The Schwartz Scene

Composer Stephen Schwartz Has a Heart for Kids

Submitted by StarStruck Academy & Theatre (StarStruckfl.com)

PHOTO: Stephen Schwartz at StarStruck Academy & Theatre. Photo by Mitch Kloorfain.

How does the busiest Broadway composer have time to work with children? He makes the time. Stephen Schwartz is committed to the future of musical theatre. He is passionate about his work and loves seeing children become transformed through the performing arts.

Stephen Schwartz, award-winning composer of Wicked, Pippin, Godspell, and many more, returned to StarStruck Academy & Theatre in November 2015 to collaborate on the original production of Children of Eden, Jr. Widely known as his “favorite work,” Mr. Schwartz is in the process of completing a one-act children’s version of Eden, which originally premiered in full-length in 1991 at The Prince Edward Theatre in London’s West End. StarStruck Academy & Theatre was asked to mount a “pilot” version of this production for Music Theatre International (MTI), the nation’s largest theatrical licensing firm.

Freddie Gershon, CEO of MTI enthusiastically identified Schwartz as, “…driven, gifted, resilient, tenacious, and caring about the macro vision of the future of musical theatre. Let us not forget that [an early version of] Pippin was written when (Schwartz) was still in school. A daunting subject matter, not the fluff that’s currently on Broadway but a far more serious piece.”

Mr. Schwartz and playwright John Caird flew down to sunny South Florida, immersing themselves in the world of StarStruck, the Treasure Coast’s premiere facility for musical theatre education. From Schwartz and Caird’s initial viewing of the show to note taking, meetings with StarStruck’s founders, Jennifer and Peter Jones, about what to cut and what to keep, to intimate gatherings backstage with the cast, the weekend was exciting for all as Schwartz made the time to foster art in the lives of children, despite his demanding schedule.

Before the closing matinee, the cast was elated to have the opportunity to speak with these legendary musical theatre gods during a question and answer session that Schwartz, himself, had requested. Questions like, “Do you write the lyrics first or the music?” or “When can we do Wicked, Jr.?” were asked. Schwartz maintained his usual ease and patience answering their questions while Caird added his clever British wit to each response. They signed the cast t-shirts, took photographs with the students, laughed, joked, and shared from their hearts. Schwartz and Caird had such a great time that the Jones’ had to push them into their car so they wouldn’t miss their flight.

PHOTO: StarStruck leaders Peter and Jennifer Jones with writers. From left: Peter Jones, John Caird, Jennifer Jones, and Stephen Schwartz. Photo by Mitch Kloorfain.

Artistic Director, Jennifer Jones, stated, “StarStruck students had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get up-close and personal with a living Broadway composer…a legend in their time; truly an unforgettable experience. To meet and speak with Stephen Schwartz is an inspiring moment that changes lives. Stephen allowed them to see the real person behind the talent. The student and the composer connected making that child feel part of a family, a tradition, a tiny “universe” of musical theatre people that is unique, creative, small, and wonderful.”

Stephen Schwartz has a history of staying intricately involved in the “juniorization” process of so many of his shows. “We first met Mr. Schwartz a few years ago when he was in the process of creating a junior version of Captain Louie, a touching, uplifting musical about a young boy’s imagination enabling him to adjust to being the new kid in the neighborhood” recalled StarStruck’s Owner, Peter Jones. A show-stopping 15-minute version of Captain Louie, Jr. was presented by StarStruck Academy students at MTI’s Junior Theatre Festival in Atlanta, an annual event that attracts thousands of musical theatre students from around the world.

StarStruck was then asked to begin the process of creating a Broadway Jr. version of Geppetto & Son, a full-length stage adaptation of Geppetto, the made-for-TV musical by Stephen Schwartz and David Stern. “We were sent the Geppetto & Son script and the original score and our work began, slicing and dicing the material to fit the criteria for a one-act Junior version. We flew up to New York where we spent the day at MTI headquarters with a grand piano as our ‘desk’ as Stephen read through the script reviewing our changes and cuts. One of the many wonderful things about Stephen is that he is a true collaborator, completely wide open to new ideas,” recalled Peter Jones.

