Stephen Schwartz

[romanov]

Posted: 5/25/05 at 10:46am

Stephen Schwartz must have won the award for luckiest man on Broadway. With the exceptions of Working and Rags(lyrics only), he has gotten away with composing mediocre scores for three musicals that had very long runs and one that looks as if it will run until the Second Coming.

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 5/25/05 at 10:50am

Well, that is a gross generalization...YOu may want to prepare to be bashed in this thread.

He has had many more flops or moderatly recieved show than pure successes, has never won a Tony, and really, Wicked is his first out and out blockbuster, in terms of money.

Are you even familiar with his entire body of work? While I find some of his work mediocre, I adore Baker's Wife, Pippin, and bits and pieces from other shows, like "Lion Tamer" and "West End Ave" from Magic Show.

[broadwayalto01]

Posted: 5/25/05 at 10:51am

That's the beauty of Broadway!

[Practically Perfect]

Posted: 5/25/05 at 10:53am

His music is a thousand times better than the cheap jingles that won Best Score at the 2004 Tony awards...

Mary P x

Posted: 5/25/05 at 10:56am

Wicked is his first Blockbuster? Well I guess that depends on how you define Blockbuster. Pippin and The Magic Show were both massively successful- I think they are both on that "Shows that ran over 800 performances" list over at Playbill. Godspell is one of the most-perfromed shows ever written and generated a top ten hit single.

Sorry you don't like him Romanov, but luck has nothing to do with it.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 5/25/05 at 10:57am

What I read: "With the exceptions of Working and Rags(lyrics only), he has gotten away with composing mediocre scores for three musicals that had very long runs and one that looks as if it will run until the Second Coming."

What I heard: "Arf! Arf! Arf! Arf!"

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 5/25/05 at 11:01am

Well, I certainly wouldn't call the Ave Q score full of "cheap jingles". I find that very unfair. As someone who likes Wicked well enoough, I find the Ave Q score to be much more accomplished than Schwartz's servicible but often uneven score for Wicked. While Wicked has more than a few clunkers in it, most of Ave Q's score is appropriate, bright, and winning. While Schwartz did write some good music for Wicked, that show relies on it's book and spectacle much more than on it's music. So in terms of success, I don't know if Schwartz is high on the list of reason Wicked is so popular.

[Princeton78]

Posted: 5/25/05 at 11:12am

From: IMDB.com

Won: 3 Oscars, 1 Grammy, 1 Golden Globe Award, 1 Annie Award, 3 ASCAP Awards

Nominations: 2 Oscars, 1 Golden Globe, 1 Golden Sattelite, 1 Grammy, 7 Tonys

Godspell= One of the longest Off-Broadway runs ever achieved and consistently one of the most produced by theatres all over the world. In 1972, there were 15 smash companies of this show worldwide.

Pippin= 6 Tonys, 5 year run at 2 of Bway's largest theatres (Imperial and Minskoff)

Magic Show= 4 year run

Wicked= Check the box office reciepts at the consistenly most difficult theatre on Broadway to fill.

Mr. Schwartz was, I believe the first composer to ever have 3 productions running on Broadway concurrently and he wasn't yet 30.

Please be sure that you back up statements you make. Mr. Schwartz must be doing something right.

[romanov]

Posted: 5/25/05 at 11:13am

Matt, I must admit there may have been a bit of Toto in my post.
Bobby, you're right about Schwartz not being high on the list for Wicked's success. The same can be said for Pippin's score.

[broadwayalto01]

Posted: 5/25/05 at 11:14am

Schwartz writes amazing music.. look at many of his other works.. It's lush music... Music is one of the key ingredients in a MUSICal... Ave Q, is cute, but do you think it has the staying power that Wicked has. Honestly, I think that Wicked had the better substance..Avenue Q was great too.. and very clever. I just wonder why Schwartz's music hasn't been awarded as much as it should be...

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 5/25/05 at 11:19am

I think Ave Q has as much staying power as Wicked, and I find Q to be a much more original and substantial contribution to the genre than Wicked.

While I don't loathe Wicked, I think the hype on here far exceeds the quality.

Just because nobody in Q was in the original cast of Rent, or does runs when they sing, doesn't mean it is any less valuable than Wicked.

I think Q is often labeled cute or simple, unfairly.

[WOSQ]

Posted: 5/25/05 at 11:21am

Stephen Schwartz was the "IT" boy of the early 70s with three huge hits all playing at the same time for a while: Godspell (off and on Bway), Magic Show and Pippin. He also contributed lyrics to Leonard Bernstein's "Mass".

Schwartz also alienated a lot of people with his huge ego and more than a few smiles were had when Baker's Wife and Working failed and then he disappeared for a while. I was chatting with one of his Bway collaborators who said "I will Never work with him again." and that is a quote.

People didn't want to work with his impossible personality and his enemy list was long. He has not often worked for/with the same people twice. Writing movie songs proved to be his salvation. He was almost a has-been by then--a very wealthy has-been.

Wicked is a comeback.

[broadwayalto01]

Posted: 5/25/05 at 11:26am

Q is a great show .. did we miss my typing that.. The thing is Idina disappeared from Broadway for a while while she was working on Wicked. When you have "cute puppets" in your show.. Most people will think that the show is "cute." Notice Billboards in NYC.. More people know the Wizard of Oz and think that Wicked is brilliant because it tries up some loose ends. Ave Q doesn't tie up any loose ends, however it is an inovation when it comes to using puppets during it's show..

