Schwartz talks about his "bitterness"- Page 3

[WildhornFanatic]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 12:52pm

Woah. I didn't mean to post that 35 times. My bad.

[mallardo]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 1:02pm

Let's give Schwartz some credit for being honest and up front. He wasn't playing games, he said what he felt. I find it refreshing.

[CurtainUp]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 1:05pm

Judy I agree completely. It's all right to be a little bitter, that's human, but COME ON. And are some people missing how emotional Q really is? Out of all the characters on broadway, msot females can relate to Kate the most. I played Fine Line for my friend and she teared up and when she got her first bf she happy sung to Fantasies. I think that's talent. And who doesn't feel bad for poor Rod? Yes, we feel bad for Elphaba but that's because of the situation, not the actual music.

Updated On: 3/13/05 at 01:05 PM

[Jazzysuite82]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 1:17pm

Yeah I'm gonna have to agree with everyone here. Schwartz sorta has the right to be bitter but walking out is foolish. I guess he doesn't realize that the Tonys are pretty damned political. I mean Bernadette was skipped over for Marissa, Elton John won for Aida over both Michael John's Marie Christine and the Wild Party. These are awards shows and that's the way it goes. I mean honestly from a purely musical sense (themes, character, style, consistancy, innovative-ness) Caroline Or Change should have one really. Avenue Q did something no one else did as a whole, but the score isn't quite as innovative as Caroline. We should make the distinction between liking the score as a whole (including underscoring and such) and liking the show as a whole. But it's neither here nor there, it's over and Schwartz should grow up. Marin Mazzie hasn't one any yet (she's had 3 noms) and as Brilliant as Bernadette has been for a good 30 years, she's only won 2. So as Jane Summerhays once said "A Tony nomination can't buy you a token on the subway". I sorta feel the same way about winning. Sure it's great and opens doors but a month after the Tonys people don't care as much.

[Thesbijean]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 1:23pm

So, when Schwartz gets an Honorary Tony he's not gonna go eh???

[ChrisLovesShows]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 1:50pm

I don't think he has anything to be a "bitter" little bitch about. Come on, awards are subjective, anyone in the business knows that. For someone to insist that something went wrong because HE didn't win is the height of conceit and arrogance. Show some class, dude. Oooops, too late.

[sabrelady]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 1:55pm

Like Julie Andrews did w Victor/Victoria? Just be careful where u throw mud ,it spreads easily!

[ShuQ]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 1:55pm

Wow...what a diva. Get over it and move on Stephen Schwartz, before EVERYONE hates you. If they don't already..

[pab]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 2:00pm

"(And Schwartz needs to get over himself. I'm a fan of most of his work, but seriously...) "

Amen!

[Katecab99]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 2:18pm

i am a HUGE fan of Q, but i definitley thought that WICKED would have won.

stephen schwartz is being honest. he makes no bones about being pissed, and i admire him for that. i wish i could be that forward.

[pab]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 2:26pm

Oh please. That is just childish. If every person who lost did that there would be a lot of pissed off actors, composers, writers and directors around. He just needs to grow up.

"Avenue Q" won, end of story. That does not mean "Wicked" has no merit. It was not "Wicked's" year. Schwartz needs to get over it already.

[StickToPriest]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 2:27pm

What surprises me is that by his behavior, he acts as if a career is defined by what awards, and in what quantity, a person has won.
Please.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 2:34pm

For f*ck's sake people. What you and Schwartz are all completely ignoring is that the Tonys is no more about quality than any other award. It's about politics and money. Arguing the merits of why one show won over the other is a futile waste of time and energy.

Updated On: 3/13/05 at 02:34 PM

[Broadway Style]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 2:35pm

Well it sounded to me what he was most pissed about wasn't exactly losing so much as having to kiss as*....I think he's just venting about the process. Yes, he's upset about losing(very childish I know) but I think he's most pissed about how political it all is. He hates a lot of the Tony people and they hate him and he's pissed that he had to kiss their as* and then lose while they were probably gloating about it. Now that being said, I think Stephen Schwartz is one of the most arrogant people I have ever met so I am not in the least surprised to hear him whine.

[BlueWizard]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 2:41pm

I've always thought Schwartz was highly overrated. I find his scores banal, simplistic, and lacking. And most critics have agreed that WICKED is among his weakest scores. I don't know why he's so bitter, because there was little chance he was going to win on merit; the other nominees were much, much stronger. Schwartz' comments only make me think less of him.

The comment that AVENUE Q is "a glorified revue" with no original concept is uncalled for and rather contemptuous. It like saying FOLLIES is a glorified revue because it's inspired by the Ziegfield follies, or SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE is unoriginal because it centres around Seurat's painting. AVENUE Q is certainly more original than any of the other musicals of last year (with the exception of CAROLINE).

Updated On: 3/13/05 at 02:41 PM

[Therese]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 3:19pm

About the Tonys - I know this is the Real World and everything is Politics and Money and so forth, but I have no sympathy for the Tony voters who decided to go for Q only because they thought it was going to tour (and make them money). They were supposed to be voting for what they thought was the best show, regardless of anything else. (I know, I know, Real World - Politics - Money - etc. What can I say, I'm naive.) I always took Q's "Vote Your Heart" campaign as their way of saying, "Come on, admit it, Q was the show you enjoyed the most," and that was where the votes should have come from.

Regarding Mr. Schwartz, I completely understand Bitterness and Disappointment, but life is not fair, and you can either let it chew you up and make you miserable, or say, well, them's the breaks, and move on.