The shortened version of Geppetto and Son (now known as My Son, Pinocchio Jr.), made its world premiere in Stuart, Florida by students at StarStruck Academy & Theatre. This was the first time Schwartz came to StarStruck to be a part of the process.

Gershon stated, “Stephen understands that theatre is an organic process and needs a safe environment in which to be nurtured and StarStruck is a safe environment. The talent pool is exceptional. The management is exceptional. The venue is exceptional and it is invisible for most of the United States. It is a dream scenario for the creator who understands what the process is all about and Stephen understands the process.”

PHOTO: John Caird, actress Victoria Bartolotta, and Stephen Schwartz. Photo by Mitch Kloorfain.

“Musical theatre is a team sport,” says Jennifer Jones. “The cast, crew, and production team must all work together to create the final product, and it is quickly apparent that the dancer in the back line is just as important as the protagonist. A musical theatre education enhances a wealth of vital human attributes such as dedication, collaboration, flexibility, problem solving, public speaking skills, sensitivity, empathy, and confidence. Stephen Schwartz’s visits to our town, his willingness to embrace the hearts and minds of young people in the arts, his caring approach to sharing his technique, and his choice to carve time out of his exciting and busy life to share himself with StarStruck are the best examples of the attributes that we eagerly try to impart within our students. Thank you Stephen Schwartz for ‘walking the walk.’ You are a shining example of everything we teach. Bravo!”

This article is being published as part of The Schwartz Scene newsletter issue 57. See the newsletter for the latest Stephen Schwartz news.

Read more about Children of Eden and get the cast recording Musicalschwartz.com – children-of-eden

This article is published as part of The Schwartz Scene newsletter issue 56 Fall 2015

2015 – 2016 Concerts

Stephen Schwartz not only writes songs for Broadway and Hollywood, but he performs in concert as well. He often speaks to audience members after the concerts, so this could be your chance to meet him. Here’s a schedule for Fall 2015 and early 2016.

Sept 27, 2015 – Bayside, NY – Stephen Schwartz and Friends

Stephen Schwartz and Friends perform at the Queensborough Performing Arts Center in Bayside, NY.  The Grammy and Oscar winning composer who gave us the beloved musicals Wicked, Godspell, Pippin, The Baker’s Wife, Children of Eden and others, performs with his friends Scott Coulter, Debbie Gravitte, and Kelli Rabke in an unforgettable afternoon of solos, duos and trios spanning the course of his career.  Stephen Schwartz and Friends in Bayside NY concert

(Note the photo here by Maryann Lopinto from several years ago includes Liz Callaway. Recently Kelli Rabke has joined the  concert group.)

October 25, 2015 – Newark, NJ – Stephen Schwartz and the American Songbook

Stephen Schwartz will perform with others in a live event to be recorded for PBS. The evening is part of an American Songbook series with Ted Chapin. 7 pm. See details at NJPAC.org – Schwartz

April 2, 2016 – Stephen Schwartz in CT

On April 2nd, he will be speaking in Ridgefield, CT, and performing songs from his catalog. Other singers will join him on stage. See Stephen Schwartz at the Ridgefield Playhouse

April 16, 2016 – Wall to Wall Stephen Schwartz

Talk about a Schwartz extravaganza, Symphony Space’s theme for this year’s Wall to Wall session is Stephen Schwartz. That means many hours of music by many performers – free! See Symphony Space – Wall to Wall Schwartz

ALSO….

Schwartz Music  – Special Concert – October 18, 2015 – Staten Island

NOTE: Stephen Schwartz will not be at this concert but it explores his music. St. George Theatre presents: Defying Gravity: The Music of Stephen Schwartz. This concert takes the audience into the creative and musical world of Broadway and film composer Stephen Schwartz, from Godspell‘s score at age 23 through the megahit Wicked.  Stgeorgestheatre.com

Fall 2015 Cruises

Stephen Schwartz has created a show “Magic To Do” for the Princess Cruise lines. It will include magic and music for about 70 minutes of enchanting entertainment. See Cruises – Fall 2015 Stephen Schwartz

AND

In case you haven’t yet discovered the Stephen Schwartz biography, check out Defying Gravity and learn all about his creative career.

