merle57 said: "So let's not undervalue a fine theatre artist."
100%. My intent was to explore why Schwartz isn’t an above the title name (in the context of QoV marketing) despite his past success and obvious talents as a theatre artist. How has he not won a Tony for best original score? My thinking is that his ability to write scores that serve the story and production means he’s never become a known entity on its own. His scores highlight the production, rather than the other way around. Arguably, serving the production is the point of a musical theatre score and in that case Schwartz is one of the best.
IMO, most of his scores are cloying and simplistic musically. But they do the job in the context of the show. And they have personality, which is more than I can say for most modern musical theatre writing. (I will always hate the score for Pippin. No apologies for that.)
I grew up with Godspell on heavy rotation and went through a major Schwartz phase when Prince of Egypt came out. Geppeto was great at the time. I outgrew that phase and when Wicked came out I was already a little cynical about his compositions. In hindsight, the songs that most drew me in were the ones most influenced by collaborators, from Hans Zimmer to Matthew the Apostle. His ability and willingness to collaborate is perhaps his greatest strength. After all, theatre is one of the most collaborative of art forms. That is also perhaps why he’s never become a name brand on his own compared to other musical theatre impresarios.
QoV is a big maybe for me. Schwartz’s score is the most fascinating thing about this show outside of the questionable take on the source material. I’d like to hear what a later and hopefully more mature Schwartz score can be. I’m dying for a big, classic, original Broadway score that tells a story, develops the characters, and sets the tone of a production. I’m glad we’re talking about that rather than what Chenoweth is posting on Instagram.
