Stephen Schwartz

Last updated

Stephen Schwartz
StephenSchwartz-byPhilipRomano.jpg
Schwartz in 2022
Born (1948-03-06) March 6, 1948 (age 76)
New York City, U.S.
Education Carnegie Mellon University (BFA)
Occupations
  • Lyricist
  • composer
Years active1969–present
Spouse
Carole Piasecki
​
(m. 1969)​
Children2

Stephen Lawrence Schwartz (born March 6, 1948) is an American musical theatre composer and lyricist. In a career spanning over five decades, Schwartz has written hit musicals such as Godspell (1971), Pippin (1972), and Wicked (2003). He has contributed lyrics to a number of successful films, including Pocahontas (1995), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), The Prince of Egypt (1998, music and lyrics), Enchanted (2007), and Disenchanted (2022).

Contents

Schwartz has earned numerous accolades including three Grammy Awards, three Academy Awards, and a Golden Globe Award. He has received nominations for six Tony Awards, and a Laurence Olivier Award. He received the Tony Award's Isabelle Stevenson Award in 2015. [1]

Early life and education

Schwartz was born to a Jewish family [2] in New York City, the son of Sheila Lorna (née Siegel), a teacher, and Stanley Leonard Schwartz, a businessman. [3] He grew up in the Williston Park area of Nassau County, New York, where he graduated from Mineola High School in 1964. [4] While attending Carnegie Mellon University, Schwartz composed and directed an early version of Pippin (entitled Pippin, Pippin) with the student-run theatre group, Scotch'n'Soda. Schwartz graduated from Carnegie Mellon University in 1968 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in drama. [5]

Career

Early career

Upon returning to New York City, Schwartz went to work as a producer for RCA Records, but shortly thereafter began to work in Broadway theatre. He was asked to be the musical director of the first American rock opera, The Survival of St. Joan . He was credited as the producer of the double album of the soundtrack with the progressive rock group Smoke Rise on Paramount Records. His first major credit was the title song for the play Butterflies Are Free ; the song was eventually used in the movie version as well. [6]

In 1971, he wrote music and lyrics for Godspell , for which he won several awards, including two Grammys. For this musical's Toronto production in 1972, he asked Paul Shaffer to be the musical director, thus starting Shaffer's career. Godspell was followed by the English-language texts, in collaboration with Leonard Bernstein, for Bernstein's Mass , which opened the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC. In 1972, the long-running Pippin premiered on Broadway. Schwartz had begun writing songs for Pippin while in college, although none of the songs from the college version ended up in the Broadway production. Both Pippin and Godspell continue to be frequently produced. [7]

Two years after Pippin debuted, Schwartz wrote music and lyrics of The Magic Show , which ran for just under 2,000 performances. By mid-1974, at age 26, Schwartz had three smash hit musicals playing in New York simultaneously. Next were the music and lyrics of The Baker's Wife , which closed before reaching Broadway after an out-of-town tryout tour in 1976. However, the cast album went on to attain cult status, which led to several subsequent productions, including a London production directed by Trevor Nunn in 1990 and another at the Paper Mill Playhouse in New Jersey in 2005. [8]

In 1978, Schwartz's next Broadway project was a musical version of Studs Terkel's Working , which he adapted and directed, winning the Drama Desk Award as best director, and for which he contributed four songs. He also co-directed the television production, which was presented as part of the PBS American Playhouse series. In 1977, Schwartz wrote a children's book called The Perfect Peach. In the 1980s, Schwartz wrote songs for a one-act musical for children, The Trip, which 20 years later was revised, expanded and produced as Captain Louie . He then wrote music for three of the songs of the Off-Broadway revue Personals, and lyrics to Charles Strouse's music for the musical Rags . [9]

Later career

In 1991, Schwartz wrote the music and lyrics for the musical Children of Eden . He then began working in film, collaborating with composer Alan Menken on the scores for the Disney animated features Pocahontas (1995), for which he received two Academy Awards, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996). He provided songs for DreamWorks' first musical animated feature, The Prince of Egypt (1998), winning another Academy Award for the song "When You Believe". He wrote music and lyrics for the original television musical, Geppetto (2000), seen on The Wonderful World of Disney . A stage adaptation of this piece premiered in June 2006 at The Coterie Theatre in Kansas City, Missouri, and was titled Geppetto and Son, and is now known as Disney's My Son Pinocchio: Geppetto's Musical Tale . A version created for young performers, titled Geppetto & Son, Jr. had its world premiere on July 17, 2009, at the Lyric Theatre in Stuart, Florida. It was presented by the StarStruck Performing Arts Center.

