THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES with Kristin Chenowith & F. Murray Abraham to open at St. James in November- Page 18

[Kad]

Posted: 10/5/25 at 10:49am

You certainly are a font of very high-level negative gossip about this production. 

[Owen22]

Posted: 10/5/25 at 10:50am

EmceeHammer said: "But… Schwartz still isn’t a name brand. His track record is spotty. Maybe this season is his time to shine? Will he finally win a (competitive) Tony?"

I fail to see how his Broadway record could be "spotty".  I think "Children of Eden" is the only show of his (not counting his opera) that can be counted a failure.  The rest have been modest to huge stage hits. And his films have been successful as well!

[OhHiii]

Posted: 10/5/25 at 11:23am

The Baker's Wife would like to have a word...

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 10/5/25 at 11:38am

I just saw a promo for a new NBC series “Stumble” that Chenoweth will be in. I’d never heard of this before so maybe I just completely missed the news when it was announced. But it’s premiering 11/7 and looks like it could be pretty funny. 

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 10/5/25 at 12:06pm

Jordan Catalano said: "I just saw a promo for a new NBC series “Stumble” that Chenoweth will be in. I’d never heard of this before so maybe I just completely missed the news when it was announced. But it’s premiering 11/7 and looks like it could be pretty funny."

 

[EmceeHammer]

Posted: 10/5/25 at 12:08pm

Owen22 said: "EmceeHammer said: "But… Schwartz still isn’t a name brand. His track record is spotty. Maybe this season is his time to shine? Will he finally win a (competitive) Tony?"

I fail to see how his Broadway record could be "spotty". I think "Children of Eden" is the only show of his (not counting his opera) that can be counted a failure. The rest have been modest to huge stage hits. And his films have been successful as well!"

He had a Broadway hits in the 70s, then Wicked. That’s it. Even the hits are arguably mostly successful because of the production or book, not because of his score. Do people think of Pippin as a Schwartz musical or a Fosse musical? 

My take is that Schwartz is incredibly talented at writing musical theater scores because his work supports the story and vision of a production. I love the score of Wicked when I’m watching it, but have zero interest in listening to a recording. The music for Pippin makes me cringe when not attached to the spectacle. Godspell is back-to-back bangers, no skips, but that’s the exception and largely because it’s straightforward pop/folk tunes adapted from some of the most profound poetry in human history. 

I guess “serviceable” is a backhanded compliment in this case, but explains why he’s had success without becoming a brand. 

[Kad]

Posted: 10/5/25 at 12:29pm

Godspell does have a very good score- too bad the show itself has come to embody a kind of try-hard theatre kid cringiness. 

[inception]

Posted: 10/5/25 at 2:17pm

Pippin has some frigging bangers.  How anyone could deny that... leaves me ???

[Owen22]

Posted: 10/5/25 at 5:35pm

OhHiii said: "The Baker's Wife would like to have a word..."

I sorta left that one out as it is in the process of re-evaluated in the lovely London and now CSC production.  But you're right, originally a big flop.  But the big three + Magic Show prove the man can write a showtune and had way more hits than flops. 

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 10/5/25 at 7:06pm

Just recently I came across a podcast series of old radio show Broadway interviews where they catch Schwartz right after the failure of Working.  He's already announcing that he's leaving the theatre world (to become a therapist...) and he is MAD.  And honestly, I actually felt for his frustration--because it's true that certainly at the time his work really didn't get any respect from the critics and awards.  We can all argue whether it should have or not, but...  And it's true there were big gaps in his career--I was a Disney kid when he was announced for Pocahontas and already had some knowledge of Broadway history but my main reaction was "huh--the Pippin guy?  But only lyrics?" I had no knowledge of Rags or Children of Eden...Random comment but one thing I appreciate about Schwartz has been hearing him talk about his work, and he seems just as invested in the shows he only did lyrics for as the ones he did music and lyrics for.

And of course Wicked was decades ago now and that was his last high profile US work.  Prince of Egypt came and went in London (I actually like his new material for it a lot) and he did a short Hans Christian Andersen musical in Denmark (the two ballads I've heard from it are typical late period Schwartz but good) and with Trevor Nunn did Schikanader in Austria which I've mentioned seeing before on here and I thought was a GREAT production and a great quasi-classical score, but I can see why no one really seems to know what to do with a production outside Austria due to the subject matter, among other things (the last English title I heard, the beyond generic Making Magic is hardly better than the Austrian title that I never spell right.)  Oh and Seance for New York City Opera (which I have to admit I have heard a live recording of but it didn't bring me back for a second listen...)  So he has been working, just not all that high profile. Which I guess is all the more reason I would expect his name be used more to sell Versailles (then again his contemporary and sometimes collaborator Alan Menken has a record number of Oscars but even with him his name isn't usually used to sell projects--well unless they say "the composer of Beauty and the Beast" or whatever.)

I will say I *do* think he deserves credit for Pippin's continued success in schools and amateur groups,etc.  Sure, Fosse quite rightly got most of the credit for the original production, but that's not what keeps the show constantly staged (or has every young tenor auditioning with Corner of the Sky.)  

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 10/5/25 at 7:27pm

Kad said: "Godspell does have a very good score- too bad the show itself has come to embody a kind of try-hard theatre kid cringiness."

Yeah I hate to say it--as a big Schwartz fan and supporter I do like the score, but I would probably avoid any revival of Godspell for these reasons.

[DCS]

Posted: 10/5/25 at 7:31pm

Owen22 said: "EmceeHammer said: "But… Schwartz still isn’t a name brand. His track record is spotty. Maybe this season is his time to shine? Will he finally win a (competitive) Tony?"