For more updates on Stephen Schwartz see  The Schwartz Scene newsletter issue 56 Fall 2015

Stephen Schwartz’s CMU Education Helped Launch Career

PHOTO: Stephen Schwartz at Carnegie Mellon University receiving an honorary doctorate. Also pictured: Paula Wagner, a film producer and film executive. She and Stephen were friends during their school days at CMU. Photo courtesy of Stephen Schwartz.

On May 17, 2015, composer-lyricist Stephen Schwartz donned a graduation gown and received an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from his alma mater, Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). As one of the most successful musical theater writers today, with Broadway hits such as Pippin and Wicked among his claims to fame, Schwartz has certainly been a credit to the school. The drama department benefits from Schwartz’s attention when he travels to the Pittsburgh, PA campus to offer workshops and talks about his craft to drama and musical theater students.

Schwartz acknowledges the support of his college classroom work in preparing him for writing songs for a musical’s characters, even though there was no musical theater department at CMU at the time he studied there. He also emphasizes the essential role of the extracurricular Scotch ‘n’ Soda student club. This club staged original musicals, allowing him to practice and polish his creative skills.

Highlights from Schwartz’s Student Days

Stephen Schwartz’s journey to the honorary doctorate from Carnegie Mellon began five decades earlier with a bit of luck, or perhaps a gift of destiny. The biography, Defying Gravity, reveals how Stephen Schwartz’s youthful experiences contributed to his later career. Here are a few highlights:

As Schwartz was finishing high school and applying to colleges, he was rejected by Harvard and Yale (even though he had high test scores and good grades) and wasn’t sure where to turn. One day, his father was helping with technology for the 1964 World’s Fair in New York and found himself working alongside the renowned Broadway and film scenic designer, Jo Mielziner, who had graduated from Carnegie Institute of Technology. When Stan Schwartz explained that his drama-loving son was looking for the right college, Mielziner said, “Well, if he’s really interested in the theater, he should check out Carnegie.” The drama department was part of “Carnegie Institute of Technology,” or “Tech” as the students called it. CIT shortly thereafter merged with Mellon Institute to become Carnegie Mellon University. Stephen was accepted as a playwriting major for the fall semester of 1964, after submitting a play he’d written, and later switched to the directing major.

Even though CMU has a highly reputed musical theater department today, in the 1960s it did not. In fact, the only musical staged as part of the traditional curriculum while Schwartz attended was the first act of The Apple Tree, which was his own senior directing project. According to faculty member Leon Katz, musicals were not popular with the instructors. “Musicals represented mainstream, and this was a very rebellious time,” explains Katz. “When you mentioned My Fair Lady you had to frown and turn up your nose—’Oh, one of those mainstream musicals.'”

Student actors gained experience with Shakespeare and with 18th and 19th century plays that were often performed in professional theaters around the country. Fellow student and future Godspell star Robin Lamont explains, “If you graduated from Carnegie you were expected to go into a repertory theater in a place like Seattle or Chicago and do all the classic plays, like do a lot of Shakespeare.” The faculty geared the curriculum and opportunities in that direction, whether or not it was what the students wanted.

Schwartz studied all aspects of putting on a show. He found acting lessons to be especially helpful for thinking about characters. He once commented, “I think everybody writing for theater should take acting, because the processes are so similar. A lot of writers don’t understand how to get that internal process going, so they write songs that are nice but not really actable.”

Schwartz Wrote Musicals for Scotch ‘n’ Soda Club Productions

It was his Scotch ‘n’ Soda club experience that gave him direct experience with the musical stage. The club, funded by student activities fees and ticket sales, mounted original musicals each spring in a theater in the Skibo Student Center. It served as a testing ground for budding talents in a similar way that the University of Miami’s Dramatics Club had for Jerry Herman. For Schwartz, the next four years of work for Scotch ‘n’ Soda proved “instrumental in training me for my career that followed.”