In 2003, Schwartz returned to Broadway, as composer and lyricist for Wicked , a musical based on the novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West , which tells the story of the Oz characters from the point of view of the witches. Schwartz won a Grammy Award for his work as composer and lyricist and producer of Wicked's cast recording. On March 23, 2006, the Broadway production of Wicked passed the 1,000 performance mark, making Schwartz one of four composers (the other three being Andrew Lloyd Webber, Jerry Herman, and Richard Rodgers) to have three shows last that long on Broadway (the other two were Pippin and The Magic Show). In 2007, Schwartz joined Jerry Herman as being one of only two composer/lyricists to have three shows run longer than 1,500 performances on Broadway.

After Wicked, Schwartz contributed music and lyrics for a new musical that was commissioned to celebrate the bicentennial of the birth of Hans Christian Andersen. The production, titled Mit Eventyr or "My Fairytale", opened at the Gladsaxe Theatre in Copenhagen in the fall of 2005. The American premiere of My Fairytale took place in the summer of 2011 at the PCPA Theatrefest of California and was directed by the composer's son Scott Schwartz.

Schwartz returned to Hollywood in 2007 and wrote lyrics for the hit Disney film Enchanted , again collaborating with Menken. Three songs from the film, "Happy Working Song", "That's How You Know", and "So Close", were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song. He has written the theme song for the Playhouse Disney show Johnny and the Sprites , starring John Tartaglia. A recent project is incidental music for his son Scott Schwartz's adaptation of Willa Cather's My Ántonia .

On several occasions prior to 2008, Schwartz had reached out to Tim Dang who was the longtime artistic director of Los Angeles-based Asian-Pacific Islander theater company, East West Players (EWP). [10] This collaboration led to the conception of a new version of Pippin, aesthetically inspired by Japanese anime and musically inspired by hip-hop. [11] The production was a record-breaking hit and remained the highest grossing production in EWP's history [11] for an entire decade before being dethroned by Allegiance in 2018.

In 2008, Applause Theatre and Cinema Books published the first ever Schwartz biography titled Defying Gravity, by Carol de Giere. The book is a comprehensive look at his career and life, and includes sections on how to write for the musical theatre.

Turning to the pop world in 2009, Schwartz collaborated with John Ondrasik in writing two songs on the Five for Fighting album Slice , the title track as well as "Above the Timberline". Ondrasik became familiar with Schwartz based on his daughter's affection for, and repeated attendance at performances of, the musical Wicked.

In September 2011, the Northlight Theatre in Chicago premiered Schwartz's new musical, Snapshots, which featured music and lyrics by Schwartz, book by David Stern, and was directed by Ken Sawyer. It blended together "some of the best-loved music with some of the genuinely wonderful lesser known gems of (the) renowned Broadway composer." [12]

On March 22, 2012, the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus released "Testimony", composed by Schwartz with lyrics taken from submissions to Dan Savage's It Gets Better Project. [13]

In March 2015, Princess Cruises announced a partnership with Schwartz for the development of four shows over three years. The first will be a magic themed review of Schwartz's music, titled Magic To Do, including one new song written for the show.

Schwartz returned to write the lyrics for a sequel to Enchanted , titled Disenchanted , [14] and will do the same for a live-action remake of The Hunchback of Notre Dame. [15]

In April 2020 Schwartz participated in a fund-raising video called Saturday Night Seder which featured an "all-star" cast of performers, composers and religious leaders broadcasting from their home computers and cellphones due to the practice of "social distancing" used by people around the world in response to the coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic. The video explained the story of Passover through stories, song, comedy and memories, and raised money for the CDC Foundation. [16]

Personal life

Schwartz married Carole Piasecki on June 6, 1969. They have two children, Jessica and Scott. [3]

In 2009 Schwartz was elected president of the Dramatists Guild of America, succeeding John Weidman; [17] he stepped down in 2014, to be succeeded by Doug Wright. [18]

Major works

Schwartz, 2017 Stephen Schwartz signing autographs.jpg
Schwartz, 2017

Stage

Recordings

Books

Film

Television

Choral

Awards and nominations

Schwartz has won many major awards in his field, including three Oscars, three Grammys, four Drama Desk Awards, one Golden Globe Award, the Richard Rodgers Award for Excellence in Musical Theater and a self-described "tiny handful of tennis trophies". [22]

He has received six Tony Award nominations, for Wicked, Pippin, and Godspell, music/lyrics; Rags, lyrics; and Working, music/lyrics and book. [23] In 2015, he received an honorary Tony Award, the Isabelle Stevenson Award, for his commitment to serving artists and fostering new talent. [1]

