this living legend.

Wicked, the untold story of the witches of Oz, had its world premiere at San Francisco’s Curran Theatre on May 28, 2003. This opening followed a long development process during which the entire creative team and cast immersed themselves in the brand-new material at the Curran Theatre to launch a spectacular phenomenon that has since redefined theatrical pop culture. Since having its official Broadway opening at the Gershwin Theatre on October 30, 2003, Wicked has been sold out at virtually every performance, breaking house records with box office receipts of over $1.4 million per week. It has been called “Broadway’s biggest blockbuster” by the New York Times and “a cultural phenomenon” by Variety. Wicked returns home to San Francisco on January 27 for an open-ended engagement at the Orpheum Theatre.

MORE ABOUT WICKED

Read all about Wicked on my Stephen Schwartz fan site Wicked pages!

http://www.musicalschwartz.com/wicked.htm

Stephen Schwartz, songwriter for Wicked, Godspell, and other musicals, helped launch the new book Defying Gravity at Barnes and Noble in October 2008. Photo by Terence de Giere

Meet Stephen in Los Angeles - Star-filled Event Monday November 24th, 2008

UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL with STEPHEN SCHWARTZ, an Actor’s Fund benefit event in the lobby of the Pantages Theatre with an opportunity to meet and mingle. Starring: Stephen Schwartz, Jason Alexander, Susan Eagan, Jason Graae, Debbie Gravitte,Karen Morrow, Hila Plitmann, plus a few surprises!

Moderated by Michael A Kerker, Musical Director Georgia Stitt

7:30 pm Cocktail reception
8:30 pm Performance
Post show dessert reception with the performers

Tickets: $125 per person

www.actorsfund.org/performances/current/musicalmondays_10-2008

Schwartz Opera Reading November 21 and 22, 2008 in New York

New Yorkers get early listen of first opera by Stephen Schwartz, Séance on a Wet Afternoon American Opera Projects hosts New York workshop November 21 & 22. Opera Santa Barbara to present world premiere in 2009.

After each performance, audience members who make an additional donation of $100 dollars will be given the opportunity to attend a reception with the composer and cast of Séance on a Wet Afternoon. Find out more about the opera and any opera events on www.musicalschwartz.com/schwartz-opera.htm

Defying Gravity events coming up in San Francisco, Chicago, Washington DC

I’ve been lucky to have Stephen Schwartz contribute songs and stories as part of book signing events with me in Los Angeles and New York for my new book Defying Gravity: The Creative Career of Stephen Schwartz, from Godspell to Wicked. I’m currently planning 2009 events for San Francisco, Chicago, and Washington DC. These will also include a chance to say hello to Stephen and hear him play some of his tunes. To stay current, please consider subscribing to The Schwartz Scene newsletter or check here or the events page on www.defyinggravitythebook.com/

Defying Gravity autographed copies for holiday gifts

I’m selling a limited number of autographed copies of this first authorized career biography of Schwartz signed by both of Stephen Schwartz and myself (as author). Did you know that the book also includes over 200 photographs and illustrations, such as handwritten music from “The Wicked Witch of The East” song from Wicked, a new music for a segment of Godspell, and more? Please write to carol@defyinggravitythebook.com if you’re interested and visit the “About the Book” section of the book site: www.defyinggravitythebook.com/ to learn more.

From Carol de Giere: While writing Defying Gravity, my book about Stephen Schwartz’s career that covers Wicked’s development, I had the good fortune to interview costume designer Susan Hilferty in her studio. What an artist!

Now you can “meet” Susan as well. A site called Threadbanger.com created an exciting video that takes you back stage with her at the Gershwin Theatre in New York. You can see Wicked’s elaborate and fanciful costumes up close.

http://www.threadbanger.com/episode/iST_20081009 [link opens a new browser window]

In my book I incorporate Susan’s comments along with those of Joe Mantello, Stephen Schwartz, and others to describe how scenes like the first act finale (centered around the song “Defying Gravity”) were created. You will also see Schwartz’s handwritten notes for the song. Read about Defying Gravity here: http://www.defyinggravitythebook.com/

Fascinating Wicked Costume Facts

Provided by Susan Hilferty

There are approximately 263 costumes constructed for each new production of Wicked based on 180 unique costume designs (duplicates of some costumes are made for understudies and others).

