There was also rich anecdotage: Jim Brochu recalling how he and Mr. This being an evening of Schwartziana, we were gifted with a rich selection of songs from the so-called cult shows as much as the mega-hits, and almost always performed by veterans of the original casts: Kurt Peterson from Baker’s Wife, Kelli Rabke from Eden, Christine Andreas from Rags. There were also stand-up-and-cheer performances of Schwartz numbers by name-above-the-title divas who have long included them in their one-woman shows: Debbie Gravitte with “No Time at All” ( Pippin) and Liz Callaway with “Meadowlark” ( Baker’s Wife).
#STEPHEN SCHWARTZ SCOTT SCHWARTZ FULL#
Finally, in 2003, he returned in full force with Wicked, not only the biggest blockbuster of his career but one of the iconic works of 21st Century musical theater.
#STEPHEN SCHWARTZ SCOTT SCHWARTZ SERIES#
Schwartz began his career with three long-running hits, Godspell, Pippin, and The Magic Show, but then for roughly 30 years, created a series of mostly well-remembered works, many of which (particularly The Baker’s Wife and Children of Eden) have achieved cult status but not turned a profit. Take the opening “Chanson” from The Baker’s Wife, sung by the original actress in that title role, Teri Ralston this is a delightful, minor key waltz, and as subtle and understated a curtain-raiser for a show as has ever been written.Īnother strength of such an evening is that all the songs are on a level playing field. Schwartz’s signature larger-than-life arias with his more intimate pieces. The American Songbook crew, including director Scott Coulter, was keen to intersperse Mr. Schwartz has written no shortage of such big belting numbers. (James Brent White was given the Bill Sensenbrenner Dream Maker Award.) Such an evening was bound to be full of such anthems in fact, the night began with Jessica Hendy doing “Defying Gravity,” which means our first note is the Act 1 finale of Wicked. Needless to say, this is a very high point to enter on-our favorite green gal is already in midair. Fortunately, Mr. Schwartz’s long career but also handed out statuettes for philanthropic achievements. Monday’s gala evening, produced by The American Songbook Association, not only honored Mr. Even when said composer works hard to make his works as individual as possible, after a point certain familiar chord changes and reoccurring lyric ideas become noticeable. In listening to a retrospective of 50-something years of music by Stephen Schwartz, it’s hard to miss a predilection for inspirational anthems with titles like “Corner of the Sky” ( Pippin), “Stranger to the Rain” ( Children of Eden), ”Children of the Wind” ( Rags) and “Colors of the Wind’ ( Pocahontas).
Ah, the value of decontextualization. By this I mean taking the work of a major Broadway composer, extracting his songs from their original shows, and presenting them in a concert format.
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