In April 2008, Schwartz was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2009, he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. [24] Also in 2009, he was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame. [25] The induction ceremony took place on the night of January 25, 2010. [26]

Schwartz received an Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from Carnegie Mellon University in May 2015. [27]

Related Research Articles

<i>The Hunchback of Notre Dame</i> (1996 film) American animated musical drama film

The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a 1996 American animated musical drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is loosely based on the 1831 novel of the same name by Victor Hugo. The film was directed by Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise and produced by Don Hahn, from a screenplay written by Tab Murphy, Irene Mecchi, Jonathan Roberts, and the writing team of Bob Tzudiker and Noni White. Featuring the voices of Tom Hulce, Demi Moore, Tony Jay, and Kevin Kline, the film follows Quasimodo, the deformed and confined bell-ringer of Notre Dame, and his yearning to explore the outside world and be accepted by society, against the wishes of his cruel, puritanical foster father Claude Frollo, who also wants to exterminate Paris' Roma population.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alan Menken</span> American composer (born 1949)

Alan Irwin Menken is an American composer and conductor, best known for his scores and songs for films produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and Skydance Animation. Menken's contributions to The Little Mermaid (1989), Beauty and the Beast (1991), Aladdin (1992), and Pocahontas (1995) won him two Academy Awards for each film. He also composed the scores and songs for Little Shop of Horrors (1986), Newsies (1992), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), Hercules (1997), Home on the Range (2004), Enchanted (2007), Tangled (2010), Disenchanted (2022), and Spellbound (2024), among others. His accolades include winning eight Academy Awards — becoming the second most prolific Oscar winner in the music categories after Alfred Newman, a Tony Award, eleven Grammy Awards, seven Golden Globe Awards, and a Daytime Emmy Award. Menken is one of twenty-one people to have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony.

"Colors of the Wind" is a song written by composer Alan Menken and lyricist Stephen Schwartz for Walt Disney Pictures' 33rd animated feature film, Pocahontas (1995). The film's theme song, "Colors of the Wind" was originally recorded by American singer and actress Judy Kuhn in her role as the singing voice of Pocahontas. A pop ballad, the song's lyrics are about animism and respecting nature, finding its roots in indigenous Native American culture, perspectives which have later been adopted in both transcendentalist literature and New Age spirituality.

Glenn Slater is an American lyricist for musical theatre. He has collaborated with Alan Menken, Christopher Lennertz, Andrew Lloyd Webber, among other composers. He was nominated for three Tony Awards for Best Original Score for the Broadway version of The Little Mermaid at the 62nd Tony Awards in 2008, Sister Act at the 65th Tony Awards in 2011, and School of Rock at the 70th Tony Awards in 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Disney Theatrical Productions</span> Subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company

Disney Theatrical Productions Limited (DTP), also known as Disney on Broadway, is the stageplay and musical production company of the Disney Theatrical Group, a subsidiary of Disney Entertainment, a major division and business unit of The Walt Disney Company.

David Joel Zippel is an American musical theatre lyricist, director, and producer.

<i>The Hunchback of Notre Dame</i> (musical) 1999/2014 musical by Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz

The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a musical with music by Alan Menken and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz. It is adapted from Walt Disney Animation Studios' 1996 film of the same name, which in turn was based on the 1831 novel of the same name by Victor Hugo. The musical premiered in 1999 in Berlin as Der Glöckner von Notre Dame, with a book by James Lapine. It was produced by Disney Theatrical Productions, being the company's first musical to premiere outside the United States. It ran for three years, becoming one of Berlin's longest-running musicals.

<i>The Hunchback of Notre Dame</i> (soundtrack) 1996 soundtrack album by Various artists

The Hunchback of Notre Dame: An Original Walt Disney Records Soundtrack is the soundtrack to the 1996 Disney animated film The Hunchback of Notre Dame. It includes songs written by Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz with vocals performed by Paul Kandel, David Ogden Stiers, Tony Jay, Tom Hulce, Heidi Mollenhauer, Jason Alexander, Mary Wickes, and Mary Stout, along with singles by All-4-One/Eternal, and the film's score composed by Alan Menken.

"Happy Working Song" is a song written by composer Alan Menken and lyricist Stephen Schwartz for Walt Disney Pictures' musical film Enchanted (2007). Recorded by American actress Amy Adams in her starring role as Giselle, the uptempo pop song both parodies and pays homage to a variety of songs from several Disney animated feature films, particularly "Whistle While You Work" from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). Produced by Menken, Schwartz and Danny Troob, the song appears on the film's soundtrack, Enchanted.

