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What is Stephen Schwartz's best show...?

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#1

What is Stephen Schwartz's best show...?

Posted: 11/19/10 at 10:46am


They are, in no particular order, except chronological:

GODSPELL
PIPPIN
THE MAGIC SHOW
THE BAKER'S WIFE
CHILDREN OF EDEN
WICKED

I'm curious if the breadth of opinions on this are as wide as I suspect they might be. Feel free to elaborate on your choice, criteria for selection, general opinions, et cetera...
CHURCH DOOR TOUCAN GAY MARKETING PUPPIES MUSICAL THEATER STAPLES PERIOD OIL BITCHY SNARK HOLES
#2

What is Stephen Schwartz's best show...?

Posted: 11/19/10 at 11:04am

I've seen them all, and Pippin is the only one I can watch again. It may not be perfect, but Fosse's hand in it helped create something unique and entertaining. And although the book for Wicked is perhaps better-crafted, its adolescent girl focus doesn't interest me (and that score is [to me] inferior to that for Pippin).

Godspell wallows a bit too much in 70's-style cuteness, The Magic Show is a strange freak, The Baker's Wife has a good central story ruined by "cute" two-dimensional townsfolk, and Children of Eden is a solemn bore (IMO).

All have some good songs in them, but, as a whole, they show up Schwartz' biggest weakness - although adept at ballads and power ballads, he has trouble writing truly funny songs.

Updated On: 11/19/10 at 11:04 AM

#3

What is Stephen Schwartz's best show...?

Posted: 11/19/10 at 11:06am


While I disagree with a few points specifically, that is a truly wonderful and economical analysis What is Stephen Schwartz's best show...? Let me ruminate...
CHURCH DOOR TOUCAN GAY MARKETING PUPPIES MUSICAL THEATER STAPLES PERIOD OIL BITCHY SNARK HOLES
#4

What is Stephen Schwartz's best show...?

Posted: 11/19/10 at 11:07am

I'm not a Schwartz fan, save for a few songs from PIPPIN and GODSPELL.

I'd have to go with PIPPIN.
"If you are going to do something, do it well. And leave something witchy." -Charlie Manson
#5

What is Stephen Schwartz's best show...?

Posted: 11/19/10 at 11:13am

WICKED
PIPPIN
CHILDREN OF EDEN
GODSPELL
THE MAGIC SHOW

I've never seen THE BAKER'S WIFE.

"It does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are 20 gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket, nor breaks my leg." -- Thomas Jefferson
#6

What is Stephen Schwartz's best show...?

Posted: 11/19/10 at 11:14am

I'm going with Godspell.

If you remove the messy, improv book from Godspell, the music is really nice. In its time period, "Day By Day" transcended the theater and became a hippie anthem.

And by hippie anthem, I mean that in the early to mid 1970s, a lot of the 20 somethings were singing "Day by Day" "Put Your Hand in the Hand" "Michael Row The Boat Ashore" and "Kum ba yah"
If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.

Updated On: 11/19/10 at 11:14 AM

#7

What is Stephen Schwartz's best show...?

Posted: 11/19/10 at 11:16am


But, of course, you can't remove the messy book.

'Cause then we'd just be comparing scores What is Stephen Schwartz's best show...?
CHURCH DOOR TOUCAN GAY MARKETING PUPPIES MUSICAL THEATER STAPLES PERIOD OIL BITCHY SNARK HOLES
#8

What is Stephen Schwartz's best show...?

Posted: 11/19/10 at 11:29am

Godspell was made into a movie. None of his other works were given the movie treatment.
If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
#9

What is Stephen Schwartz's best show...?

Posted: 11/19/10 at 11:37am


Oh, dear, but so was MAMMA MIA!
CHURCH DOOR TOUCAN GAY MARKETING PUPPIES MUSICAL THEATER STAPLES PERIOD OIL BITCHY SNARK HOLES
#10

What is Stephen Schwartz's best show...?

Posted: 11/19/10 at 11:41am

I've never seen The Baker's Wife, so I can't comment on it.

Of the others, I'm going to go with Wicked, and I know that is an extremely unpopular opinion, but there you go.
#11

What is Stephen Schwartz's best show...?