Posted: 5/25/05 at 11:28am

I'd like to say that Mr. Schwartz spends a fair amount of time working with ASCAP to produce new musical workshops in NYC, LA and Chicago - and he also gets voluntary help from people like Marc Shaiman and Jason Robert Brown, so he must not have alienated everybody.

[Bluemoon]

Posted: 5/25/05 at 11:28am

If he had never written anything other than Children of Eden, that would suffice. I find many of his works haunting, not mediocre.

[romanov]

Posted: 5/25/05 at 11:35am

Bluemoon, I find them haunting as well. They scare the hell out of me.

[Bluemoon]

Posted: 5/25/05 at 11:38am

Well, to each his own!

[brdlwyr]

Posted: 5/25/05 at 11:42am

Godspell, Pippin, Working, Wicked - all great scores!

[broadwaystar2b]

Posted: 5/25/05 at 11:46am

I do not plan on using this as an opportunity to once again go into the battle of what show is better, Q or Wicked, but I would like to say something in Q’s defense

Q is not the first Broadway show to use puppets first of all; other shows that come to mind include Little Shop of Horrors and The Lion King

One of the reasons I personally find Q so endearing is because the show has its merits because of the show itself. None of it’s cast members were stars in any sense of the word, most of them were/are making their Broadway debuts. No one knew who Lopez and Marx were; they were just kid composers with no previously acclaimed theatrical endeavors. It was not based on a movie or a book or a book based on a movie based on a book, it was based on an idea: What if there was a Sesame Street for adults?
And it worked. The premise worked and is still working successfully 5 years after its original fruitation.

But for people to say that Q is simple is really missing the point of what the show has evolved into. I’d be the first person to say that if the show’s only point was to make puppets say “the darnedest things”, I’d have outgrown of the show a long time ago. But the heart of the show goes much deeper. Somewhere in Act One of the show, you realize that you not only think the characters are funny, but you genuinely begin to care what happens to them. I’ve seen adults much older and more cynical than I am cry during Q songs “There’s a Fine, Fine Line” and “I Wish I Could Go Back to College”.

For me, Q is about one’s lost childhood. There are good times you had that can never come back the way they were. But you can grow and learn from your mistakes and try to live your life with purpose, even if you don’t know what your purpose on Earth is.

And as much as I am a fan of Stephen Schwartz, and of Wicked for that matter, Q has always been closer to my heart because its story rings truer for me.
Updated On: 5/25/05 at 11:46 AM

[TheColorOfFlame]

Posted: 5/25/05 at 11:49am

"Listen Nessa . . . uh, Nessa, / I've got something to confess-a."

[gabybon]

Posted: 5/25/05 at 11:58am

I Love Schwartz music and all the Schwartz shows. I Think they have a special magic that I don't find in other type of music or show...It's just my opinion, but I think that too many critics are so snob with him. I hate musical lovers who think that the only genius is Sondheim and the rest is nothing...that is good only itricate score with no refrain...
I love Sondheim too, but he's not the only one for me and He wrote mediocre scores too, first of all "Bounce"...just my opinion, don't kill me
For the pop-rock musicals for me Schwartz is a genius too and not only for the rock ones...Baker's Wife is a masterprice and I hope that this show arrive sooner or later on Broadway.
I don't know if he has got a huge ego
or if he's an impossible person in the real life...the same legends was for so many artist as Lloyd Webber, Sondheim, Leonard Bernstein etc...
I Know that he helps young writers and composers.
I Know that he made musical who make me feel so good
I know that Wicked is a big big winner and many people are so envious for this...the rest is only chat
P.S.sorry for my English!!!

Posted: 5/25/05 at 12:13pm

Oh ColorofFlame, thanks for reminding me of that brilliant lyric! I love the way he's used the character to make his rhyme work- using the "a" filler of a naturally shy & tongue-tied character to bring the line together! You're right, it's brilliant!

I forgot to add, I think it's extrememly telling that Schwartz gets BASHED for his hits (And the bigger the hit, the harder the bashing) and WORSHIPPED for his flops (Bakers wife, Eden). Interesting, no?

[brdlwyr]

Posted: 5/25/05 at 12:22pm

Of course poor Boq really blew it there!

[JamieMcG]

Posted: 5/25/05 at 12:35pm

Just wanted to pipe in that Eden isn't a failure-far from. It has never had a Broadway run simply because A)it would be too costly to do it correctly and B)it is one of the most highly-rented shows at MTI. The reasons many shows even have Broadway runs is so that subsequent licensing and subsidiary rights are more valuable. Why bring it to Broadway when it's already achieved substantial regional success?

Outside of that, to claim he is a mediocre composer with the track record he has is simply ignorant. Pippin and Godspell are among the most sung scores in musical theatre. Yes, Bob Fosse had a great deal to do with the success of Pippin, but he doesn't direct the thousands of productions that happen every year...it's clear to me the work is standing on it's own.

On top of that, as a human being, he is one of the most generous individuals in this industry. He runs the ASCAP Workshop, consistently giving opportunities to hundreds of up and coming composers every year. This is no small achievement.

My point is, luck only gets you so far. Being a major theatrical composer on the scene for well over 30 years should assure you that something more than luck is at work here.

Posted: 5/25/05 at 12:37pm

I just think jealousy is a terrible, terrible thing.