THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES with Kristin Chenowith & F. Murray Abraham to open at St. James in November- Page 19

[Alex Kulak2]

Posted: 10/6/25 at 8:02pm

Call_me_jorge said: "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!"

So either they believe the allegations and don't care, or they don't believe the allegations and are choosing not to advertise the 6 time Tony winner on their creative team.

[Kad]

Posted: 10/6/25 at 8:40pm

Call_me_jorge said: "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!"

He's been involved with a number of projects on the DL and is close with the Seaview folks. Surprised they didn't catch that pic of him before it was shared- folks are told to ensure he is not in any media. 

[Dreamboy3]

Posted: 10/6/25 at 8:58pm

kdogg36 said: "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: Evitaran for 1,567 performances, andCatsandPhantomobviously ran for much longer. But there may be a technicality I'm not considering, of course."

It’s composer/lyricists.. So ALW doesn’t count 

[Dreamboy3]

Posted: 10/6/25 at 9:01pm

Kad said: "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."

The most famous song from the Magic Show is Lion Tamer. Liz Callaway sang it in her Steven Schwartz concert at 54 below. It’s not a great song but it is pretty and was quite memorable in the show.

[DCS]

Posted: 10/6/25 at 9:43pm

Dreamboy3 said: "Kad said: "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."

The most famous song from the Magic Show is Lion Tamer. Liz Callaway sang it in her Steven Schwartz concert at 54 below. It’s not a great song but it is pretty and was quite memorable in the show."

And, interestingly, Chenoweth sang it on the Bruce Kimmel produced The Stephen Schwartz Album

https://open.spotify.com/track/6sR4N22i7OUfLVTQw0Puhe?si=7a01c3a645df4538

 

[kdogg36]

Posted: 10/7/25 at 7:24am

Dreamboy3 said: "It’s composer/lyricists.. So ALW doesn’t count"

Fair enough! I figured there must be some additional qualification I wasn't aware of.

[EmceeHammer]

Posted: 10/7/25 at 8:39am

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.