"So Close" is a song written by composer Alan Menken and lyricist Stephen Schwartz for the musical fantasy film Enchanted (2007), recorded by American singer Jon McLaughlin. In the film, the song is performed by McLaughlin as himself, a band vocalist, musically accompanying main characters Giselle and Robert as they dance together at a costume ball. The song's lyrics describe both their relationship with each other, as well as Giselle's journey and growth as a character.

"Ever Ever After" is a song by American singer Carrie Underwood, written by composer Alan Menken and lyricist Stephen Schwartz for Enchanted (2007). The song, which was the last of several written for the film, appears as the fifth track on its soundtrack album. A mid-tempo country pop ballad that incorporates elements of both pop and rock music, the lyrics of "Ever Ever After" speak of falling in love and discovering one's happily ever after, as well as several other traditional elements that are often associated with fairy tales.

The "I Want" song is a popular type of song featured in musical theatre, and has become a particularly popular term through its use to describe a series of songs featured in Disney Renaissance films that had the main character singing about how they are unsatisfied with their current life, and what they are searching for. The term "'I Want' song" is believed to have been coined by Lehman Engel.

"The Bells of Notre Dame" is a song from the 1996 Disney film The Hunchback of Notre Dame, composed by Alan Menken, with lyrics by Stephen Schwartz. It is sung at the beginning of the film by the clown-like gypsy, Clopin. It is set mainly in the key of D minor. The lyrics of the song bear some similarity to the poem The Bells by Edgar Allan Poe, especially the repetition of the word "bells" during the crescendo. The song is reprised at the end of the film.

Daniel Troob is an American arranger and orchestrator best known for his contributions to the Disney blockbusters of the 1990s & 2000s. He won Drama Desk awards for Big River (1985) and Rodgers & Hammersteins' "Cinderella" (2013).

<i>Disneys My Son Pinocchio: Geppettos Musical Tale</i> Musical

Disney's My Son Pinocchio: Geppetto's Musical Tale is a musical based on Disney's 2000 made-for-television movie Geppetto, which was in turn based on a book by David Stern, and features music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz. As in the TV film, when Pinocchio runs away to become a star in Stromboli's puppet show, Geppetto must negotiate through a maze of adventures and comic encounters to find him.

"God Help the Outcasts" is a song written by composer Alan Menken and lyricist Stephen Schwartz for Walt Disney Pictures' animated film The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996). A pop ballad, the song is performed by American singer Heidi Mollenhauer as the singing voice of Esmeralda on American actress Demi Moore's behalf, who provides the character's speaking voice.

"A Guy Like You" is a song from Disney's 1996 film The Hunchback of Notre Dame. It is performed by the three gargoyles as they try to console Quasimodo. The song was also featured in the German stage musical version, but was replaced with "Flight into Egypt" for the North American stage production.

<i>The Hunchback of Notre Dame</i> (franchise) Disney media franchise

The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a Disney media franchise, commencing in 1996 with the release of The Hunchback of Notre Dame. The franchise is based on the 1831 novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame by Victor Hugo.

<i>Disenchanted</i> (soundtrack) 2022 soundtrack album by Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz

Disenchanted (Original Soundtrack) is the soundtrack to the 2022 film of the same name directed by Adam Shankman. The sequel to Enchanted (2007), the film's original music included songs written and produced by composer Alan Menken and lyricist Stephen Schwartz, both of whom wrote the music for the previous installment. Menken also composed the incidental underscore for the film. Menken's longtime collaborator Michael Kosarin conducted the songs and score. Unlike the first film's soundtrack, the sequel was intended to have more songs, and all those tracks were performed by the film's cast members, including Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey, James Marsden, Idina Menzel, Gabriella Baldacchino, Maya Rudolph, Griffin Newman, James Monroe Iglehart, Ann Harada, and Michael McCorry Rose.

Corey Mach is an American stage actor and producer. He is known for his role as "Tyler" in the Original Broadway Revival Cast of Merrily We Roll Along, "Harry" in Kinky Boots on Broadway, and "William Shakespeare" in the First National Broadway Tour of & Juliet. He is also known for Godspell and Hands on a Hardbody on Broadway as well as the National Tours of Wicked, Rent, and Flashdance. He also appeared in the World Premieres of Waitress, Mystic Pizza, From Here to Eternity and Mrs. Miller Does Her Thing, written and directed by James Lapine. He has been seen on TV in supporting roles in "Elsbeth", "Uncoupled", "The Blacklist" and "FBI". He is also the producer and creator of the concert series Broadway Sings.

