Review: THE SONGS + STORIES OF STEPHEN SCHWARTZ at Chan National Queer Arts Center

Composer, lyricist, and pianist extraordinaire Stephen Schwartz presented an evening of conversation and song- a celebration of his continuing support and collaboration with the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus. Using his songs as a jumping off point, Steven told amusing Broadway backstories, welcomed featured artists Taylor Iman Jones (SIX, Head Over Heels, Groundhog Day) and Schwartz’s long-term partner Michael McCorry Rose (The Queen of Versailles, Wicked, Anastasia, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder) for some smartly thought out mashups, reminding the audience of their collective powers of resilience, unity and strength.

There’s nothing quite like seeing the composer perform their material, delivering insights and nuances straight from the creator. Opening with “Corner of the Sky” from Pippin, you can feel the longing frustration of finding one’s place in the universe. Schwartz then gave us the history of Elphaba’s “The Wizard and I” from Wicked. The song is whats called an “I Want” song, where the character defines their wishes and desires. It started out as “Making Good,” then a second iteration that went nowhere. With a critical note from his son Scott, the last version as we now know it was written with Idina Menzel in mind and made perfect sense.

Taylor Iman Jones sang “Colors of the Wind” (lyrics by Alan Menken) from 1995’s Pocahontas, followed by Michael McCorry Rose’s take on “It’ll Be Me” from Schwartz's abandoned musical project about Harry Houdini. Both Rose and Schwartz did a mashup of “(The Bonnie Banks o' Loch Lomond" (or "Loch Lomond") and “It All Fades Away” from The Bridges of Madison County. Both Jones and Rose have remarkable voices evidenced on their duet of "In Whatever Time We Have" (Children of Eden) and “As Long as You’re Mine” (Wicked).

The SFGMC finally took to the stage to perform two numbers associated with their collaboration with Schwartz through the years. “Testimony,” with lyrics culled by Schwartz from the “It Gets Better” project is as emotionally haunting as it gets, with lyrics pulled from suicide survivor anecdotes. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house when the chorus rose in unison to sing “There is so much I would have missed.” The chorus, under the direction of Artistic Director Jacob Stensburg, followed with “Bloom” from the 2022 song cycle Songs of the Phoenix with lyrics by poetess Alexandra Elle.

The second act mirrored the first with Schwartz singing “Chanson” from The Baker’s Wife, a standout delivery by Jones on “Meadowlark” from the same show, and “Grow the Light” from the short-lived musical The Queen of Versailles performed by the Chorus. This was a subset of the 300+ member chorus and still the sound was glorious and powerful. There’s always a titter in the audience when the chorus sings “When all the world is a hopeless jumble, And the raindrops tumble all around, Heaven opens a magic lane.” They know it’s the original opening verse to our LGBTQIA+ anthem “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” with a nice arrangement that segued into Schwartz’s powerful “Defying Gravity.” The evening was a commitment to moving forward, empowerment and pride in communion. Schwartz has been  with us all along and there was a heartfelt and extremely authentic exchange of love and appreciation.

Photo credits: Marco, Steve Murray