Posted: 3/13/05 at 3:31pm

Thanks for the cold dose of Reality Rath but it didn't seem to take.

I'll go ahead and ask: What, exactly, was so "Original" about Avenue Q? You do realize that it was NOT the first show to bring Puppets to broadway, right? That there were puppet characters in Flahooley just about 50 years ago? (Talk about an original musical!) It's a lovely show, but it's no Oklahoma, people. In the spirit of Oklahoma, can't the really annoying Wicked fans and the really annoying Avenue Q fans be friends?

I am sure Schwartz has already regretted saying how much he wanted that Tony. All those folks who urged him to grow up are precisely right. I think the point he was making in that article was that while he REALLY wanted to finally win a Tony (Who wouldn't?) he's come to realize having a really big hit is reward enough in itself.

[uncageg]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 3:31pm

I very much enjoy listening to Wicked. I thought Caroline should have won but if it didn't, I would like to have seen Wicked win over Avenue Q for sure. Just don't care for Avenue Q. I have listened to it several times and just don't care for it. For me, the music is more a novelty than anything. And I passed up seeing the show for that reason.

It's ashame Mr. Schwartz feels this way and acts this way. It almost says he's in it for the awards and recognition more than for the love of writing music and lyrics. Just my opinion.

[whimsical]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 3:31pm

Stephen Schwartz is one of the nicest guys I've met. He was really just hoping for this award, and he's upset he didn't get it, which is understandable. I guess that would bring out the worst in almost anyone. It's quite odd he hasn't won for any of his shows yet, but that's how it goes. I understand he's tired of "kissing ass", but he should probably not bring up the topic in public. It doesn't show him in a very good light.
Updated On: 3/13/05 at 03:31 PM

[MisterRussell]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 3:44pm

Ya know, people get nominated for all kinds of things they don't actually win for. They feel crappy about it. Then the adults get over it. It isn't about having the awards. I mean, personally, I'd rather listen to PIPPIN or THE BAKER'S WIFE every day for the rest of my life than to have to listen to the score of WICKED one more time. I would venture than Schwartz' work on POCAHONTAS and HUNCHBACK was better than WICKED.

The real problem here is that WICKED was Schwartz' big comeback show after several stage flops and near-misses. With the relatively good buzz he had with the Disney films, he got himself invigorated to do some damn WORK again, and produced the score for WICKED. A well-wrought and professional work, but hardly on a par with his best scores.

You didn't hear Sondheim bitch about losing to Jerry Herman in 1984, did you?

Some people on this board have dismissed AVENUE Q as a silly piece of fluff, and yet the selections from that show I have had the opportunity to hear have been heartfelt and witty and charming and heartbreaking. The song (singular) that seems to have defined WICKED was "Defying Gravity." This song was hardly the number to have built a reputation for the show around. I have heard the score to the entire show, and "Defying Gravity" is hardly the best number. When a show contains such tuneless, pointless (and prophetically titled) filler as "Something Bad," it is simply not deserving of the Tony Award for Best Original Score.

For the record, "Popular" is the best song in the WICKED score. Just my opinion.

I am a big fan of such broadway shows as PIPPIN, WORKING, THE BAKER'S WIFE, THE MAGIC SHOW and GODSPELL, and the film scores of POCAHONTAS and THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE-DAME. Any one of these scores is superior to WICKED.

Schwartz needs to stop pouting and get to work on a new show. I am dying to hear what he comes up with next. The theatre community lost Cy Coleman and Fred Ebb this year. Schwartz' position in the Broadway composer's firmament can ascend to a new height if he takes advantage of his youth and reputation and KEEPS WORKING. Most of all, he must stop making stupid. childish statements to the press in these, the days where any idiot with an opinion (yours truly included)can log on to the internet.

End of rant.

[Corine2]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 3:49pm

I agree Russ.
Gives him tons of Kate Monster kisses.

"I think your wonderful, i could eat you alive. SMOOCH" Updated On: 3/13/05 at 03:49 PM

[Royi88]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 3:52pm

"if the situation was reversed, Jeff Marx would be gracious about it."

"I know Jeff would never behave like he is."

While I do agree that it wasn't really appropriate for Schwartz to walk out like that, do you actually know Jeff Marx wouldn't do the same thing? I'm not saying he would, but for all you know he could have burst into tears or something. My point is, you shouldn't really say you KNOW someone would or wouldn't act a certain way if you don't really know them personally. And if you do know Jeff Marx personally, then... my apologies.

[GovernorSlaton]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 4:03pm

Well said, Priest; Caroline is miles ahead of musical theatre right now. Read Amazon's review of the Caroline cast recording:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00028HOG8/qid=1110747778/sr=8-1/ref=pd_csp_1/103-3936448-5384630?v=glance&s=music&n=507846

[pab]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 4:03pm

It does not matter who it is. NO ONE is owed any award. Some of us would think that a person might deserve it over another person.

I did not see Martin Scorsese walk out of the Oscars the many times he has not won and as anyone with any sense of talent knows, he deserves to win the Oscar but he has come up short each time he was nominated.

I am surprised and quite disappointed at Mr. Schwartz

[Corine2]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 4:03pm

Roy-
I have interviewed him both on stage at Avenue Q and have talked to him numerous times. He is perhaps one of the nicest people and most generous people I have ever interviewed.
He is a wonderful person and a talented writer.
PS I also tried to interview Schwartz and he never had the time. Updated On: 3/13/05 at 04:03 PM