Meet the wizard of Wicked in this enlightening look at one of American theater’s most talented artists. Produced by Performance Plus™ and moderated by ASCAP Director of Musical Theater, Michael Kerker.
Stephen Schwartz
Stephen Schwartz was born in New York City on March 6, 1948. He studied piano and composition at the Juilliard School of Music while in high school and graduated from Carnegie Mellon University in 1968 with a B.F.A. in Drama. His first major credit was the title song for the play Butterflies are Free; the song was eventually used in the movie version as well. In 1971, he wrote the music and new lyrics for Godspell, for which he won several awards including two Grammys. This was followed by the English texts, in collaboration with Leonard Bernstein, for Bernstein's MASS, which opened the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. The following year, he wrote the music and lyrics for Pippin and two years later, The Magic Show. At one point, Godspell, Pippin, and The Magic Show were all running on Broadway simultaneously.
He has also written the music and lyrics for The Baker's Wife , followed by a musical version of Studs Terkel's Working, to which he contributed four songs, and which he also adapted and directed, winning the Drama Desk Award as best director. He co-directed the television production, which was presented as part of the PBS "American Playhouse" series. After the PBS series, Schwartz wrote songs for the one-act musical for children, Captain Louie , and the children's book, The Perfect Peach . He then wrote music for three of the songs in the Off-Broadway revue, Personals, lyrics to Charles Strouse's music for Rags, and music and lyrics for Children of Eden .
His work in film includes collaborating with composer Alan Menken on the scores for the Disney animated features Pocahontas, for which he received two Academy Awards and another Grammy, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame . He also provided songs for DreamWorks' first animated feature, The Prince of Egypt , for which he won another Academy Award for the song "When You Believe".
Mr. Schwartz provided music and lyrics for the original television musical, Geppetto, seen on The Wonderful World of Disney. Recently, he released two CDs on which he sings new songs, entitled Reluctant Pilgrim and Uncharted Territory.
Mr. Schwartz's most recent musical, Wicked, opened in the fall of 2003 and is currently running on Broadway. He serves on the ASCAP Foundation board and is also a member of the Council of the Dramatists' Guild.
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