By the time Schwartz became involved in the 1964-65 school year, the spring 1965 show had already been chosen by the selection committee. It was a piece by Iris Rainer Dart (the future author of Beaches and other novels) called Whatserface, about a cleaning lady who becomes a spokesperson for a cosmetics firm. However, the show’s songs needed further shaping. Schwartz and Dart worked together to transform Whatserface into a full musical. The show staged that spring was a huge hit and helped fill the club’s treasury.

With the 1966 production of Nouveau, Schwartz could add another campus box office hit to his résumé. The musical included an intricate four-part fugue called “A New Society,” which the composer revised eight years later for The Magic Show (with new lyrics and renamed “The Goldfarb Variations”).

For the 1966-67 school year, music student Ron Strauss’ show, Pippin, Pippin was scheduled. Schwartz asked if he could help. On his nineteenth birthday in 1967, as director, choreographer, and co-writer of Pippin, Pippin, he whirled fellow students into the fast-paced rehearsal period for the musical. This production was also a box office hit (and was the precursor for the Broadway hit Pippin).

PHOTO: Stephen Schwartz accompanies singers in an early work session for “Pippin, Pippin” in December 1966. Photo from “Defying Gravity,” Stephen Schwartz biography, courtesy of the author and Stephen Schwartz.

For his graduation year, 1968, Schwartz and his friend David Spangler each put together a one-act opera. They called the combined show Twice Upon a Time.

All of this meant that by the time Schwartz was offered his first professional composing gig for Godspell, he had already composed dozens of songs for the stage. He completed new music for Godspell in five weeks and then helped guide the rehearsals for the May 17, 1971 opening. As Nina Faso, his CMU buddy and organizer for Godspell explains, “Stephen had been writing musicals and studying musical theater for so long. He knew things that we didn’t know, like how to get applause on a number.” Read the full story in the new book The Godspell Experience with Foreword by Stephen Schwartz.

Schwartz’s Career Continues

With a home base in Connecticut and an office in New York City, Schwartz continues to work on musicals that are performed around the world. Over the decades, Schwartz has collected an array of honors, such as Grammy Awards, Oscars, the  Isabelle Stevenson Award, and many others. He still enjoys his trips to the CMU campus in a corner of Pittsburgh, where he can reminisce and encourage students along their path.

SUBSCRIBE – To keep up with Schwartz’s career, subscribe to The Schwartz Scene newsletter for fans.  READ CURRENT ISSUE:  See the links on the right hand menu. 

A curtain call with Stephen Schwartz, the Phoenix Symphony, and other performers.

Photo by Jared Platt. February 2015

This concert update is being published in conjunction with The Schwartz Scene newsletter issue 55

2015 Concerts – The Music of Stephen Schwartz

The music of Stephen Schwartz, from Godspell to Wicked, makes great concert material. It’s a special treat for audiences when the composer is present to sing and accompany performers. Singers enjoy the experience too! Here is a list of some upcoming concerts, along with comments from Fay Ann Lee and Kelli Rabke who have shared the stage with Stephen Schwartz in 2015.

May 20 – Hartford CT

Stephen Schwartz, Liz Callaway and Michael McCorry Rose in Concert at the Bushnell’s Maxwell M. & Ruth R. Belding Theater. 7 pm.

May 31st – Santa Clarita CA

The Santa Clarita Master Chorale presents “Defying Gravity” with special guest Stephen Schwartz! This award-winning Broadway and film composer will be in concert with the Chorale for one performance only. The concert features music from Wicked, Godspell, Pippin, and more. Santa Clarita concert

Sept 27, 2015 – Bayside NY

Queensborough Performing Arts Center – Stephen Schwartz and Friends concert. Check for information a few months in advance on the website: www.qcc.cuny.edu/qpac/

October 18, 2015 – Staten Island

St. George Theatre: Defying Gravity:
The Music of Stephen Schwartz. This concert takes the audience into the creative and musical world of Broadway and film composer Stephen Schwartz, from Godspell‘s score at age 23 through the megahit Wicked. StGeorgetTheatre (note, this concert is not with Stephen Schwartz, but with the amazing singers Scott Coulter, Debbie Gravitte, and Kelli Rabke.)

