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Biography
Refimprove| date= January 2012Infobox musical artist| name = Stephen Schwartz| image = Stephen Schwartz.jpg| caption = Stephen Schwartz receives a List of stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame#S|star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame , April 8, 2008| background = non_performing_personnel| birth_name =| Born = Birth date and age|1948|3|6|df=yes New York City| instrument =| genre = Theater/Film| occupation = Lyricist , Composer | years_active= 1970–present Stephen Lawrence Schwartz (born March 6, 1948) is an American musical theatre lyricist and composer . In a career spanning over four decades, Schwartz has written such hit musicals as Godspell (1971), Pippin (musical)|Pippin (1972) and Wicked (musical)|Wicked (2003). He has also contributed lyrics for a number of successful films, including Pocahontas (1995 film)|Pocahontas (1995), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996 film)|The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), The Prince of Egypt (1998; music and lyrics) and Enchanted (film)|Enchanted (2007). Schwartz has won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics , three Grammy Award s, three Academy Award s and has been nominated for six Tony Award s.
Early life
Schwartz was born in New York City, the son of Sheila Lorna ( née Siegal), a teacher, and Stanley Leonard Schwartz, who worked in business. http://www.filmreference.com/film/75/Stephen-Schwartz.html Short biography and list of works He grew up in the area of Williston Park, New York|Williston Park , where he attended Mineola High School (New York)|Mineola High School . 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 Bachelor of Fine Arts|BFA in Drama.
Early career
Upon returning to New York City, Schwartz went to work as a producer for RCA Records, but shortly thereafter began to work in the Broadway theatre . He was asked to be the musical director of the first American rock opera, The Survival of Saint Joan . He was credited as the Record producer|producer of the double album of the soundtrack with the progressive rock group Smoke Rise on Paramount Records. 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 music and new lyrics for Godspell , for which he won several awards including two Grammy Award|Grammys . This was followed by the English-language texts, in collaboration with Leonard Bernstein , for Bernstein's Mass (Bernstein)|Mass , which opened the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC. In 1972, the long-running Pippin (musical)|Pippin premiered on Broadway. Schwartz had begun writing songs for Pippin (musical)|Pippin while in college, although none of the songs from the college version ended up in the Broadway production. Both Pippin and Godspell continue to be frequently produced.
Two years after Pippin debuted, Schwartz wrote music and lyrics of The Magic Show , which ran for just under 2,000 performances. By mid-1974, at age 26, Schwartz had three smash hit musicals playing in New York simultaneously. Next were the music and lyrics of '' The Baker's Wife , which closed before reaching Broadway after an out-of-town tryout tour in 1976. However, the cast album went on to attain cult status, which lead to several subsequent productions, including a London production directed by Trevor Nunn in 1990 and, in 2005, a highly–acclaimed production at the Paper Mill Playhouse in New Jersey.
In 1978, Schwartz's next Broadway project was a musical version of Studs Terkel 's Working (musical)|Working , which he adapted and directed, winning the Drama Desk Award as best director, and for which he contributed four songs. He also co-directed the television production, which was presented as part of the PBS "American Playhouse" series. In 1977, Schwartz wrote a children's book called The Perfect Peach . In the 1980s, Schwartz wrote songs for a one-act musical for children, The Trip (musical)|The Trip , which 20 years later was revised, expanded and produced as Captain Louie . He then wrote music for three of the songs of the Off Broadway|Off-Broadway revue , Personals , and lyrics of Charles Strouse 's music for the musical Rags (musical)|Rags .
