Schwartz talks about his "bitterness"- Page 4

[GirlforTartaglia]

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

Gah, Schwartz is all self-obsessed..get over it, you lost, Avenue Q deserved it. It's over and done with. Your music won the grammy, just be happy. You have so much success with Godspell, just let someone else have the glory for a change.

[Princeton78]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 4:24pm

Priest said...
"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"

I whole-heartedly agree. You can virtually assume that Godspell is playing somewhere in your state right now. In fact, it's playing at the high school I attended and I was there last night. Godspell is one of the most widely performed musicals around.

The Stephen Schwartz album is one of my favorites. Songs like Meadowlark, Corner of the Sky, and West End Avenue have become musical theatre standards.

He has been greatly lauded for his work in the movies and has won to my knowledge 2 Oscars.

Wicked will never die. *sigh*

Mr. Schwartz...what else do you want?

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 4:33pm

Ugh, Stephen Schwartz...
That man upsets me.
What he said in the article was honest, but it was also classless. It's being entirely disrespectful to the other nominees and shows. And although no one wants to lose as many times as he has, at least he was recognized. Why not smile and be grateful about that?

I'm not gonna lie, I love Avenue Q. When Wicked first came out, I didn't mind it, but I didn't love it. I thought the score wasn't too strong, the book was done all wrong, but I still didn't mind it. However, it's things like Mr. Schwartz's attitude that totally turns me off from the show. It's a colossal success and continues to astound packed houses each night. Again, why not smile and be grateful about that?

And everything that Therese said a while back. That too.

In regards to the Amazon.com review of Caroline, or Change, I'd hardly think Avenue Q was the "wholesome" choice, I'd think that would be Wicked, so to compare it to the wrongdoing that is the 1958 Tony Awards is unfair. Come on, Avenue Q was daring in its own respect. However, I have to admit, I don't know Caroline too well, and I shall give the score a shot in the near future. I'm just saying, Q's victory should not be compared to 1958. *shudder*

~Steven

[fengshuihellnyc]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 4:49pm

Ave Q sucked. Didn't like it at all. I read a report about the tony results. After ave q won the tony award for best musical and then announced that they were not going to tour the show immediatley..... A lot of tony voters said that they were investors looking to invest in a show that they knew would do a tour and create income. They voted purely on the ideal of what they could make money on as investors. Also there was a statement in the same article that if they had known that avenue q wasn't going to tour they would have voted for wicked as that really was the show that was the best for the season.
This is quite obviously the real reason ave Q won the tony for best musical. Voters/producers were looking to their wallets and then the wallet got slammed shut in their face with the, "we're doing vegas not a tour." Avenue Q also has lost a lot of its mainstay audience getting about 84 % attendance each week and Wicked having a 100-101% attendance since it opened and continues to do so.
I'm sure many a people who love avenue q will disagree with me and that is fine as you have a right to your opinion. I just wanted to give a more educated point of view and not look to if I like the show or not as the basis of opinion for who should have won the tony for best musical.

[alli2]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 4:51pm

i try not to get involved with this topic, and i have no idea why it was even brought up again, but i'll voice my opinion for the hell of it.

i think wicked should have won. yes, Q was original, but wicked embodies everything that a Broadway musical should be. huge sets, special affects, costumes, etc etc. and i do think that schwartz should get over it, but it's good that he's honest, for himself that is, it doesn't help his image any though.

[fengshuihellnyc]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 5:01pm

in responce to Princeton78 statement....

What more could he want?

I totally understand wanting acceptance from your peers. The real truth about the situation this year was he expected to win the tony this year. I'm sure which he has done in the past also, but to tell you the truth.... A man (or a woman) needs to feel accomplishment... Look at Martin Scorsese. He has been nomimated so many times for an oscar and never won. He's deserved the Oscar far too many times to even shake a stick at.
Myself as an artist I understand that even though you may have many a wonderful sucesses... you may search for that one sucess. This being the Tony Award for best Musical for mr schwartz. That is the one accomplishment that every theatre person be it actor, or director, or writer will want. give them a grammy, an oscar, those really when it comes down to it don't matter in the eyes of a theatre person.
Perhaps you should look outside your box Princeton78!

[Princeton78]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 5:03pm

"i think wicked should have won. yes, Q was original, but wicked embodies everything that a Broadway musical should be. huge sets, special affects, costumes, etc etc."

Eh?
Sorry it's hard to make sense of that, but since when did big sets and special effects equal everything that musical theatre should be? I suppose lyrics, score, choreography and star-turn performances mean nothing. Oh well. I'll go back and listen to my original cast recording of "The Fantasticks."

[fengshuihellnyc]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 5:06pm

by the way Princeton78...
if that pic in your messages is you

You're Hot.

:)

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 5:09pm

Whoa.

It's true, Wicked has huge sets and costumes, etc. And that's why they won those respective Tonys.

The merit of the show is not the same as the percentage of attendees. Example: any Sondheim show. So saying that Avenue Q is undeserving because it doesn't have 100% attendance for each performance is not valid at all. It means that Wicked is commercially more successful, but it doesn't mean it's any better as a musical than Avenue Q.

