#26
Posted: 5/26/06 at 7:36pm
It's sad how many people are so dismissive of this solely because they've decided not to like Stephen Schwartz. The truth is, he's no less qualified to write an opera than just about any other theatre composer. Why shouldn't he? Musicals could go in a very interesting direction with opera composers, and opera could be very interesting by learning some lessons from musicals. If you all haven't read the press release yet, I urge you to read what composer Jake Heggie said about Schwartz. This is the positive, decent attitude we should be approaching this announcement with. Schwartz is talented: let's applaud him for trying to do something different and outside his comfort zone when he has absolutely no need to do it. He could rest on his laurels and keep writing the same stuff into retirement, but it doesn't look like he's interested in doing that. He may end up falling flat on his face with this, but there's also a chance that he may come up with something very exciting and interesting. Let's wait and see, and since we're all supposedly theatrelovers here, let's hope that it's the best thing we'll ever see on stage.