Posted: 11/19/10 at 11:45am

GODSPELL
WICKED
CHILDREN OF EDEN
PIPPIN
THE BAKER'S WIFE
"Oh look at the time, three more intelligent plays just closed and THE ADDAMS FAMILY made another million dollars" -Jackie Hoffman, Broadway.com Audience Awards
#12

What is Stephen Schwartz's best show...?

Posted: 11/19/10 at 11:56am

"Of the others, I'm going to go with Wicked, and I know that is an extremely unpopular opinion, but there you go."

Is it?! That's good to know.

That's not a slam against your opinion. My opinion happens to be in the hope that most people wouldn't place it at the top.

But in my experience, lots and lots of people omg luv luv luv WICKED.
CHURCH DOOR TOUCAN GAY MARKETING PUPPIES MUSICAL THEATER STAPLES PERIOD OIL BITCHY SNARK HOLES
#17

What is Stephen Schwartz's best show...?

Posted: 11/19/10 at 12:18pm


Overkill, your avatar is like Sondheim doing a really stereotypical Jew impression.

I can hear it saying, "And fer dis I wrote a two-volume lyrical catalogue?"
CHURCH DOOR TOUCAN GAY MARKETING PUPPIES MUSICAL THEATER STAPLES PERIOD OIL BITCHY SNARK HOLES
#18

What is Stephen Schwartz's best show...?

Posted: 11/19/10 at 12:21pm

Great...now I have 'Put Your Hand In The Hand' stuck in my mind.

^^^That's not a sentence I ever thought I'd utter or write.
"It does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are 20 gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket, nor breaks my leg." -- Thomas Jefferson
#19

What is Stephen Schwartz's best show...?

Posted: 11/19/10 at 12:31pm

Paradoxically, the best show on the list is the one with the weakest score, "The Magic Show!" That was an entertaing evening, but it had little to do with the score, though there were a few fun songs in it.

His best score is "The Baker's Wife," but the book is leaden.

I like a lot of his work, though, the shows, not so much.
#20

What is Stephen Schwartz's best show...?

Posted: 11/19/10 at 1:34pm

Working
Stephen: "Could you grab me a coffee?" Me: "Would you like that with all the colors of the wind?"

Updated On: 11/19/10 at 01:34 PM

#22

What is Stephen Schwartz's best show...?

Posted: 11/19/10 at 2:08pm


Right. And that is why it's not on the list.
CHURCH DOOR TOUCAN GAY MARKETING PUPPIES MUSICAL THEATER STAPLES PERIOD OIL BITCHY SNARK HOLES
#23

What is Stephen Schwartz's best show...?

Posted: 11/19/10 at 2:12pm

My personal preferences in scores (not lyrics...Menken wrote the music for Hunchback):

Godspell
The Baker's Wife
The Magic Show
Wicked
Pippin
Children of Eden

I love the original score to Magic Show (not the revised score featured in the DVD), but I hate the book with a passion. To me, the only weak song in the score Sweet, Sweet, Sweet. I've never been much of a fan of Pippin. I like a few songs, but I can't stand the book and without the collaboration of Ostrow and Fosse, I think it would have been an absolute train wreck. Godspell was innovative for its time and the score has always been the reason for its longevity. And The Baker's Wife is one charming melody after another with a few out-and-out brilliant numbers. Wicked has some weak numbers, but the strong numbers are golden. I enjoyed seeing a nice local production of Children of Eden, but none of the songs stay with me at all no matter how many times I revisited the recording. It's just forgettable.

As for his lyrics and ability to write funny songs, I think he succeeded numerous times in Wicked, The Magic Show, Enchanted (film), Rags and Pippin.
"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian
#25

What is Stephen Schwartz's best show...?

Posted: 11/19/10 at 2:32pm

I'm really hoping forthe revival of Godspell to happen. People associate the show with it's endearing but super cheesy original staging. But the show is open to limitless interpretation. When i played john the baptist in high school we updated it to a modern day new york and cut the circusy business. It was as if jesus came back today and gathered appostles of all walks of life. The book does lean towards childish or silly feel. But if your actors can capture the innocence without going clowinish its very moving

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