Later career
In 1991, Schwartz wrote the music and lyrics for the popular musical Children of Eden . He then began working in film, collaborating with composer Alan Menken on the scores for the Disney animated features Pocahontas (1995 film)|Pocahontas (1995), for which he received two Academy Awards, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996 film)|The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996). He also provided songs for DreamWorks ' first animated feature, The Prince of Egypt (1998), winning another Academy Award for the song When You Believe . He wrote music and lyrics for the original television musical, Geppetto (TV musical)|Geppetto (2000), seen on Walt Disney anthology television series|The Wonderful World of Disney . A stage adaptation of this piece premiered in June 2006 at The Coterie Theatre in Kansas City, Missouri , and was entitled Geppetto and Son. , and is now known as '' Disney's My Son Pinocchio: Geppetto's Musical Tale . A version created for young performers, entitled Geppetto & Son, Jr. had its world premiere on July 17, 2009 at the Lyric Theatre in Stuart, Florida . It was presented by the StarStruck Performing Arts Center.
In 2003, Schwartz returned to Broadway, as composer and lyricist for Wicked (musical)|Wicked , a musical based on the novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West , which tells the story of the Land of Oz|Oz characters from the point of view of the witches. Schwartz won a Grammy Award for his work as composer and lyricist and producer of Wicked 's cast recording . On March 23, 2006, the Broadway production of Wicked passed the 1,000 performance mark, making Schwartz one of four composers (the other three being Andrew Lloyd Webber , Jerry Herman , and Richard Rodgers ) to have three shows last that long on Broadway (the other two were Pippin and The Magic Show ). In 2007, Schwartz joined Jerry Herman as being one of only two composer/lyricists to have three shows run longer than 1,500 performances on Broadway.
Schwartz also wrote lyrics for the 2007 Disney film Enchanted (film)|Enchanted , again collaborating with Menken. Three songs from the film, "Happy Working Song," "That's How You Know," and "So Close," were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song. He has also written the theme song for the Playhouse Disney show Johnny and the Sprites , starring John Tartaglia . A recent project is incidental music for his son Scott Schwartz's adaptation of Willa Cather 's My Ántonia .
In 2008, Applause Theatre and Cinema Books published the first ever Schwartz biography entitled Defying Gravity , by Carol de Giere. The book is a comprehensive look at his career and life, and also includes sections on how to write for the musical theatre.
In 2009, Schwartz collaborated with John Ondrasik in writing two songs on the Five for Fighting album Slice (Five for Fighting album)|Slice , the title track as well as "Above the Timberline." Ondrasik became familiar with Schwartz based on his daughter's affection for, and repeated attendance at performances of, the musical Wicked .
On September 16, 2011, the Northlight Theatre in Chicago will premiere Schwartz's new musical, Snapshots . It features music and lyrics by Schwartz, book by David Stern, and it will directed by Ken Sawyer. It blends together "some of the best-loved music with some of the genuinely wonderful lesser known gems of (the) renowned Broadway composer". http://chicago.broadwayworld.com/article/Northlight_Theatre_201011_Season_Will_Include_New_Musical_by_Stephen_Schwartz_20110228
Awards and nominations
Schwartz has won almost every major award in his field, including three Oscars, four Grammys, four Drama Desk Awards, one Golden Globe Award , the Richard Rodgers Award for Excellence in Musical Theater and a self-described "tiny handful of tennis trophies". http://www.stephenschwartz.com/bio/press-kit/short-bio/ Schwartz, Stephen, accessed September 1, 2011
He has received six Tony Award nominations, for Wicked , Pippin , and Godspell , music/lyrics; Rags , lyrics; and Working , music/lyrics, and book.Ibdb name|id=12375|name=Stephen Schwartz
In April 2008, Schwartz was given a List of stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame#S|star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame . In 2009, he was Inductees of the Songwriters Hall of Fame#S|inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame , http://songwritershalloffame.org/exhibits/C6022 Stephen Schwartz Songwriters Hall of Fame Exhibit and in January 2010 he was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame . http://www.stephenschwartz.com/2010/01/theater-hall-of-fame-induction/ Stephen Schwatrz Theater Hall of Fame Induction
Major works
Stage
Butterflies Are Free (1969) title song (play and movie)
Godspell (1971) composer, lyricist
Mass (Bernstein)|Mass (1971) English texts (in collaboration with Leonard Bernstein)
Pippin (musical)|Pippin (1972) composer, lyricist
The Magic Show (1974) composer, lyricist
'' The Baker's Wife (1976) composer, lyricist
Working (musical)|Working (1978) adaptation, direction, composer, lyricist of 4 songs
Personals (musical)|Personals (1985) composer of 3 songs
The Trip (musical)|The Trip (1986) children's show – composer, lyricist
Mayor (musical)|Mayor (1985) lyricist
Rags (musical)|Rags (1986) lyricist
Children of Eden (1991) composer, lyricist
Der Glöckner von Notre Dame (1999 Berlin) lyricist to Alan Menken (stage version of Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996 film)|The Hunchback of Notre Dame ); Michael Kunze translated the lyrics to German
Wicked (musical)|Wicked (2003) composer, lyricist
Tiruvacakam|Tiruvasakam – 2005 English translation of selected verses of the Tamil hymn on Lord Siva by Manickavasagar; Indian composer Ilaiyaraaja wrote the music.
