Stephen Schwartz

Stephen Schwartz must have won the award for luckiest man on Broadway. With the exceptions of Working and Rags(lyrics only), he has gotten away with composing mediocre scores for three musicals that had very long runs and one that looks as if it will run until the Second Coming.

That's the beauty of Broadway!

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Wicked is his first Blockbuster? Well I guess that depends on how you define Blockbuster. Pippin and The Magic Show were both massively successful- I think they are both on that "Shows that ran over 800 performances" list over at Playbill. Godspell is one of the most-perfromed shows ever written and generated a top ten hit single.

Sorry you don't like him Romanov, but luck has nothing to do with it.

Well, I certainly wouldn't call the Ave Q score full of "cheap jingles". I find that very unfair. As someone who likes Wicked well enoough, I find the Ave Q score to be much more accomplished than Schwartz's servicible but often uneven score for Wicked. While Wicked has more than a few clunkers in it, most of Ave Q's score is appropriate, bright, and winning. While Schwartz did write some good music for Wicked, that show relies on it's book and spectacle much more than on it's music. So in terms of success, I don't know if Schwartz is high on the list of reason Wicked is so popular.

Matt, I must admit there may have been a bit of Toto in my post.
Bobby, you're right about Schwartz not being high on the list for Wicked's success. The same can be said for Pippin's score.

I think Ave Q has as much staying power as Wicked, and I find Q to be a much more original and substantial contribution to the genre than Wicked.

While I don't loathe Wicked, I think the hype on here far exceeds the quality.

Just because nobody in Q was in the original cast of Rent, or does runs when they sing, doesn't mean it is any less valuable than Wicked.

I think Q is often labeled cute or simple, unfairly.

Q is a great show .. did we miss my typing that.. The thing is Idina disappeared from Broadway for a while while she was working on Wicked. When you have "cute puppets" in your show.. Most people will think that the show is "cute." Notice Billboards in NYC.. More people know the Wizard of Oz and think that Wicked is brilliant because it tries up some loose ends. Ave Q doesn't tie up any loose ends, however it is an inovation when it comes to using puppets during it's show..

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If he had never written anything other than Children of Eden, that would suffice. I find many of his works haunting, not mediocre.

Well, to each his own!

I do not plan on using this as an opportunity to once again go into the battle of what show is better, Q or Wicked, but I would like to say something in Q’s defense

Q is not the first Broadway show to use puppets first of all; other shows that come to mind include Little Shop of Horrors and The Lion King

One of the reasons I personally find Q so endearing is because the show has its merits because of the show itself. None of it’s cast members were stars in any sense of the word, most of them were/are making their Broadway debuts. No one knew who Lopez and Marx were; they were just kid composers with no previously acclaimed theatrical endeavors. It was not based on a movie or a book or a book based on a movie based on a book, it was based on an idea: What if there was a Sesame Street for adults?
And it worked. The premise worked and is still working successfully 5 years after its original fruitation.

But for people to say that Q is simple is really missing the point of what the show has evolved into. I’d be the first person to say that if the show’s only point was to make puppets say “the darnedest things”, I’d have outgrown of the show a long time ago. But the heart of the show goes much deeper. Somewhere in Act One of the show, you realize that you not only think the characters are funny, but you genuinely begin to care what happens to them. I’ve seen adults much older and more cynical than I am cry during Q songs “There’s a Fine, Fine Line” and “I Wish I Could Go Back to College”.

For me, Q is about one’s lost childhood. There are good times you had that can never come back the way they were. But you can grow and learn from your mistakes and try to live your life with purpose, even if you don’t know what your purpose on Earth is.

And as much as I am a fan of Stephen Schwartz, and of Wicked for that matter, Q has always been closer to my heart because its story rings truer for me.

Updated On: 5/25/05 at 11:46 AM

I Love Schwartz music and all the Schwartz shows. I Think they have a special magic that I don't find in other type of music or show...It's just my opinion, but I think that too many critics are so snob with him. I hate musical lovers who think that the only genius is Sondheim and the rest is nothing...that is good only itricate score with no refrain...
I love Sondheim too, but he's not the only one for me and He wrote mediocre scores too, first of all "Bounce"...just my opinion, don't kill me
For the pop-rock musicals for me Schwartz is a genius too and not only for the rock ones...Baker's Wife is a masterprice and I hope that this show arrive sooner or later on Broadway.
I don't know if he has got a huge ego
or if he's an impossible person in the real life...the same legends was for so many artist as Lloyd Webber, Sondheim, Leonard Bernstein etc...
I Know that he helps young writers and composers.
I Know that he made musical who make me feel so good
I know that Wicked is a big big winner and many people are so envious for this...the rest is only chat
P.S.sorry for my English!!!

Of course poor Boq really blew it there!

I just think jealousy is a terrible, terrible thing.