Fall 2018 updates from composer-lyricist Stephen Schwartz and author Carol de Giere with news of many special events!
1) Welcome from Carol
Stephen Schwartz and biographer Carol de Giere finish reviewing chapters for the Second Edition of “Defying Gravity,” June 2018.
This issue is bursting with major news and many ways to make a connection with Broadway and film composer-lyricist Stephen Schwartz. You won’t want to miss Stephen’s extensive update (column 2) covering his recent travels and movie news, so keep reading!
IT’S HERE: 
The Revised and Updated Second Edition my Stephen Schwartz career biography, Defying Gravity, is now available from online sellers and some stores! It features 4 new chapters, a fascinating new Foreword by Disney composer Alan Menken, and a few extra stories from Stephen sprinkled throughout. I also have SIGNED COPIES for anyone who has wanted an autograph from Stephen Schwartz. Find out more on my website: Defying Gravity Updated Edition
CONCERTS! First is the televised Wicked concert and second, a rare live concert with Stephen Schwartz along with Broadway and Broadway Tour stars. See Column 3 for concert details as well as links to new articles and videos.
For the future: LIKE our Facebook – Schwartz Scene page where I regularly post news.
2. Stephen Schwartz’s Update
by Stephen Schwartz, October 22nd, 2018 (Photo by Nathan Johnson)
I write this having just flown from my annual visit to Carnegie-Mellon in Pittsburgh, for a cabaret with the junior musical theatre students, to Da Nang, Vietnam (via New York’s JFK airport and a transfer of planes in Seoul, South Korea). When I was originally at CMU during the height of the Vietnam War, I didn’t wind up going from Pittsburgh to Vietnam, so in a way, I’m making up for it now, only under much better circumstances.
I had a day to look around the Da Nang area a little, specifically the town of Hoi An about a half hour to the south. Hoi An dates from the seventeenth century and has among its sights an old Chinese meeting house, a Japanese bridge, and some houses from the French colonial period. It was interesting to walk around, but also just to be in Vietnam (which is physically beautiful as I have often been told) and to remember that not all that long ago there was a war here, of which today there is absolutely no sign. Da Nang is a thriving tourist town, with modern hotels overlooking the lovely beach and lots of signs in English. Since US trade with Vietnam is increasing and there are many American tourists here, it does make one wonder what the war and all that dying and destruction were for (as so often seems to be the case).
After my day touring around, I’ve boarded the Diamond Princess, where we will be rehearsing the third of the shows in my entertainment partnership with Princess Cruises. This one is the creation of John Tartaglia and is entitled The Secret Silk, based on an Asian folk tale John found and involving a great deal of clever puppetry, John’s specialty. The show has had successful presentations on a couple of Princess’ other ships, but this is its premiere on an Asian route, and it will culminate with a showing for the Japanese press and a press conference in Tokyo. We’re excited to share it with this audience. And joining me on this cruise will be my friend, producer Michael Jackowitz, who will be producing my next show for Princess, Hawaiian Goddess, based on classic Hawaiian mythology. All in all, I have greatly enjoyed this unexpected partnership, where the technical capabilities and institutional support offered by the Princess folks have made it a fantastic experience.
I return to the States in November and will hit the ground running, both literally and figuratively. First up is a reading of a live-action movie musical I am developing for Fox about Hans Christian Andersen, springing from a stage show I contributed songs to back in 2005 in Denmark for the bicentennial of Andersen’s birth (called Mit Eventyr, or My Fairytale). I have been collaborating on the movie with screenwriter David Magee, whose credits include The Life of Pi, Finding Neverland, and the upcoming Mary Poppins Returns, and needless to say, I count myself extremely lucky to be working with such a wonderful writer. The movie was originally to be produced by my good friends Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, so I was especially devastated by Craig’s untimely death. Despite our grief over the loss of Craig, Neil and the rest of the team are continuing on, and we have just completed the first draft of the screenplay and songs. So this reading is meant to help us evaluate how far along we are and what will need revising before we begin our search for a director.