Comments from Fay Ann Lee

Scott Coulter and I sang “For Good” accompanied by the Phoenix Symphony (66 piece orchestra) with Stephen playing the piano. For me, it was truly an artistic dream come true to be on stage along side Stephen Schwartz performing one of the best songs from Wicked. I love this song because the lyrics ring so true in my life. I am blessed to have many family members and friends (like Scott Coulter) who truly have changed my life for the better; and this opportunity to be on stage with Stephen and Scott has undoubtedly changed the trajectory of my performance life as well. I’m forever grateful.

Comments from Kelli Rabke

Kelli Rabke can be heard on the Children of Eden cast album in the role of Yonah.

Stephen Schwartz is my favorite composer, hands down. Not only because I’ve had the great pleasure of working with him, but because I feel like all of his songs tell a story. That’s really what I consider myself as a singer – a storyteller – and there are no better stories to tell than Stephen’s. “Meadowlark,” “Stranger to the Rain,” “Popular:- whether it’s a life and death situation like in Children of Eden, or life or death fashion to Glinda, his songs take you on both a musical and emotional journey.

I have done a few performances of Defying Gravity – the Music of Stephen Schwartz with Scott Coulter and either Jessica Hendy or Debbie Gravitte, but this past March was the first chance I got to perform it with Stephen himself. And what a dream come true – on the beautiful stage of NJPAC, with Stephen himself playing for me at the piano – I’m pretty sure that was a bucket list item come true!! That was a Meadowlark I will surely never forget.

Children of Eden was a defining moment in both my career and my life, and getting a chance to play Yonah at the Paper Mill Playhouse and sing those songs on our incredible recording will always be one of my most favorite professional roles ever. I also met my husband doing that show, and got a dog that I named Yonah who was with me for 12 years, so it has special significance to me for many reasons!

I was overjoyed to be reunited with Stephen and Darius deHaas last summer at 54 Below in Conversations in Music, an Evening with Stephen Schwartz where Darius and I got to reprise our songs from the show. And since then, I’ve done the Stephen Schwartz and Friends show at NJPAC, a Children of Eden concert at 54 Below as part of their “54 Sings” series, and a Blockbuster Broadway concert with the Phoenix Symphony where Stephen joined us as our special guest and we got to do some of his songs with a 66 piece orchestra!! Wow – that was fun!! And Stephen joined us in singing a medley from Hair together at the end which was a blast!

I sincerely hope there will be many more in the future – I couldn’t possibly enjoy singing both Stephen’s music and working with Stephen himself any more than I do!!

Return to The Schwartz Scene newsletter issue 55

Enjoy this guest blog post by Masha Leon

Stephen Schwartz, of Wicked Fame, A Hit at 54 Below

PHOTO by Steve Schalchlin at 54 Below in NYC (from left to right): Darius de Haas, Kelli Rabke, Jim Brochu, Stephen Schwartz, and David Lewis. 

Stephen Schwartz, the only songwriter in Broadway history with three shows — Wicked, Pippin, and The Magic Show— to have run more than 1900 performances on Broadway, was center stage (and at the piano) at the August 3, 2014 “Conversation with Music” at 54 Below – Broadway’s Supper Club.

During the evocative interview by longtime friend, actor Jim Brochu — who himself won a Drama Desk award for his solo portrayal of Zero Mostel in Zero Hour (2009) — Schwartz confessed that he once wanted to quit the piano but was told by his parents — who that night were happily ensconced in Great Neck, “that if I wanted to quit, I had to call the piano teacher myself…so I never had the guts to do that.” The rest is musical history.

Recapping the evolution of several of his shows, Schwartz harked back to a work called Shinbone Alley. “It was about a cockroach archy’s undying love for a cat named mehitabel…. there was a lot of criticism about who would want to go see a show with a lot of dancing cats!” The audience roared. “Which goes to the importance of timing.”

Brochu recalled being on a 104 Manhattan bus when Pippin was first presented. “Two ladies were talking: ‘There is this wonderful show at the Imperial about the son of Charlie Main (Charlemagne) — he was the king of France, you know.’ When her friend asked for the name of the show, she replied: “It’s Pipkin. So for me, the show is always Pipkin.” Responding to Brochu’s query if “the lyrics come first,” Schwartz replied: “Titles come first — at least these days — sometimes a riff, the script…I need to know the characters.”

