Stephen Schwartz to Appear at National Symphony's THE WIZARD AND I, Now thru 5/18

The National Symphony Orchestra Pops will present three performances of The Wizard and I: The Musical Journey of Stephen Schwartz May 16-18 in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall. Led by Principal Pops Conductor Steven Reineke, the performances feature performances by Jeremy Jordan, Norm Lewis, Julia Murney, Jennifer Laura Thompson, and The Washington Chorus. The performances celebrate Stephen Schwartz's 65th birthday as well as the 10th anniversary of the perennially "popular" Wicked, and Mr. Schwartz will make a special appearance in each of the three programs, performing and sharing stories of the creation of Wicked.

Composer, lyricist, director, and author Stephen Schwartz has contributed music and/or lyrics to Godspell, Bernstein's Mass, Pippin, The Magic Show, The Baker's Wife, Working (which he also adapted and directed), Rags, and Children of Eden. For films, he collaborated with Alan Menken on the scores for Disney's Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and Enchanted, and wrote the songs for the DreamWorks animated feature The Prince of Egypt. His first opera, Séance on a Wet Afternoon, was presented by New York City Opera in April 2011 and Defying Gravity, a book about his professional career, was published by Applause Books. Mr. Schwartz is the artistic director of the ASCAP Musical Theatre Workshops and president of the Dramatists Guild. Awards include three Academy Awards, four Grammy Awards, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and a tiny handful of tennis trophies. He was a 2009 Theatre Hall of Fame inductee.

Following these performances, the NSO Pops 2012-2013 season will close with a sold-out, single performance with Phish front man Trey Anastasio on May 22. In the 2013-2014 season, the NSO Pops will present a return engagement of Cirque de la Symphonie September 19-22, a special performance with the Wayne Shorter Quartet and bassist/vocalist Esperanza Spalding on September 26, including Gaia, an NSO Pops co-commission. The season continues with an engagement with Michael Cavanaugh who will sing The Songs of Elton John & More October 25- 26, two performances with Broadway and Glee star Matthew Morrison November 29-30, and a return of Happy Holidays! featuring Brian Stokes Mitchell December 12-14. The 2013-2014 season also includes a 20th anniversary celebration of Nas's Illmatic featuring the hip-hop star himself March 28-29 which will launch the Kennedy Center's Hip-Hop Culture Worldwide festival. For more information about the NSO Pops 2013-2014 season, please visit the Kennedy Center's website.

FEATURED ARTIST BIOS:

Tony Award nominee Jeremy Jordan currently stars in NBC's musical drama Smash as a Brooklyn-based composer creating a groundbreaking rock musical. Jordan is from Corpus Christi, Texas and studied at Ithaca College, where he earned a BFA with honors in Performance Theater. In 2009, he got his Broadway start understudying the lead in the hit musical Rock of Ages. He went on to star as Tony in the revival of West Side Story and as Clyde Barrow in the Frank Wildhorn musical Bonnie & Clyde. Last year, Jordan starred opposite Queen Latifah and Dolly Parton in the Todd Graff Warner Bros. film Joyful Noise and he originated the role of Jack Kelly in Disney's hit musical Newsies, for which he received a Tony nomination for Best Actor in a Musical. This year, he stars in the film version of Jason Robert Brown's celebrated musical The Last Five Years. Richard LaGravenese (P.S. I Love You, Beautiful Creatures) directs Jordan opposite Oscar nominee Anna Kendrick.

Norm Lewis was last seen as Senator Edison Davis on the hit ABC drama, Scandal. He recently received Tony, Drama Desk, Drama League, and Outer Critics Circle Award nominations for his performance as Porgy in the Broadway production of The Gershwins' Porgy & Bess. Broadway: Sondheim on Sondheim, The Little Mermaid, LES MISERABLES, Chicago, Amour, The Wild Party, Side Show, Miss Saigon, Tommy. West End/London: LES MISERABLES, LES MISERABLES 25th Anniversary Concert (London's O2 Arena, PBS). Off-Broadway: Dessa Rose (Drama Desk nomination, AUDELCO Award), The Two Gentlemen of Verona (Drama League nomination), Captains Courageous, A New Brain. Regional: Porgy in The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess (A.R.T.), Ragtime, Dreamgirls (with Jennifer Holliday), First You Dream, Sweeney Todd, The Fantasticks. Film: Winter's Tale, Sex and the City 2, Confidences, Preaching to the Choir. Television: Scandal, Mystery Women, All My Children, As the World Turns, Cosby, Strong Medicine. CD: Norm Lewis: This is the Life!

Julia Murney last appeared on Broadway as Elphaba in Wicked after playing the role on the national tour for which she received an Acclaim Award. Other New York credits include Lennon, Andrew Lippa's The Wild Party (Drama Desk nomination), The Vagina Monologues, A Class Act, Saved, Crimes of the Heart, and Time and Again (Lucille Lortel nomination). She's been seen regionally all over the U.S. and in concert she has performed at Joe's Pub, Feinstein's, Town Hall, and Birdland as well as with Peter Nero and the Philadelphia Pops. Among her TV credits are 30 Rock, Sex and the City, Ed, NYPD Blue, all three Law and Orders and several voiceovers. Recordings include original cast albums of The Wild Party and A Class Act, the Grammy- nominated Actor's Fund Benefit of Hair and her first solo album, I'm Not Waiting which is available on Sh-K-Boom records.

Jennifer Laura Thompson is perhaps best known for her portrayal of Glinda, the good Witch, in the Broadway production of Wicked. She is currently starring in the Tony-nominated production of Nice Work If You Can Get It with Matthew Broderick. Additional Broadway credits include Hope Cladwell in Urinetown (for which she received a Tony nomination for Best Leading Actress in a Musical), Ariel Moore in Footloose, and most recently Diana Desdemona in Lend Me a Tenor. She has sung Pardon My English, On the Town, and Of Thee I Sing at City Center in New York City for the concert series Encores!. She sang the role of Jenny in the concert version of Company with the New York Philharmonic which was screened in movie theaters nationwide last March and was later released on DVD. She recently originated the role of Sheryl Hoover in the world premiere of the musical, Little Miss Sunshine. Off-Broadway, she originated the role of Charlotte in Little Fish and the role of Hope in Urinetown. Recent orchestral appearances include Atlanta Symphony, Toronto Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony, Modesto Symphony, and Grand Rapids Symphony, among others.

The Wizard and I: The Musical Journey of Stephen Schwartz will take place Thursday, May 16 at 7 p.m., and Friday and Saturday, May 17-18 at 8 p.m. in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall. Tickets range from $20 to $85 and are available through the Kennedy Center box office and through Instant Charge at (202) 467-4600. Patrons living outside the Washington metropolitan area may dial toll-free at (800) 444-1324 or visit us online at www.kennedy-center.org.

For more information about the NSO Pops, visit www.nationalsymphony.org.

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