What covers the feet of the actors? One or more pairs from the 240 pairs of handmade shoes for each new production of Wicked.

As many as 250 artisans and craftspeople in the US and overseas work on a new production of Wicked.

The ruffles in the skirt of Elphaba’s Wicked Witch dress require 40 yards of fabric to complete.

There are 20 shades of Elphaba green skin (although we only regularly use a few).

It takes half an hour for Elphaba to “greenify” every night.

The fabric for the Shiz uniforms was designed by Susan Hilferty exclusively for Wicked and is custom printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. No two “uniforms” are alike.

It takes 424 manhours per week to maintain the costumes for Wicked on Broadway.

There are a minimum of 6 loads of laundry for every performance of Wicked.

___

For still photos see http://www.musicalschwartz.com/wicked-costumes.htm and for links to over 50 pages on Wicked including ticket information, please visit http://www.musicalschwartz.com/wicked.htm

Enjoy a delightful evening with songwriter Stephen Schwartz and his talented friends in “Stephen Schwartz & Friends” concerts. Hear songs from Godspell, Wicked, Pippin, and other musicals played and sung by the composer-lyricist. He shares the stage with Broadway performers Debbie Gravitte or Liz Callaway, and award-winning cabaret singer Scott Coulter. (Photo by Maryann Lopinto)

• September 25th — The Overture Center, Madison, WI (with Stephen, Debbie and Scott) Madison tickets and details
  
• September 26th — The Wilson Center, Brookfield, WI [Milwaukee area] (with Stephen, Debbie and Scott) Milwaukee tickets and details
  
• September 28th — Pepperdine University, Malibu, CA (with Stephen, Debbie and Scott) Pepperdine Tickets and Details
  
• October 2nd-5th — Orange County Performing Arts Center, Orange County, CA (with Stephen, Debbie, Liz and Scott) Tickets and details
  
• November 6th-9th — Broadway by the Bay, San Mateo, CA (with Stephen, Debbie, Liz and Scott) Tickets and details
  
• November 11th — World Theater at CSU Monterey Bay, Monterey Bay, CA (with Stephen, Debbie and Scott) Monterey Tickets and Details
  
• February 25th — The Naples Philharmonic, Naples, FL (with Stephen, Debbie, Liz and Scott) Tickets and details
  
• February 26th — Bay Arts Alliance, Panama City, FL (with Stephen, Debbie and Scott) Bay Arts Alliance: Stephen Schwartz and Friends, Panama City
• March 1st — Van Wetzl Performing Arts Center, Sarasota, FL (with Stephen, Liz and Scott)Stephen Schwartz and Friends in Sarasota: www.VanWezel.org

If you haven’t heard Stephen sing, check out his albums Reluctant Pilgrim and Uncharted Territory

MORE NEWS
I haven’t been posting on the blog because I’ve been finishing my book. It is being published by Applause Theatre and Cinema Books with a “September” release date. Read all about Stephen Schwartz’s career and the making of each of his musicals in Defying Gravity: The Creative Career of Stephen Schwartz, from Godspell to Wicked.
Please visit the official book site at http://www.defyinggravitythebook.com/

A Blog/Podcast by Carol de Giere, including an interview with Stephen Schwartz

Introduction: Stephen Schwartz’s touching ballad, “Fathers and Sons,” is a favorite song among his fans, and was included on The Stephen Schwartz Album compilation as well as on the Working cast album. The song poetically describes parent/child relationships in a way that is both deeply personal and universal. When Stephen wrote the piece in 1977, his son Scott was three-and-a-half years old, as the lyrics mention.

Stephen Schwartz and his son Scott Schwartz –Photo by Terence de Giere

Thirty years later, father and son shared ideas and plans as Scott directed the workshop production of Stephen’s opera-in-progress. (Scott will also direct the final production of the opera in Santa Barbara in 2009.) When my husband and I drove up to see the workshop performance, we interviewed Stephen for this podcast. Terry also captured the father/son portrait that you see here.

“Fathers and Sons” also reflects Stephen’s relationship with his father. Stephen grew up in the suburbs of New York City in Roslyn Heights, Long Island, where he lived with his parents and younger sister. As a teenager in the early 1960s, he experienced the usual alienation of youth for the older generation. Later, he and his parents developed a close and cordial relationship.

