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

[themysteriousgrowl]

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...

[newintown]

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

[themysteriousgrowl]

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

While I disagree with a few points specifically, that is a truly wonderful and economical analysis Let me ruminate...

[munkustrap178]

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.

[madbrian]

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

WICKED
PIPPIN
CHILDREN OF EDEN
GODSPELL
THE MAGIC SHOW

I've never seen THE BAKER'S WIFE.

[Gothampc]

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"

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

[themysteriousgrowl]

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

[Gothampc]

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

Godspell was made into a movie. None of his other works were given the movie treatment.

[themysteriousgrowl]

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

Oh, dear, but so was MAMMA MIA!

[adamgreer]

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.

[IdinaBellFoster]

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

GODSPELL
WICKED
CHILDREN OF EDEN
PIPPIN
THE BAKER'S WIFE

[themysteriousgrowl]

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.

[Overkill]

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

His best show hasn't even been on Broadway....

[Overkill]

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

Double post! Updated On: 11/19/10 at 12:12 PM

[newintown]

Posted: 11/19/10 at 12:13pm

Posting that twice really is overkill...

[Overkill]

Posted: 11/19/10 at 12:15pm

Ha cha cha! Funny.

Lol Didn't mean to post twice. But that is how amazing it is.

[themysteriousgrowl]

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?"

[madbrian]

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.

[After Eight]

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.

[mybigsplash]

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

Working

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

[newintown]

Posted: 11/19/10 at 1:48pm

Would you really call Working a Stephen Schwartz show?

Of the 15 songs, only 4 are by him.

[themysteriousgrowl]

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

Right. And that is why it's not on the list.

[Mister Matt]

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.

[wicked4l]

Posted: 11/19/10 at 2:20pm

Wicked, I love Godspell too though!

[Frank thebellhop]

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