I fail to see how his Broadway record could be "spotty". I think "Children of Eden" is the only show of his (not counting his opera) that can be counted a failure. The rest have been modest to huge stage hits. And his films have been successful as well!"

Working (1978) 24 performances... Rags (1986) 4 performances

hardly "modest" stage hits.

 

 

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 10/5/25 at 7:45pm

DCS said: "Owen22 said: "EmceeHammer said: "But… Schwartz still isn’t a name brand. His track record is spotty. Maybe this season is his time to shine? Will he finally win a (competitive) Tony?"

I fail to see how his Broadway record could be "spotty". I think "Children of Eden" is the only show of his (not counting his opera) that can be counted a failure. The rest have been modest to huge stage hits. And his films have been successful as well!"

Working (1978) 24 performances... Rags (1986) 4 performances

hardly "modest" stage hits.



"

Absolute flops, although Working really did end up with quite a long life.  I assume the original poster was only thinking of shows he did music and lyrics for (although, Prince of Egypt aside, this would exclude the movies...)

 

[Kad]

Posted: 10/5/25 at 9:08pm

Schwartz has only had four shows on Broadway on which he served as sole composer and lyricist (five with QoV)- Godspell, Pippin, The Magic Show, and Wicked- all of which were hits and Wicked, of course, becoming a generation-defining sensation. A much smaller body of work than many composers, but all hits. 

Updated On: 10/5/25 at 09:08 PM

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 10/5/25 at 9:11pm

Ah, remember when people were saying WICKED lacked memorable songs?

The good old days.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 10/5/25 at 9:24pm

EDSOSLO858 said: "Ah, remember when people were saying WICKED lacked memorable songs?

The good old days."

Something which has been said of Schwartz' career throughout his life.

[EmceeHammer]

Posted: 10/6/25 at 9:34am

Kad said: "...a kind of try-hard theatre kid cringiness."

I'd argue that description fits almost all of Schwartz's oeuvre. It takes sophisticated musical direction and storytelling to make his scores palatable.

Godspell is the most overproduced of his shows, so it's the most obvious offender. When a production can tap into an organic vibe and uses stripped-down arrangements, the show is revelatory. 

[EmceeHammer]

Posted: 10/6/25 at 9:51am

EmceeHammer said: "Stephen Schwartz will have three shows playing simultaneously in New York this season. Two on Broadway and one off. That’s a milestone few composers or playwrights have achieved. Sondheim did it posthumously, perhaps before.Who else?"
 

Welp. To answer my own question, Stephen Schwartz already achieved this impressive milestone in his twenties, when Godspell, Pippin, and The Magic Show were all playing in New York. 1970's Broadway is a blackhole, culturally and historically.

Schwartz is also one of two composers to have three Broadway productions play more than 1,500 performances each. The other is Jerry Herman. Thanks, Wikipedia!

I still think that his record with Broadway is spotty. You can quibble about the word choice, but the argument stands. For every hit show he's had, there's a show that stalled out or fell apart before making the transfer or opening. And some/all the shows that were commercial hits were successful despite his scores, not because of them. Is anyone clamoring for a revival of The Magic Show? Is West End Avenue more than a curio at this point?   

[Up In One]

Posted: 10/6/25 at 10:38am

Looks like some major work has been done but is she also suggesting musical productions are sometimes too big to turn around completely? The show needed a lot of focus in Boston. It was trying to do many things and had a protagonist that should have been treated like Tony Soprano but they seem to not want to go that dark - and give the their leading lady the Kristin moment. It was very tuff to cheer on the leading character in her, I Will Survive, down in one, finale number.  But...something very interesting could be done with that number that would have elevated and closed the loop on the productions point of view that is so blatantly laid out by the ghost ensemble members throughout the show, 

Lindsey Ferrentino on Rewriting THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES

[kdogg36]

Posted: 10/6/25 at 11:16am

EmceeHammer said: "Schwartz is also one of two composers to have three Broadway productionsplay more than 1,500 performances each. The other is Jerry Herman.Thanks, Wikipedia!"

It seems like ALW should be on that list: Evita ran for 1,567 performances, and Cats and Phantom obviously ran for much longer. But there may be a technicality I'm not considering, of course.

[Kad]

Posted: 10/6/25 at 12:06pm

The Magic Show is certainly a weird case. It's likely not even producible anymore considering it was explicitly written as a vehicle for Doug Henning and it's barely a footnote in the Broadway canon (I think I've only ever heard one single song from the score- Cher and Carol Burnett did "Sold Silver Platform Shoes" on Burnett's show), yet it ran over 4 years in the 70s and is the 42nd longest-running show of all time. 

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 10/6/25 at 6:25pm

Paul Ford once told me that for a while West End Avenue was one of the most done songs at auditions, so there is that.  (Stupidly the not very good filmed version of Magic Show dropped it--Schwartz said it was too dependent on people knowing NYC--and dropped Platform Shoes which he felt by the 80s was dated...)  

Obviously Magic Show is not a show that is gonna be done locally or anytime soon (if ever) but I think it is silly to say that Godspell and Pippin are done as often as they are despite the scores.  

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 10/6/25 at 7:13pm

Looks like William Ivey Long is involved with the production more than just helping design a few pieces. As long as they don’t leave him with cast members without supervision!

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 10/6/25 at 7:16pm

[merle57]

Posted: 10/6/25 at 7:21pm

Pippin's score does a very fine job of matching Fosse's staging style, ditto for Godspell. His richest score, IMO, is Baker's Wife. Not his fault the show did not work, blame Topol, Merrick, and a plot that is too small for a large Broadway musical. It is a one act musical, not a three hour show as it was in Trevor's production. Wicked's score works very well for the show, bits the production style, with many clever variations on Over the Rainbow throughout the score. His work on Rags is excellent. So let's not undervalue a fine theatre artist.