Imminent “on the drawing board” — a stage version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame. DreamWorks is working on The Prince of Egypt; Monkeys of Mumbai — a DreamWorks animated feature with Danny Boyle, who made Slumdog Millionaire; and “a new untitled show in Vienna in the fall of 2016 — in German. “Zey vill translate,” joshed Schwartz.

The evening was enhanced by performances of Schwartz’s works by a cast of stellar vocalists, including earthy Dale Soules who reprised her solo “Lion Tamer” which she sang in the original 1973 production of The Magic Show and now stars in the Netflix TV series Orange is the New Black.

Among the guests and fans: Carol de Giere, author of Defying Gravity —The Creative Career of Stephen Schwartz from Godspell to Wicked (208 Applause Theater Books). Carol had contacted me after she found my August 23, 1986 Forward review of Rags (book by Joseph Stein, music by Charles Strouse) at the Lincoln Center Library Archive, which she quotes in the book. A thrilling $5.5 musical about the Jewish immigrant experience, it closed four nights after opening! The night I saw it — the last performance — the audience was shouting “ Keep Rags open! Keep Rags Open!” and had 1000 protesters — including the musical’s klezmer band— chanting on the streets.

Editor’s Notes: This article was originally published in The Foward‘s Shmooze page’s Masha Leon On-the-Go column.

Find Masha Leon’s story about Rags and hundreds of others related to Stephen Schwartz musicals in the only Stephen Schwartz biography, Defying Gravity.

About the photo above: Darius de Haas and Kelli Rabke performed “In Whatever Time We Have” that night, reprising their performance from Children of Eden at Paper Mill Playhouse and the Children of Eden recording. Jim Brouchu knew Stephen Schwartz from their student days at Carnegie Mellon University. David Lewis was a music director for the original off-Broadway Godspell production, and also played piano that evening at 54 Below.

Michael McCorry Rose (Wicked) also wowed the audience as he performed several Stephen Schwartz pieces that night. The photos of Dale and Michael Rose are by Steve Schalchlin.

Catch stellar performers and enjoy the company of theater fans at 54 Below.

Musical Influences

As a Broadway and film songwriter, Stephen Schwartz is constantly developing songs for shows, but he also listens to the music of pop music artists and lets the mosaic of sounds from his life influence his work. As he explains, “I am influenced by all the music I love and it somehow conglomerates in my head into whatever my own style may be.”

His habit of listening to music started at an early age. One of the musicians who influenced Schwartz as a child was Pete Seeger and his performing group The Weavers. Seeger, who passed away on January 27, 2014 at the age of 94, was an advocate of the power of music. As reported in the LA Times, one of Seeger’s approaches to music was encouraging others to join in a sing-along. “Gifted at connecting with audiences, Seeger called his ability to inspire regular folks to sing along his ‘cultural guerrilla tactic.’ ‘There’s no such thing as a wrong note as long as you’re singing it,’ he told the 15,000-strong crowd at his birthday celebration.”

Schwartz says that the sing-along for Pippin’s “No Time At All” was inspired by a concert he attended with his parents when he was young. It was a performance of the Weavers that included a group sing of “Good Night Irene.”

STING
As an adult, one of the artists that Stephen Schwartz has followed has been British singer-songwriter Sting. Schwartz comments, “…I’m a huge fan of Sting and he was very influential in many ways on my writing.” Two of his songs are particularly Sting-inspired, by his assessment. One is “Stranger to the Rain” from Children of Eden, and the other is “Dancing Through Life” for Wicked.

Soon musical theatre fans will have a chance to listen to what the British songwriter can do in Schwartz’s field of musical writing. Sting is completing his first Broadway musical, The Last Ship, and it opens on the Great White Way this fall after a pre-Broadway tryout in Chicago over the summer. Director Joe Mantello, who worked with Schwartz on Wicked, has been brought into the musical development process. Among the cast members is Rachel Tucker who played Elphaba on London’s West End (and sings “Defying Gravity” on her solo album The Reason.)