In 1996, someone snapped this candid photo of Stephen’s father, “Stan” (Stanley), Stephen, and his mother, Sheila Schwartz, attending the Academy Award ceremony when Stephen received Oscars for writing lyrics for Pocahontas. (How many parents get to say they walked the red carpet? They must have been glad they paid for their son’s piano lessons and four years of weekend studies at Juilliard Preparatory Division.)

As a composer-lyricist for stage and film musicals, Stephen didn’t originally write “Fathers and Sons” just to express something about his family life. He wrote it to fit into Working. Some of the people interviewed by Studs Terkel in his book Working (the source material for the musical) touched upon similar sentiments, and Terkel organized a set of eight father/son interviews under the heading FATHERS AND SONS. At one point, though, Stephen doubted that it really fit in the musical, but his co-adaptor, Nina Faso, and music director, Stephen Reindhardt, talked him into keeping it in the show.

If you don’t know the song, you might want to read the lyrics (below) and listen to a brief clip of Stephen singing the song on The Stephen Schwartz Album at http://www.amazon.com/ - The Stephen Schwartz Album [opens new browser window]

Lyrics to “Fathers and Sons”

I heard a lotta songs say “Where you goin’ my son?”
Now I know they’re true
Boy, you never stop to think how fast the years run
Now they’ve taken you
I remember you was three ‘n’ a half
Your ma and me, we’d sit there after things got quieted
We’d laugh at some new word you said
How tough you were to get to bed
And we’d plan the night away
Planning for our kid …

I was your hero then
I couldn’t do no wrong, as far as you were concerned
You thought I was the best of men
The tables hadn’t turned
You hadn’t learned
How little time it takes
And daddies make mistakes …

Seems to be that lately I been thinkin’ a lot
I think about my dad
Lots of funny things come back I thought I’d forgot
Now they make me sad
High school and it used to be
I didn’t want him touchin’ me, and I shuddered if he did
Further back to summer nights
Baseball games beneath the lights
And sleepin’ in the car
My daddy and his kid …

He was my hero then
He couldn’t do no wrong, as far as I was concerned
I thought he was the wisest and the strongest
And the best of men
The tables hadn’t turned
I hadn’t learned
How little time it takes
And everybody breaks
And daddies make mistakes ……

I heard a lotta songs say: “where you goin’, my son?”
Now I know they’re for real
Boy, you never stop to think how fast the years run
And the things they steal
Now it seems I always knew
Why I do the things I do
And the things I never did
Why I work my whole damn life
So’s I could give a better life
Than the one my dad could give me
I give it
To my kid …

Podcast: Stephen Schwartz—Fathers and Sons

You’ll find the transcript for this six-minute podcast below. Listen to the podcast by clicking the arrow button immediately below (Internet Explorer and Opera browser users click the button twice):

Welcome to Podcast #3 from The Schwartz Scene at www.theschwartzscene.com. I’m Carol de Giere. Today we’ll focus on one aspect of songwriter Stephen Schwartz’s life and creative interests represented by his song, “Fathers and Sons,” from the musical Working. Stephen often writes about parenting concerns, especially the relationship of father to son, as in Pippin, Children of Eden, and Geppetto and Son. In Wicked, which deals more with father-daughter issues, the Wizard sings to Elphaba about how he always longed to be a father. And he says [Schwartz’s lyric:], “Helping you with your ascent allows me to feel so parental.”

Carol de Giere: We’ve noticed that one of your themes for writing is the parenting process, or the parenting experience. I suppose that comes out of your own life. Would you say that it comes from your experience?

Stephen Schwartz: Yeah, I think so. I think that I tend to write a lot about parent/child relationships from both points of view. I think that I had a complicated relationship with my parents. It’s a very, very good one now. But there were challenging aspects to it when I was growing up.

I think all boys have father issues. Maybe not all boys, but it seems to me they do, and I had my share. Working out my relationship to and with my father was sort of central to my whole emotional and psychological development. And then becoming a father and how I related to my kids and the kind of parent I was, was also very important to me emotionally. It’s just always been a theme in my work. It was there before I was a father because I wasn’t a father when I wrote Pippin, which has a lot of father/son relationship issues in it. But, yeah, it’s just something that for whatever reason has been emotionally significant to me.