One week after that reading, I’m involved in another reading, this one of the latest version of Rags, the show about immigrants to America in the early twentieth century that recently had a successful production at the Goodspeed Opera House. As I have reported, the original show from the 1980’s has been extensively revised and refocused, with a new book by David Thompson based on Joe Stein’s original libretto. (The music is by Charles Strouse, with lyrics by myself.) All of us on the creative team, while very happy with how much progress we had made for the Goodspeed production, felt that we could use what we learned there to improve the show further, and this reading will presumably tell us how close we are to a final version that can be re-released into the world.
Right before I left, I attended the taping of a one-hour television special celebrating the fifteenth anniversary of the Broadway opening of Wicked. The show featured the reunion of our original stars, Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel, and it was delightful to see them together again, joking and laughing backstage. The audience in the theatre came costumed as characters from the show or The Wizard of Oz movie (because it’s a Hallowe’en special), and watching on the monitor as they sang along with the songs was very touching to me. Among other guest stars, Ariana Grande showed up to sing “The Wizard and I,” and let me tell you, she can really sing! (I know that seems silly to say about such a major pop star, but nevertheless, I was truly impressed with how skillfully she performed the song.)
I know people are wanting to know where things stand with the Wicked movie, but all I can say is that we are making progress on the screenplay and the new songs. In fact, as I type this, I believe Winnie Holzman and our director, Stephen Daldry, are conferring in LA about the upcoming draft. So it’s coming along, I promise.
Meanwhile, the development process continues for the stage version of The Prince of Egypt. In fact, today is the final performance of the show at the beautiful outdoor Tuacahn Amphitheatre in Utah, where the show has been running all summer. At Tuacahn, the show could include live camels and spectacular water effects, such as literally flooding the stage to “drown” the Egyptian army, and while of course we will not be able to do that in a traditional theatre, it was lots of fun for the team to see, and we did learn things about the book, music and lyrics we will apply to the next production. We are hoping to do our “flagship” first-class production next year, but we’re not sure yet whether that will be in the States or London. [Stephen Schwartz and bookwriter Philip LaZebnik at Tuacahn, photo by DeAnna Anderson.]
Lastly, the week after the Rags reading, on Mon. November 19th, I will be participating in a concert in New York to benefit a terrific organization called the Orphaned Starfish Foundation, which provides educational support including computers to kids in places that can afford neither. The benefit is being organized by Carol de Giere, and it is timed partly to celebrate the release of the revised and updated version of her biography of me, Defying Gravity. I have always appreciated the unique way Carol organized the book, so that instead of a standard biography jumping from career peak to peak, it shows the struggles, setbacks and daily frustrations of trying to be a professional writer, and it includes creativity ideas from not just me but other talented colleagues which I think are inspiring to anyone (and remain useful for me to re-read). I have to say that I really like this new version, which is both shorter and more complete at the same time, so kudos to Carol for that.
I continue to enjoy how busy life is and the many projects I am fortunate enough to be able to work on. Not all of them will pan out, of course, or even come to fruition, but it’s great at this stage of my life and career to be able to work only on things I feel passionate about. It doesn’t get better for a writer than that, and as always, I thank you for your continued interest and support.
Editor’s note: Continue reading below for live and recorded events involving Stephen Schwartz.
3. ALL GOOD GIFTS – Articles and News
CONCERTS
Celebrate Wicked‘s 15th Anniversary Monday, OCT 29 by Watching the Concert on NBC
Original Wicked stars Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth reunited to host and perform during NBC’s A Very Wicked Halloween: Celebrating 15 Years on Broadway. The special will air October 29 at 10 PM. The concert, recorded live earlier, also features Ariana Grande, the Pentatonix, the current Broadway cast of the musical (led by Jessica Vosk and Amanda Jane Cooper), Adam Lambert, and Ledisi. Apparently Stephen Schwartz makes an appearance during the bows. Playbill.com – First Look, A Very Wicked Halloween
JOIN US Monday, NOV 19 in NYC! Orphaned Songs for Orphaned Starfish, an Evening of Unsung and New Songs by Stephen Schwartz
If you can be in New York City’s Cutting Room on the Monday night before Thanksgiving you will likely be feeling grateful. Stephen Schwartz will perform in “Orphaned Songs for Orphaned Starfish” along with stars of Broadway and Broadway Tours. (Photo by Da Ping Luo from a previous concert.)