And technically, if Wicked did win Best Musical, Stephen Schwartz still would not have won a Tony. He was only eligible for a Tony for Best Original Score.

~Steven

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 5:10pm

Isn't that a picture of one of the members of the New Mickey Mouse Club? Haha.

~Steven

[bjivie2]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 5:10pm

I was at a round-table that Schwartz spoke at in August, and he was openly bitter about the verdict then, too. I guess I feel for him a little bit. It's undeniable that he is one of the most prolific composers of the last 40 years, and it's really a shame that he hasn't won a Tony Award yet. But it's really too bad that he has to be so openly bitter about the whole situation. It's one thing to be disappointed, but it's another to boycott because you didn't win. That's just not cool. That's being a baby. Just think of Scorcese.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 5:14pm

To be honest, I was not that thrilled with Wicked's music

I thought his scores for Bakers Wife & Pippin were far superior. The only reason, it my opinion it got nominated, was the show was a juggernaut that was going to win the best musical so it would have been a tad embarrassing if it was not nominated. Steve, thank your lucky stars you got a nomination for it.

I enjoy most of what Wildhorn does over Scwartz. I think the music in any Wildhorn show is better than Wicked

Updated On: 3/13/05 at 05:14 PM

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 5:16pm

Wicked would have been nominated anyway. I think the only other eligible score was that of Bombay Dreams.

~Steven

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 5:16pm

Oops...sorry for this post...it was a double post...don't mind me...

~Steven Updated On: 3/13/05 at 05:16 PM

[bjivie2]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 5:18pm

Wicked was definitely worth a nomination. I don't think it should have won for score, but then again I don't think Avenue Q should have won either. Caroline or Change was definitely the most original, complex and well-written score of all the shows last year.

[Princeton78]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 5:20pm

fengshuihellnyc,

1. I am definately thinking outside the box. If a Tony Award means peer acceptance to Mr. Schwartz, then he needs to get his priorities in line. The multiple revivals and hundreds of regional producions of his former works should say a lot about his accomplishments. The hundreds in line each day outside the Gershwin, hoping for a cancelation ticket would be validation for me that my work is touching people. If Schwartz measures his success by Tony Awards, then he is quite shallow.

2. Whether or not that's me in the avitar..don't tell me to think outside the box then tell me i'm hot. Just some advice. *wink*

[riv]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 5:21pm

Bombay Dreams should have been nominated over The Boy From Oz that season.

[fengshuihellnyc]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 5:22pm

I agree I LOVE Carolines music. It is stunning and powerful. It evokes so much emotion

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 5:29pm

Imagine how Jerry herman felt when "Mack & Mabel's" score was not nominated when many think it was not only his best score but one of the better scores ever penned for a Broadway musical ? he had a reason to be bitter but took it as a gentleman

The BFO deserved it over Bombay Dreams even though we enjoyed Bombay . We thought BFO was better in every way.

[wickedfan]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 5:40pm

riv- joking or not?

[uncageg]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 5:46pm

It was mentioned that Wicked stays at 100% or 101%. It was my understanding that Wicked cannot go above 100% due to the Gershwin not having standing room. Even less 1%, Wicked seems to continue to fill the house more than Q.

Updated On: 3/13/05 at 05:46 PM

[Unmasked05]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 7:28pm

I think WICKED should have won I like Avenue Q but WICKED sooooooooo should have won and if I had been Schwartz I probably would have been a little biotch about it to......it's normal.

Avenue Q never really planned to go on a nation wide tour, they were always going to go to New York cause Avenue Q only works in small houses so they would have to book at cities smaller theatres and then they would have to have like maybe a 4wk sit down on top of that. So they wouldn't have done a "real" tour.

But its okay cause Wicked is doing much better than Avenue Q.

[Plum]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 7:43pm

Calling Avenue Q a "glorified revue" betrays a profound misunderstanding of what constitutes a revue.

If the producers of Avenue Q were being deliberately misleading about the future of the show outside New York (and that's a big if), it was a case of the unprincipled misleading the amoral. Because it doesn't change the fact that the voters were voting with their wallets instead of with...dare I say it? - their hearts.

And though I didn't know it at the time of the ceremony, Caroline, or Change should have easily won Best Score.

Finally, back to Mr. Schwartz. You know, I can see where the guy is coming from. Who doesn't crave acceptance from their peers? There aren't too many people who will happily go through their professional lives while feeling they aren't really accepted by their colleagues.

However, that doesn't change the fact that Wicked's score didn't deserve a Tony, that those little trophies shouldn't be lifetime achievement awards, and that said score wasn't even his best work. If he's sick and tired of the politicization of awards and has decided to stay out of it from now on, more power to him. But the timing sure does make it look like a case of sour grapes.

[BlueWizard]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 7:58pm

I love it when Plum chimes in -- she always sets things right.

Did anyone besides WICKED's ardent fans actually believe it had a chance at Best Score? Read any major review, and you'll find that critics found Schwartz' score one of the weakest elements of the show. I would have put all the other nominees -- including TABOO, whose score was the only thing critically lauded about that show -- ahead of WICKED's score.

[whatyouown223]

Posted: 3/13/05 at 8:00pm

OT- when do you think Wicked will die down?