Schwartz to Channel First Opera Séance on a Wet Afternoon

According to Opera News, Wicked composer/lyricist is set to make his debut as an opera composer with an adaptation of Séance on a Wet Afternoon.

Schwartz' opera based on the 1961 Mark McShane novel will have its premiere at Opera Santa Barbara's Granada Theatre in spring of 2009. Michael Jackowitz will serve as executive producer.

Séance on a Wet Afternoon "tells the story of a fame-hungry psychic-spiritualist who kidnaps a child in the hope of garnering publicity upon retrieving him," according to the article.

An acclaimed 1964 film version was written and directed by Bryan Forbes. It starred Kim Stanley as Myra, the emotionally unstable psychic.

Schwartz, whose Wicked is the biggest musical hit on Broadway, wrote the music and lyrics for Godspell, Pippin, The Magic Show, The Baker's Wife, Children of Eden and Captain Louie, and contributed his songs to the score of Working; he also collaborated with Charles Strouse on Rags. He has also written for the big screen, with a number of scores for animated films; he wrote music and lyrics for DreamWorks' The Prince of Egypt and the TV musical Geppetto, as well as lyrics for the Disney films Pocahontas and The Hunchback of Notre Dame (both with Alan Menken). Schwartz, whose two solo CDs "Relucant Pilgrim" and "Uncharted Territory" feature him performing his own songs, has received three each of the Academy Awards, the Grammy Awards and the Drama Desk Awards.

Visit www.metoperafamily.org/operanews/, www.operasb.com or www.stephenschwartz.com for more information.