CD: When you wrote “Fathers and Sons” you included the concept of heroes. So the idealism and realism, which is another theme that you’ve talked about–do you think that just emerged as you were writing? Or was it there in Studs Terkel’s interviews?

SS: No, “Fathers and Sons” is an extremely personal song to the point that I wasn’t sure it should be included in the show. I’m sure either Nina or Steve Reinhardt have told you that I was not sure it should be in the show, and basically the two of them said, ‘No no no,’ this needs to be in the show. It took a while, actually, to find out how to make it work in the show. But it’s extremely personal, particularly about my relationship with my own dad.

CD: Well, how does the hero, there was a point in your life, then, that you looked up to him?

SS: Sure. I think that that’s a common, I mean Terry I don’t know if you would agree, I don’t know what your relationship with your dad was like, but I think that that may be a common pattern of son to father relationships that when you’re young you idealize your father and he’s your hero and then as you come into your teenage years and you become more realistic about who your father is, the fact that he has flaws is devastating in some way. And one has an unrealistic picture of him in the other way. I mean, he suddenly becomes this total failure or whatever, but the negatives completely take over.

Terry de Giere: I remember that it tended to get that way to a certain extent. Also your personalities, you’re becoming independent mentally at that point and your own ego is developing and that creates that gap between you two.

SS: And then one hopes, and what has happened between me and my dad, and I have a great relationship with him now, is that you come to a synthesis where it’s acceptable for your father to be a human being, you know, who has strengths and who has weaknesses and who has flaws but who also has aspects that are strong.

CD: I’m not a parent but I’ve been told that that’s also the process of parenting, that you want to be the perfect parent and at some point you admit that you aren’t and then you embrace that.

SS: Yeah, I mean I think everybody, I certainly knew I wasn’t going to be the perfect parent, but you just try to do the best job I can. I know the couple of places where I felt I really slipped up are places that I still have strong regrets about.

CD: And so perhaps that’s why the song touches people.

SS: I think the song touches people because, I mean, as always, this goes back to the truism that you and I have discussed before that the secret to me to songwriting is ‘tell the truth and make it rhyme.’ And the songs of mine that seem to have the most effect on people are the ones where I am being as honest as I possibly can. “Fathers and Sons” is just a completely honest song.

CD: Are the details true? Scott was 3 ½. That one was true.

SS: Yeah, the details are all true. The whole thing about the baseball games.

CD: Baseball game beneath the lights.

SS: Totally. My dad used to take me to ball games.

CD: It was the Mets, right?

SS: Yes, it was the Giants before that. That’s what I really remember, that when there was no National League team in the New York area that we would drive down to Philadelphia once a year and go to a Philly’s game. And that was always one of my favorite favorite things to do.

CD: And sleeping in the car.

SS: And sleeping in the car.

Hear Fathers and Sons on
The Stephen Schwartz Album

Hear Fathers and Sons on Working Cast Album

Sheet music Fathers and Sons: http://www.musicnotes.com/

Read about Working the musical

ShowBusiness: The Road to Broadway

The new DVD ShowBusiness is a “must have” for Wicked fans. In this blog post you’ll find many details about the DVD that may help you decide about buying it, or get more from your viewing once you have it.

To order the DVD at a discount price, go to: Show Business - The Road to Broadway

ABOUT SHOWBUSINESS: THE ROAD TO BROADWAY

This documentary offers a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes for producers, writers, actors, designers, marketing teams to develop and deliver Broadway shows. From the press release: “Allowed unprecedented backstage access, director Dori Berinstein casts a camera’s eye on rehearsals, backstage dramas, and the mysteriously wondrous creative process.” With its running time of 104 minutes, a full-length Audio Commentary, and over 60 minutes of extras, it will take you several sittings to savor everything.

You will feel like a Broadway insider by the time you

• watch the main feature’s back stage clips and interviews with actors and producers who speak about the 2003/2004 Broadway season as they make it happen,
• go back and play the Audio Commentary by director Dori Berinstein, actor Alan Cumming & Avenue Q co-creator Jeff Marx (especially note their comments about the New York Posts’ trouble-making columnist Michael Reidel as well as the other Broadway critics),
• watch the additional clips including over 60 minutes of Deleted Scenes, Tony Award® Promotional Spots, and a trailer,
• step into the recording studio with Stephen Schwartz, Kristin Chenoweth, and others as they record “Popular” for the Wicked cast album (that’s part of the main feature, chapter 10),
• listen to critics chatting on about their prejudices, likes and dislikes, and their often-wrong predictions for the Broadway season 2003/2004.

