Oh, it's time to start givin' a Tony tribute to Stephen Schwartz!

Remember when the Tonys used to do tributes to composers and lyricists? The 1984 Tonys included salutes to Stephen Sondheim, Jerry Herman and John Kander and Fred Ebb. The 1985 Tonys included salutes to Cy Coleman, Jule Styne and Andrew Lloyd Webber, and the telecast ended with the composers playing songs from their upcoming shows. It's time for the Tonys to literally sing the praises of the man who gave us ''Pippin,'' ''Godspell,'' ''Wicked,'' etc.

Yes, Schwartz got an Isabelle Stevenson Award in 2015, but that was for his ''substantial contribution of volunteered time and effort on behalf of one or more humanitarian, social service or charitable organizations. Schwartz will be presented the Award for his commitment to serving artists and fostering new talent through his work with ASCAP Musical Theatre Workshop, ASCAP Foundation & helping develop new partnerships as President of the Dramatists Guild.''

Schwartz, 76, counts among his many honors 3 Oscars and 3 Grammys. Clearly, his showtunes have proven to be so ''Popular'' even beyond Broadway.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNeuQ-6yv6U

You mean: Stephen Schwartz could use that Tony for he's never won before, you could save a starving writeeeeer

I don’t see that happening for the same reasons why I don’t see the Tonys all of the sudden going back to doing performances dedicated to certain theatres. Performances in general cost an absolute fortune. Getting nominated for Best Musical and/or Best Revival guarantees you a performance slot if you want it, but the producers of each nominated show foot the bill. Who would be paying for segments dedicated to accomplished songwriters? The Tonys/CBS certainly wouldn’t. The economics behind doing such a thing just isn’t viable.

It sounds silly to say now that Schwartz must be one of the wealthiest songwriters in Broadway history, but, despite many issues I do have with his work (usually to do with lyrics) I do feel that Schwartz never quite gets the credit he deserves. It's amazing to look back at early Wicked reviews that nearly all call the score completely generic and unmemorable. But then you realize that critics have ALWAYS initially said that about his work--Godspell, Pippin--especially-- Baker's Wife, Children of Eden, even many early film reviews of Prince of Egypt. Even minor works like Geppetto (hear me out--if it had been done by Dick van Dyke and Julie Andrews as the Blue Fairy I'm sure we'd appreciate the score a bit more) and his kid's musical Captain Louie... Sure, for example, Fosse's production of Pippin is largely responsible for turning it into a hit, but in hindsight, no matter what someone personally thinks of the score, there's no denying that it's the songs that have kept it around. I also thought that Queen of Versailles still shows he's in fine form even in his late 70s (and seeing his Viennese musical Shickaneder was honestly one of the best theatrical experiences and surprises I've had.)

Which is my long winded way of saying I think he deserves a tribute. I know he got one from the Met of all places last year (which you can hear on Youtube but I wish it had been filmed for PBS.) But, as others have said, it seems like it would be kind of out of place on the Tonys in their current state, especially with the only reason he'd get one right now being the Wicked film.

Wicked's success is interesting too because so many of its uber fans LOVE Wicked, but from what I can tell, it has not led to any interest in exploring what else Schwartz has written the way I think someone who falls in love with a Sondheim show might then check out his other works, or even someone falling for an ALW show (OK, there definitely are Phantom fanatics who, like Wicked fans, keep their obsession completely myopic and only on that one show...)

Obviously I can't argue with your personal opinion. But I think the Q of V score is extremely solid, and often very good (granted, yeah, I've had the chance to hear it numerous times due to certain, I guess obvious, reasons...) Certainly if it was premiering this season it would be a front runner for best score at the Tonys, which maybe isn't saying all that much.

(And also granted that part of me will always be inclined just to gravitate to a score that shows knowledge of traditional musical theatre songcraft--you know, lyrics that actually develop throughout a song and don't just make the same statement over and over--that kinda thing.)

2 is a fair point (although of course before Wicked, the last thing anyone expected to see was a new Stephen Schwartz musical on Broadway, unless maybe it was one of his Menken Disney collaborations... But also being a composer at 55 and being one in your late 70s is a big difference--I can't think of any Broadway composer--this seems less an issue with lyricist--who does their best work past their 60s, including Sondheim. In that respect I actually am, as I said, impressed with a lot of Schwartz' more recent work for being as strong as it is.)

The Tonys gave a Tony for Lifetime Achievement to Sheldon Harnick in 2016 and to John Kander in 2023.

Are they really going to make Schwartz, 76, wait until he reaches his 90s to give him his Lifetime Achievement prize?

The Tonys waited so long to give Angela Lansbury, a 5-time Tony winner at age 96, her Lifetime Achievement Tony that she couldn't even attend the 2022 ceremony.

By contrast, the Tonys gave Andrew Lloyd Webber his Lifetime Achievement Tony in 2017 - when he was 69.

Updated On: 12/4/24 at 12:50 PM

''Sondheim got his when he was 78, I believe.''

That's right. Sondheim was awarded his Lifetime Achievement Tony in 2008, the same season of the Roundabout revival of ''Sunday in the Park With George,'' starring Daniel Evans and Jenna Russell. But if memory serves me right, Sondheim didn't even show up to accept it. In ''Look, I Made a Hat,'' his collection of lyrics, he wrote: ''For the awardee, the most depressing of [awards] is the Lifetime Achievement, which signifies one more nail in the coffin.''

I'm also reminded of Paul Newman and the Academy Awards. He had been nominated 6 times for Best Actor for his classic movie roles and lost each time. In 1987, he was finally the odds-on-favorite to win for ''The Color of Money,'' but he skipped the ceremony. Newman, 61, had tired of the chase.

Updated On: 12/4/24 at 04:02 PM