And I feel very lucky at this age that I still get to do this.” That was what I always wanted to do for my whole life, to write music in the service of telling stories and communicating ideas and emotions that are important to me. People are still allowing me to do this work. I’m still fortunate enough to be in a position where I’m doing new projects. I don’t know how I got to be this number…But, you know, it’s just a number, as people say. At the same time, he’s still writing, and his discography is continuing to expand. With the event on the horizon, Schwartz reflects on all he’s accomplished thus far. Later this year, “Stephen at 75” will honor his career in September with performances of his songs at the Lyric Theatre on London’s West End. ![]() And if you do it well, the whole is definitely going to be greater than the sum of its parts.” Everybody’s playing in the sandbox, and ideas are coming from everywhere. “That’s what I like about musical theater, is that it’s very collaborative, not just with the writers, but with the director and the designers and the actors. “I’m always collaborating with other writers because I don’t write my own books for musicals,” he explained. ![]() What inspires him? He cites a “long list” that includes, but is not limited to, Stephen Sondheim, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Bach, Carole King and Sting, as well as his collaborators Alan Menken and Leonard Cohen. “The social issues and economic issues and class issues that explored in this documentary through the examination of this one family are very important in our society right now.” Schwartz is also inspired by the pertinent subject matter that the musical tackles. So it’s been delightful to experience that again and work with her again.” She’s very, very creative during the process of putting a show together and she has a lot of ideas and as a writer, she reveals a lot of things to you. “She’s not just an actress who comes in and learns her music and learns her lines and performs them admirably. One of the things that excites him the most about this project is the opportunity to work with Chenoweth again. It tells the story of billionaires David and Jackie Siegel. Their latest collaboration is an adaptation of Lauren Greenfield’s 2012 documentary of the same name. The show will reunite him with “Wicked” alum Kristin Chenoweth, who originated the role of Glinda on Broadway. Schwartz is known for his inventive and wide-ranging projects that fit into a myriad of genres, from the philosophical “Pippin” to the parables of “Godspell” to the upbeat whimsy of “Enchanted.” He also discussed his newest musical, “Queen of Versailles.” “I’m not listening to entire scores, I’m not reading entire scripts, but what I am trying to evaluate is if it’s a project that seems unusual, seems interesting, seems ambitious in terms of what it’s trying to accomplish,” he explained. Those are the basic questions I face myself every time I’m doing a new project…Who do we care about? Who are we rooting for? What’s the obstacle? Why should I in the audience care about your idea?”Īs part of the program, Schwartz had the opportunity to evaluate new shows and pick the composers that were highlighted. “The issues that people have in developing their shows tend to be the same, which have to do with how to structure a story, how to tell a story using music. ![]() “I’ve been doing this for a long time,” he said. Again and again, he emphasizes to them the importance of the basic elements of storytelling. Schwartz shared that most people struggle with the same foundational issues when writing a show. He hopes to highlight not just up-and-coming composers, but their musical theater skills. It’s a two-week program featured workshops for emerging composers, led by Schwartz. speaking about his latest venture, the ASCAP Foundation’s Musical Theatre Fest, where he served as artistic director.
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