Note: this is not for the very young or faint hearted, as swear words are not withheld and it shows how really tough the Broadway life can sometimes be.

Wicked special feature: Stephen Schwartz allowed the filmmakers to come to Connecticut to record footage both in his home office and his upstairs studio. In the studio footage, Stephen plays some of the first chords he wrote for Wicked and then shows how they became the accompaniment for “No Good Deed.” [Read more about Wicked composer-lyricist Stephen Schwartz] [Read more about No Good Deed]

THINGS TO NOTE ONCE YOU HAVE THE SHOWBUSINESS DVD AT HOME

For the section mentioned above in Stephen’s home, the photo at the piano is of his agent, Shirley Bernstein, who was Leonard Bernstein’s sister. Schwartz attributes much of his career success to the connections with producers that she made for him. The studio space you see there is where he wrote most of the songs for Wicked.

One of the best clips is easy to miss. It’s in the DVD Special Feature sections about Tony Awards. Play the part about “The Nominees” to hear funny stories about what the Tony nominees were doing when they found out they had been nominated. You will see Winnie Holzman and Stephen Schwartz joking and laughing as they did during their work on Wicked. It’s a great mini-portrait of the cheerier side of show business. Their sense of humor certainly contributed to the success of the show. [Read more about the Wicked script and the playful vocabulary.]

In November 2003 after Wicked opened, Stephen Schwartz lead the cast and orchestra through three days of recording sessions at Right Track Studio for the cast album. This photo is from one session when some press and friends were invited into the control room. On the left is Stephen’s assistant Michael Cole. Next is me, Carol de Giere, in the white turtleneck. I’m busily taking notes for an article about the cast recording session experience (I’ll let you know when that’s available.) In front is Stephen Schwartz. The Berinstein film captures a moment when Wicked’s composer is catching a wrong note being played by one violinist. Schwartz was born with perfect pitch and is obviously highly sensitive to music, as this clip reveals. This Wicked recording session clip also shows how recordings are made, with Kristin Chenoweth singing in a separate sound booth from the rest of the orchestra.

The DVD includes several scenes with Wicked and Avenue Q’s music director Stephen Oremus. [Read more about Stephen Oremus]

This photo of Idina Menzel was taken in the rehearsal room at 890 Broadway before Wicked traveled to San Francisco for the out-of-town try out. Idina is piecing together the script, integrating changes that had just been written. Idina joined the cast as the original Elphaba in the fall of 2001, so she had seen many revisions of the script by then.

Idina Menzel fans: Be sure to listen to the credits all the way through to the end. As the second song running over the credits, Idina sings “Lullaby of Broadway” in a special arrangement written especially for her voice. Also enjoy the Special Features clip of a tour through her dressing room at Wicked. This and other sections of Showsbusiness give audiences a feeling for what it’s like to prepare for a Broadway performance eight times a week.

Note that the spray painted green make up shown in SHOWBUSINESS was an early attempt to get green. Shortly after the clip was filmed, she switched to using make up that is painted on with brushes.

Read more about Idina Menzel

MORE NOTES

Was Dori Berinstein biased in choosing shows and material? When she directed the film, she had no idea how the season would play out. She ended up creating the film from over 250 hours of footage. She said she was inspired by William Goldman’s book, The Season, which tracked Broadway shows from 1967 to 1968. [The Season is one of Stephen Schwartz’s favorite book about theatre. Read about the making of musicals http://www.musicalwriters.com/resources/books/making-of-musicals.htm]

She told a Los Angeles reporter, “I wanted it to be a celebration about theater and the incredible talent onstage and behind the curtain. I wanted it to be really, really honest. It was a particularly brutal season.” Watching the Tony Award section of the film towards the end, Showbusiness comes off somewhat as a celebration of Avenue Q. But there is still plenty of material for theatre enthusiasts who appreciate the other shows. Once you listen to the audio commentary by Berinstein, you’ll feel her love and affection for all parts of the business of show.