On Writing A Musical

Recently PBS aired a show that provides a sneak preview of The Last Ship. As part of the evening, Sting shares his experience of having to abandon a piece. As theatre fans may know, musical writers often let go of songs and put them in their “trunk” of unused material to be retrieved and potentially recycled in later show. The tune for Wicked‘s “As Long As You’re Mine” was one of Schwartz’s trunk songs.

As part of the evening aired on PBS, Sting articulated the experience of writing for a show and why it is different. “I didn’t enter the musical theatre blithely thinking it would be easy. It’s not. The landscape is strewn with bleached corpses on either side. What I hadn’t realized is just how precise and exacting a medium it is….[He lists and praises his collaborators]…. Occasionally they would tell me that a song I had written wasn’t quite right. This is novel for me; it’s hard for me as my finest couplets are being thrown in the bin and I’m spluttering my flimsy protests. But every song in a musical fights for its life. Every character fights for its life. Every verse in every song fights for its life, every line. Every line is scrutinized with an intensity that’s unusual.”

Watch Sting on PBS; order the deluxe CD The Last Ship [Amazon Exclusive Super Deluxe Edition]; Order tickets or sign up for the mailing list www.thelastshipbroadway.com – Official website

Read about Stephen Schwartz’s experience of writing for characters in Defying Gravity: The Creative Career of Stephen Schwartz, From Godspell to Wicked.

Stephen Schwartz and the Broadway Jr. Program

PHOTO: “The Freddie G Broadway Experience” – A Master Class Workshop with Stephen Schwartz, Summer 2013. Top Row: Winning teachers: Spencer Lau, Claudia Appel, Joanne O’Kain, Lori Flanders, Merill Cheyne, Eric Bragg, Shirlee Idzakovich. Bottom Row: Freddie Gershon, Stephen Schwartz, Myrna Gershon. Courtesy of Music Theatre International.

BROADWAY JR

As you may know if you have kids in school theatre programs, the Music Theatre International Broadway Jr. program has taken popular musicals and packaged them into shorter theatrical programs suited to children. Freddie Gershon, Chairman and CEO of leading theatrical licensor Music Theatre International (MTI), was inspired to start the program that would inspire young people with a taste of theatre at an early age. Gershon thought of it as a theatrical equivalent of Little League. The program has been so successful that over 70,000 productions have been mounted since the program began. Godspell Jr was one of the early shows available, and later Captain Louie Jr was created based on the children’s musical Captain Louie.

Starting four years ago, Gershon and his wife Myrna established a special summer workshop to honor selected adults who were teachers or involved in performing arts centers with youth programs. In the summer of 2013, eight people were chosen to meet with Stephen Schwartz and watch a developmental production of Children of Eden Jr, among their other workshop experiences. Although Children of Eden Jr is not yet ready for licensing, it will be in the not-too-distant future.

My Son Pinocchio Jr

Two musicals with Stephen Schwartz scores have been making quite a stir for school drama programs and theatre groups, even though they have never been to Broadway. Those are the full-length versions of Children of Eden and Disney’s My Son Pinocchio (formerly Geppetto and Son; and Disney TV movie Geppetto).

Now a shorted version of Disney’s My Son Pinocchio known as Disney’s My Son Pinocchio Jr holds the promise of being quite popular. Says Jason Cocovinis of licensing agency Music Theatre International,”Since releasing My Son Pinocchio Jr this past spring for licensing, the show has become one of the most consistently requested titles in the catalog. It is the perfect show for a dynamic cast of middle school performers and audience members love seeing the familiar tale told from Geppetto’s perspective. Stephen’s brand new score wonderfully complements the classic Disney hits, ‘When You Wish Upon a Star’ and ‘I’ve Got No Strings.'”

For more information:

See Broadwayjr.com/

Read about the origins of Children of Eden, Godspell, and other Stephen Schwartz shows in the Stephen Schwartz biography Defying Gravity.