References

  1. 1 2 "Stephen Schwartz to Receive 2015 Isabelle Stevenson Tony Award". tonyawards.com.
  2. ↑ "Genesis inspires newest show by composer of Godspell, Rags". J. January 14, 2000.
  3. 1 2 "Schwartz, Stephen 1948-". Encyclopedia.com . Retrieved October 28, 2024.
  4. ↑ "Alumni News". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times . March 2008. Archived from the original on November 11, 2011. Retrieved April 7, 2012.
  5. ↑ "Stephen Schwartz ('68) Gives Master Class to Musical Theatre Students". CMU School of Drama. September 21, 2011. Archived from the original on July 30, 2012. Retrieved April 7, 2012.
  6. ↑ "Stephen Schwartz Full Biography | Broadway World". www.broadwayworld.com. Retrieved June 2, 2022.
  7. ↑ "Stephen Schwartz Launched His Career with Godspell". Godspell the Musical. May 5, 2015. Retrieved June 2, 2022.
  8. ↑ Staff, Playbill (May 28, 2021). "Revisit The Magic Show, Stephen Schwartz's Other Huge '70s Hit". Playbill . p. 1. Retrieved June 2, 2022.
  9. ↑ "Articles | Page 3 of 4". The Schwartz Scene. Retrieved June 2, 2022.
  10. ↑ "Taking 'Pippin' across cultures". Los Angeles Times. May 11, 2008. Retrieved July 16, 2019.
  11. 1 2 Wood, Ximón (June 5, 2015). "5 Tony Award-Winning Productions Produced at East West Players". East West Players. Archived from the original on July 16, 2019. Retrieved July 16, 2019.
  12. ↑ "Northlight Theatre 2011–12 Season Will Include New Musical by Stephen Schwartz", broadwayworld.com, February 28, 2011
  13. ↑ It Gets Better: "Testimony" by SF Gay Men's Chorus & Stephen Schwartz on YouTube
  14. 1 2 Christina Radish (March 7, 2018). "Adam Shankman on 'Step Up: High Water' and The Status of the 'Enchanted' Sequel". Collider . Retrieved April 30, 2018. As planned right now, there's more singing and dancing than there was in the first one, and it's all original music, with Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz coming back to do it.
  15. ↑ Fleming, Mike Jr. (January 16, 2019). "Disney Rings 'Hunchback' Bell: David Henry Hwang To Script Live Action Musical, Alan Menken/Stephen Schwartz Writing Music". Deadline. Retrieved January 16, 2019.
  16. ↑ Levere, Jane. "Alexander, Bialik, Drescher, Erivo, Menzel, Midler, Platt, Porter, Silverman, Others To Raise Funds For CDC COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund At Virtual 'Saturday Night Seder' April 11". Forbes. Retrieved April 13, 2020.
  17. ↑ Gans, Andrew (March 19, 2009). "Stephen Schwartz Succeeds John Weidman as Dramatists Guild President". Playbill . Archived from the original on January 7, 2014. Retrieved January 7, 2014.
  18. ↑ "Save the Date: Copyright Matters Program on Wednesday, January 29". Copyright Matters. United States Copyright Office. January 7, 2014. Retrieved January 7, 2014.
  19. ↑ "Séance on a Wet Afternoon, composer, librettist, co-orchestrator: About the opera". seancetheopera.com.
  20. ↑ "The Queen of Versailles | Official Box Office | Emerson Colonial Theatre".
  21. ↑ Longman, Hollie. "Thiruvasagam: A Classical Crossover by Ilaiyaraaja". The World of Music. 50 (2): 146–148. JSTOR   41699841.
  22. ↑ "Schwartz, Stephen". stephenschwartz.com. Archived from the original on August 10, 2009. Retrieved September 1, 2011.
  23. ↑ Stephen Schwartz at the Internet Broadway Database
  24. ↑ "Stephen Schwartz Songwriters Hall of Fame Exhibit". songwritershalloffame.org. Archived from the original on November 28, 2010. Retrieved July 20, 2010.
  25. ↑ Gans, Andrew (January 25, 2010). "Redgrave, Schwartz, Lloyd Webber and More Inducted Into Theater Hall of Fame Jan. 25". Playbill .
  26. ↑ "Stephen Schwartz Theater Hall of Fame Induction". stephenschwartz.com. Archived from the original on June 30, 2013.
  27. ↑ "Alan Alda To Give Commencement Address At Carnegie Mellon, May 17". www.cmu.edu.

Sources

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.