Snapshots (musical)|Snapshots (2005)
Captain Louie (2005)
Mit Eventyr – My Fairy Tale (2005) (contributed 6 songs)
Séance on a Wet Afternoon (opera)|Séance on a Wet Afternoon (2009), opera http://www.seancetheopera.com/about_us.html ''Séance on a Wet Afternoon' composer, librettist, co-orchestrator': About the opera
Houdini (musical)|Houdini (2013/2014) http://www.playbill.com/news/article/158222-Hugh-Jackman-Will-Be-Houdini-in-New-Broadway-Musical-During-2013-2014-Season Hugh Jackman Will Be Houdini in New Broadway Musical During 2013-2014 Season
E. Ruth Anderson|Anderson, Ruth . Contemporary American composers. A biographical dictionary , 1st edition, G. K. Hall, 1976.
Green, Stanley; Deems Taylor|Taylor, Deems . The world of musical comedy. The story of the American musical stage. As told through the careers of its foremost composers and lyricist , Alfred Smith Barnes|A. S. Barnes , 1980.
Al Kasha|Kasha, Al . Notes on Broadway. Conversations with the great songwriters , Books, Inc., 1985.
Press, Jaques Cattell (Ed.). ASCAP Biographical Dictionary of Composers, Authors and Publishers , fourth edition, R. R. Bowker, 1980.
Suskin, Steven. ''Show tunes 1905–1991. The songs, shows and careers of broadway's major composers , Limelight Editions, 1992.
External links
http://www.stephenschwartz.com Stephen Schwartz official site home page
http://www.musicalschwartz.com Stephen Schwartz official fan site
http://www.theschwartzscene.com/blog/ The Schwartz Scene blog with podcasts of Stephen Schwartz talks
http://www.musicaltalk.co.uk/episodes_0002.html Stephen Schwartz Interview for MusicalTalk
http://www.musicalsingers.com/auditioning/stephen-schwartz.htm Stephen Schwartz's audition tips at MusicalSingers.com
http://www.musicalwriters.com/write/stephen-schwartz/schwartz.htm Musical writing tips from Stephen Schwartz at MusicalWriters.com
AcademyAwardBestOriginalScore 1981-2000AcademyAwardBestOriginalSong 1991–2000Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song 1990sDramaDesk MusicalDirection 1975–2000DramaDesk Lyrics 2001–2025Stephen SchwartzWicked Persondata | NAME =Schwartz, Stephen | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION =American lyricist and composer | DATE OF BIRTH =March 6, 1948 | PLACE OF BIRTH =New York City | DATE OF DEATH = | PLACE OF DEATH = DEFAULTSORT:Schwartz, Stephen Category:American musical theatre composers Category:American musical theatre lyricists Category:Best Song Academy Award winning songwriters Category:Best Original Music Score Academy Award winners Category:Carnegie Mellon University alumni Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Songwriters Hall of Fame inductees Category:1948 births Category:Living people
