When songwriter Stephen Schwartz sits at the piano, he feels the music. “When I was a child and played my Beethoven… I played that bar over and over again and cried. This is very awkward! Beethoven lives in a world that has nothing in common with ours, but he writes, and he speaks to us through the centuries.”
Schwartz knows a thing or two about speaking in front of an audience. He is the composer and lyricist of Wicked, the blockbuster musical turned two-part movie musical. Part two, Wicked: For Good, opens November 21st.
A prequel to the classic The Wizard of Oz, Wicked tells the story of Elphaba (played by Cynthia Erivo) who grows up to become the Wicked Witch of the West. Merry Glinda (played by Ariana Grande) becomes the Good Witch of the North.
Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo perform “Popular” from “Wicked”:
Schwartz has been telling stories through song for more than five decades. “My glib joke where people say things like: How do you write a song? I’m just saying, tell the truth and rhyme it,” he said. “And if I can be honest enough, then other people will talk.”
“Wicked” opened 22 years ago, becoming the fourth longest-running Broadway show in history.
Where was Schwartz on the night of October 30, 2003? “Well, it was the opening night of Wicked on Broadway, and that's why I didn't go to the Gershwin Theater because I don't go to my own opening nights,” he said. “It's too nerve-wracking for me. I don't like opening night parties where everyone is just waiting to hear what kind of feedback is coming.”
Kristin Chenoweth played the role of Glinda on Broadway. She and Schwartz reunited for the recently released new musical The Queen of Versailles. “I work with my Rodgers and Hammerstein; it’s just focused on one person,” she said of Schwartz. “There are not five of them. There is one. He's original. He is unique. And there is no one else like him.”
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Schwartz grew up on Long Island in New York. A child prodigy, he attended the prestigious Juilliard School as a senior. Immediately after graduating from college, he took part in the creation of the musical Godspell, which became his first big hit. The musical features a diverse group who help Jesus tell various parables.
I asked, “It’s a musical with Jesus as the main character. You are Jewish. Did you think: ok, I'll try?”
Schwartz responded, “I think one of the reasons Godspell worked was because I didn’t know a lot of the stories. So, I think I approached it with sort of a fresh perspective of not preaching to the converted, so to speak.”
In 1972, Schwartz took a fresh look at the story of Pippin, a young man searching for the meaning of life in the Middle Ages. The third hit, 1974's The Magic Show, starred magician Doug Henning. Schwartz had 3 of 3, and all three were playing on Broadway at the same time when he was just 27 years old—a theatrical trifecta that Schwartz called “very heady.”
“The truth is, when you are very young and not ready for success, it can be difficult to deal with,” he said. “I had a hard time dealing with it. I think I was very, very self-centered. I was quite difficult to deal with. I kept thinking: Well, why doesn't everyone do exactly what I say? I have somewhat lost my ability to collaborate. You know, it took some failures to learn how to deal with both success and failure.”
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Failures followed quickly, with “four flops”: The Job (which closed after a month) and Rags (which closed after four performances), while The Baker's Wife and Children of Eden never made it to Broadway.
I remarked, “You weren’t always the critic’s choice.”
“I’m almost never the critic’s choice,” Schwartz said.
Why? “I have no idea,” he said. “I’ll be honest, you know, I’d love to get Steve Sondheim reviews.”
“But look, as great as he was, his shows weren't run like yours.”
“Yes, the grass is always greener,” Schwartz replied.
In the early 1990s, Schwartz moved away from the piano. Did he leave Broadway? “Absolutely, one hundred percent,” he said.
“Were you worried you were running out of juice?” I asked.
“Absolutely yes. And in the 90s I actually went back to school. I got a degree in psychology. I was going to become a therapist.”
Training to become a therapist has been very rewarding. “I think being away reminded me of how to conduct myself, how to collaborate and how to treat other people and not just show up like a bull in a china shop,” he said.
However, when he returned to songwriting, it was not for Broadway but for Hollywood, writing songs for Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Enchanted, and the music and lyrics for The Prince of Egypt. During this time, he received three Academy Awards.
“Colors of the Wind” from “Pocahontas”:
But Stephen Schwartz's house will always be a stage. “I feel so blessed and lucky that the work I've done has a continuing life that I know will continue even when I'm no longer on this planet,” he said. “Look, I’m 77 years old and they still let me do this!”
To watch the Wicked: For Good trailer, click on the video player below:
READ REST: Defying Gravity, a biography of the “evil” composer Stephen Schwartz.
Biographer Carole de Giers explores the creative career of the Grammy and Oscar-winning composer of such cherished Broadway and film hits as Godspell, Pippin and Wicked.
WEB EXCLUSIVE: Watch the extended interview with Stephen Schwartz (Video)
For more information:
- “Evil: For Good” opens in theaters November 21st.
- “Wicked,” at the Gershwin Theater, New York | Ticket information
- “Queen of Versailles” at the St. James Theatre, New York | Ticket information
- “The Baker's Wife.” at the Lynn F. Angelson Theater, New York (through December 21) | Ticket information
- stephenschwartz.com
- “Defying Gravity: The Creative Career of Stephen Schwartz”, from Godspell To Wicked (2nd ed.)” Carol de Gear (Applause Books) in paperback and ebook formats, available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble And Bookstore.org
The story was produced by Jay Kernis. Editor: Jason Schmidt.
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