Musical Theater: Stephen Schwartz

THE KENNEDY CENTER

Musical Theater: Stephen Schwartz Friday, March 4 Grades 9-12 11 a.m.-12 p.m. Curriculum Connections: Language Arts National Standards for Music: 4, 6, 8 & 9 and Theater: 6 & 8

A Tale About Talent Each year, there are hundreds of kids who see their first musical and decide that the lights on Broadway are just waiting for them. Truth is, only a handful of these hopefuls will realize their dream. How do you go from being one of those wide-eyed kids to becoming the next wonder on the Great White Way? Ask composer/lyricist Stephen Schwartz. Before the tender age of 25, he had three hit musicals playing on Broadway simultaneously—Pippin, Godspell, and The Magic Show. And that was just the beginning.

About the Program In this never-before-seen interview, Academy Award®, Grammy® and Tony® winner Stephen Schwartz talks with Michael Kerker, director of Musical Theater at ASCAP, about his Tony Award®–winning Broadway musical, Wicked, ―the most complete—and completely satisfying—new musical in a long time‖ (USA Today). Stephen Schwartz also discusses his other musicals, including Godspell, Pippin, and the Baker’s Wife, and students hear a few of his well-known songs performed.

Stephen Schwartz was born in New York City in 1948. After his parents took him to see a show called Shinbone Alley, he announced to his family that the ―musical theater bug‖ had bitten him. But like most children, he disliked practicing the piano. To solve this problem, Schwartz’s clever parents bribed their son with tickets to see a musical on Broadway. As an adult, he admits this is the reason he writes for musical theater rather than composing pop songs. During high school, Schwartz studied piano and composition at Juilliard School of Music and later graduated from Carnegie Mellon University in 1968 with a B.F.A. in Drama. In time, Schwartz added The Baker’s Wife, Mass, Working, Captain Louie, and Children of Eden to his successful resume. After making his mark in New York, Schwartz looked to Hollywood and began working in film. Schwartz collaborated with composer Alan Menken on scores for such famous animated features as Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and The Prince of Egypt. For these films, he would place three Academy Awards® on his mantel alongside four Grammy Awards®.

The Writing Process For Schwartz, the process starts with an assignment—a play, a film, or perhaps a song for himself. There is a problem to be solved, or a story to be told, or simply an idea for a song. Sometimes music is suggested, or a title, some lines, or a mood. Schwartz believes that the melodies come from the story you are attempting to tell. It is ―an instinctive, unconscious process, and part of writing is to find a way to get out of your own way and just let it come through you.‖ Writing good lyrics is ―unpredictable, but inevitable…it shouldn’t be so strange that it feels forced, but you don’t want to know where it’s going.‖ When writing for musical theater, Schwartz prefers to start with a title. A song title helps him ―conceptualize‖ a song before the first piano keys are even touched. Next, comes the melody, and finally, the lyrics, which Schwartz says, ―should cling to the silhouette of the music.‖

Mentors Matter ―My style of writing has been influenced by sort of scavenging the pieces of music that I’ve heard and it’ll just be a moment‖ that may inspire him, admits Schwartz. Some of the composers and songwriters who have influenced him include Beethoven, Laura Nero, James Taylor, and Sting. Schwartz studies their unusual chord choices and finds them to be unique and compelling. Very often, Schwartz will incorporate a triple rhyme near the end of a song. He attributes this to an old Ella Fitzgerald song, ―Keep My Love Alive,‖ by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart that he heard as a young boy. Even as a child, Schwartz had begun to gather bits and pieces from a variety of musical mentors.

Background Information

Godspell is a celebratory musical that playfully highlights parables told in the Gospel according to Matthew and other books of the New Testament. Interspersed between them are a variety of modern songs set primarily to lyrics from traditional hymns. The stories and musical numbers are performed by a small troupe of actors in clown make-up. The musical opened Off-Broadway in 1971 and moved to Broadway in 1976. It was also adapted for film in 1973.

Pippin is loosely based on the historic account of King Charlemagne and his son. The musical opens with a troupe of actors headed by the Leading Player preparing for a performance. The Leading Player announces to the audience that they will be performing ―Pippin: His Life and Times,‖ a magical and mysterious tale of a prince in search of fulfillment as he tries to lead an extraordinary life. Though the story is about royalty in the distant past, the actors’ costumes represent several different and undetermined time periods giving the musical a unique and universal edge. Pippin premiered on Broadway in 1972.