During one of my interviews with Stephen Schwartz I learned that he had played tennis with Andy Stein who heads the Orphaned Starfish Foundation with his wife Dilia. Stephen agreed to my idea of a concert fundraiser for them that included some of his songs cut from (or “orphaned”) from musicals. Plus we’re adding a duet from the new stage adaptation of The Prince of Egypt, walking down memory lane with a Godspell medley, and more.
As our music director and co-planner, I’ve enjoyed working with my friend Michael Lavine, a long-time music director and vocal coach. He also has one of the world’s largest collections of hard-to-find sheet music, so he is often contacted by singers for songs or coaching. He had many of the contacts we needed. To our team we added director/singer Paul Kreppel who had been in early Godspell casts and played the Wizard on tour for Wicked, and my long-time friend Scott Coulter of “Stephen Schwartz and Friends” concerts as host.
I hope to see some of you there! Limited individual tickets start at $100 seated and $50 standing. Sponsorships are available at various levels. Tables start at $1,000. Please visit Osf.org/events. P.S. We’ll also be selling copies of the new Defying Gravity.
Stephen Schwartz and Sheldon Harnick to be Honored at Gala. Stephen Schwartz and lyricist Sheldon Harnick are among the honorees at a gala for the Museum at Eldridge Street at 12 Eldridge Street, New York, NY. November 1st at Bryant Park Grill in NYC. Tickets are $1000 and the evening includes cocktails, dinner, entertainment, and the awards ceremony. Reservations with credit cards may be made by telephone at 212-219-0888 ext 202 or by email at ebrune@eldridgestreet.org. www.eldridgestreet.org
ARTICLES
Alan Menken Pens Foreword for Stephen Schwartz Biography
Alan Menken explores his collaboration with Stephen Schwartz in the new 10-page Foreword to Defying Gravity second edition. Read about Alan Menken’s Foreword.
Wicked Across Cultures. Stuart Friedman of Global Context LLC shared insights with me for my “Wicked Worldwide” Chapter 30 of the Defying Gravity second edition. His interview with Stephen Schwartz about adapting Wicked for various cultures has been published by BroadwayWorld.com: Wicked Across Cultures article
VIDEO AND ALBUM
The Prince of Egypt stage musical clips. Enjoy this two-and-a-half-minute video of clips from the production of The Prince of Egypt at Tuacahn Center for the Arts. Youtube.com/Prince of Egypt
Cruisicals – Magic to Do and The Secret Silk. If you missed the album created for Schwartz’s first Princess Cruise show “Magic to Do,” you’ll find it here Magic to Do – Cruise Revue. It includes a powerful tenor solo originally written for Houdini, “It’ll Be Me.” For a video about The Secret Silk visit The Secret Silk – Princess Cruises.
Author Site Includes Videos: On my redesigned CaroldeGiere.com site (thanks to Holly Reed), I include a page of “Stephen Schwartz Videos and Related Media.” If you have some leisure time, here’s one place to spend it. Caroldegiere.com – media
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About The Schwartz Scene
The Schwartz Scene is an independent publication written for musical theater enthusiasts who appreciate the work of American composer-lyricist Stephen Schwartz. It does not formally represent composer Stephen Schwartz, although the editor, Carol de Giere, is in regular contact with the Schwartz office for updates. Send questions or comments to Carol through CaroldeGiere.com contact page.
Copyright 2018 by Carol de Giere. Carol de Giere has exclusive rights, unless otherwise specified, for all materials included in the newsletter. Permission must be secured in writing before any part of it may be reprinted, except for the printing of one copy for the subscriber’s private use. Editor: Carol de Giere, 10 Library Place #909, Bethel CT 06801-0909.