Working Original Broadway Cast Album is now available for download through both iTunes and Amazon.com. To download Working: Working Original Broadway Cast mp3 at Amazon.com or iTunes WORKING 

ABOUT THE SONGS AND ALBUM: The original Broadway cast album for the musical Working (1978) is now available on iTunes. This is good news as the CD version hasn’t been in circulation for a while. The show is still popular for school and local theater productions and the licensed libretto (wwwMtishows.com) was updated in 2012.

Working is unusual for a Stephen Schwartz musical in that he decided to invite other musicians to join him on the project. James Taylor agreed to write several songs including one that was cut during the pre-Broadway tryout in Chicago. But his songs “Brother Trucker,” “Millwork,” and the music for “Un Mejor Dia Cendra” (with lyrics by Matt Landers and Graciella Danielle) are all on the album.

Craig Carnelia’s touching songs “Just a Housewife,” “The Mason,” “Joe,” and “Something to Point To” are all included, as well as the original pieces by Micki Grant “If I Could’ve Been,” “Lovin’ Al,” and “Cleaning Women.” Susan Birkinhead and Mary Rodgers wrote a poignant song for the show based on a teacher’s interview “Nobody Tells Me How.” Unfortunately, the catchy new pieces recently added to the musical, “A Very Good Day” and “Delivery,” by Lin-Manuel Miranda, are not included on the recording.

If you listen to the original Broadway cast recording for Working the musical, you’ll find Schwartz’s original pieces are there. For the Broadway production, he wanted to write the opening number “All the Livelong Day.”

To write songs for Working, he also drew from a Studs Terkel interview with a waitress to write “It’s an Art” [Photo of singer: Jennifer Haering sings “It’s An Art” in her role as waitress in a Chicago, IL production of Working.]

He drew from his own experiences to write “Fathers and Sons.” His song “Neat to be a Newsboy” is on the album but has been cut from the show. (He also sings “Fathers and Sons” on Stephen Schwartz Album)

As Schwartz has explained, the course of the lyrics is a little unusual for a show. “Since the show Working is essentially a documentary and all the monologues are edited directly from the words of the interviewees in Studs Terkel’s book, the songwriters tried to use as much of the words and locution of the characters they were writing about as possible.”

The biography Defying Gravity: The Creative Career of Stephen Schwartz, from Godspell to Wicked includes a 30-page chapter on the making of Working, including stories about the many challenges Schwartz, Nina Faso, and their colleagues faced while first creating a stage adaptation for the classic Studs Terkel interview book Working.

Read more about the show here: Working the musical. 

ALSO AVAILABLE:

“From Broadway With Love” was the title and theme of a concert held on behalf of citizens of Newtown, Connecticut following the unfortunate shootings at the Sandy Hook school. Raising spirits and raisings funds, the organizers invited Broadway luminaries to share the stage with students on January 28, 2013, at the Palace Theater in Waterbury, Connecticut.

The concert was recorded and an hour-long version will be aired in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut in July. In the fall, a CD will be released as well as a DVD/BluRay.

This “concert of healing for the Newtown community” involved composers, musicians and more than 100 stars of Broadway. They all came together with over 300 students from several Newtown dance groups, the Sandy Hook Elementary School 3rd and 4th grades and the Newtown High School Chamber Choir.

PHOTOS: (Above) Nikki Blonsky (Golden Globe nominee: Hairspray movie), along with Brooke Tansley and 72 Newtown Dancers performed “You Can’t Stop the Beat’ from Hairspray; Stephen Schwartz performed “Beautiful City” from Godspell,

Other stars included Brian Stokes Mitchell, Linda Eder, Michael Cerveris, and many others.

Upcoming air dates include

• Thursday, July 18 at 10 p.m on WLIW21 (Long Island)
• Friday, July 26 at 10 p.m. on THIRTEEN (NY) and CPTV (CT)
• Tuesday, July 30 at 10 p.m. on NJTV (NJ)

To pre-order the recordings or find out more, visit www.frombroadwaywithlove.org/. To learn more about Stephen Schwartz’s latest activities, don’t miss the current issue of The Schwartz Scene newsletter. Read about his extensive career at Musicalschwartz.com/schwartz.htm