The Baker’s Wife is based on a 1938 French film. It deals with the adult themes of love and fidelity fit for more mature audiences. The musical takes place in a small village in 1930s France where the residents lead ordinary and routine lives. It opens with the song ―Chanson‖ sung by the local café owner’s wife. The song describes living a quiet life from day to day with nothing changing until an event occurs, sometimes unexpectedly, that makes life suddenly quite different. The village experiences just that when a new baker arrives in town with his young and beautiful wife. The Baker’s Wife first toured the United Sates in 1976. Unfortunately it never reached Broadway but in 1981 it was mounted in London’s famous West End theater district to much critical acclaim.

Wicked is loosely based on the novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire. It is a parallel story to the classic children’s book and 1939 film The Wizard of Oz but from the perspective of the witches in the Land of Oz. The musical opens with Glinda the Good addressing the people of Oz after the death of the Wicked Witch of the West. The tale immediately flashes back to a time before Dorothy arrived in Oz when the witches were close friends. Wicked opened on Broadway in 2003 and is still running. The musical has been wildly successful. It began touring North America in 2005 and has also been produced internationally.

List of Works Butterflies Are Free, title song (play and movie), 1969 Godspell, music and new lyrics, 1971 Mass, English texts (with Leonard Bernstein), 1971 Pippin, music and lyrics, 1972 The Magic Show, music and lyrics, 1974 The Baker’s Wife, music and lyrics, 1976 The Perfect Peach, (children’s book), 1977 Working, adaptation, four songs, direction, 1978 Personals, music, three songs, 1985 Captain Louie (children’s show), music and lyrics, 1986 Rags, lyrics, 1986 Children of Eden, music and lyrics, 1991 Pocahontas, lyrics, 1995 The Hunchback of Notre Dame, lyrics, 1996 Reluctant Pilgrim, CD of eleven songs, 1997 The Prince of Egypt, music and lyrics, 1998 Geppetto, music and lyrics, 2000 (renamed My Son Pinocchio) Uncharted Territory, CD of eleven songs, 2001 Wicked, music and lyrics, 2003 Mit Eventyr/My Fairy Tale, music and lyrics, nine songs, 2005 Seance on a Wet Afternoon, music and libretto, 2009

List of Awards 3 Oscars®: Pocahontas, The Prince of Egypt 4 Grammys®: Godspell, Pocahontas, Wicked 4 Drama Desk Awards: Godspell, Working, Wicked Golden Globe Award: Pocahontas 2 Broadcast Film Critics’ Awards: Pocahontas, The Prince of Egypt Songwriters Hall of Fame Broadway Hall of Fame Lifetime Achievement Awards Oscar Hammerstein Award Southeastern Theatre Conference ASCAP Foundation President’s Award Paper Mill Playhouse MAC Board of Governor’s Award Kaufman Center Honors New England Theatre Conference Goodspeed Musicals Wayne State Apple Award Richard Rodgers Award Emerson College

Instructional Activities Listen Up, Write It Down Listen to the original cast album of Godspell or Pippin. Write down your response to each song. (Listen only to the words and music; try not to learn the play’s plot.) Then, watch the DVD of the play. Write down your reactions to the same songs when performed within the context of the play’s story? How does an actor portraying a character affect the experience? Compare your two lists.

Is There a “Schwartz Sound”? Watch or listen to Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and The Prince of Egypt. Do you hear any similarities in the words or music? Do all the songs appear to be written by the same composer/lyricist? If so, how so? If not, why not?

What If? Imagine that the producer of Wicked has approached you to write next year’s theater hit. Like Wicked, the producer is looking for the ―story behind‖ a famous children’s classic book or fairy tale. Your task is to choose the book or tale and write a description of the play’s storyline. Then, write titles for three of the characters’ songs. Try your hand at some of their lyrics.

Glinda and Elphaba from Wicked

Resources Stephen Schwartz Biography: De Giere, Carol. Defying Gravity. (Applause Theatre and Cinema Books, New York) 2008. Stephen Schwartz NPR Morning Edition Interview: www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1875136 Stephen Schwartz official site: stephenschwartz.com Stephen Schwartz fan site: musicalschwartz.com American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers website: ascap.com Archived performance/discussion from the 2004-2005 Performing Arts Series season: kennedy-center.org/pwtv