Ah, the value of decontextualization. By this I mean taking the work of a major Broadway composer, extracting his songs from their original shows, and presenting them in a concert format. Even when said composer works hard to make his works as individual as possible, after a point certain familiar chord changes and reoccurring lyric ideas become noticeable. In listening to a retrospective of 50-something years of music by Stephen Schwartz, it’s hard to miss a predilection for inspirational anthems with titles like “Corner of the Sky” (Pippin), “Stranger to the Rain” (Children of Eden), ”Children of the Wind” (Rags) and “Colors of the Wind’ (Pocahontas).
Monday’s gala evening, produced by The American Songbook Association, not only honored Mr. Schwartz’s long career but also handed out statuettes for philanthropic achievements. (James Brent White was given the Bill Sensenbrenner Dream Maker Award.) Such an evening was bound to be full of such anthems; in fact, the night began with Jessica Hendy doing “Defying Gravity,” which means our first note is the Act 1 finale of Wicked. Needless to say, this is a very high point to enter on—our favorite green gal is already in midair. Fortunately, Mr. Schwartz has written no shortage of such big belting numbers.
The American Songbook crew, including director Scott Coulter, was keen to intersperse Mr. Schwartz’s signature larger-than-life arias with his more intimate pieces. Take the opening “Chanson” from The Baker’s Wife, sung by the original actress in that title role, Teri Ralston; this is a delightful, minor key waltz, and as subtle and understated a curtain-raiser for a show as has ever been written.
Another strength of such an evening is that all the songs are on a level playing field. Mr. Schwartz began his career with three long-running hits, Godspell, Pippin, and The Magic Show, but then for roughly 30 years, created a series of mostly well-remembered works, many of which (particularly The Baker’s Wife and Children of Eden) have achieved cult status but not turned a profit. Finally, in 2003, he returned in full force with Wicked, not only the biggest blockbuster of his career but one of the iconic works of 21st Century musical theater.
This being an evening of Schwartziana, we were gifted with a rich selection of songs from the so-called cult shows as much as the mega-hits, and almost always performed by veterans of the original casts: Kurt Peterson from Baker’s Wife, Kelli Rabke from Eden, Christine Andreas from Rags. There were also stand-up-and-cheer performances of Schwartz numbers by name-above-the-title divas who have long included them in their one-woman shows: Debbie Gravitte with “No Time at All” (Pippin) and Liz Callaway with “Meadowlark” (Baker’s Wife).
There was also rich anecdotage: Jim Brochu recalling how he and Mr. Schwartz finagled tickets for the second night of Fiddler in 1964 and Paul Shaffer detailing how he accompanied a singer to an audition for the Toronto company of Godspell circa 1972 and wound up himself being hired as Mr. Schwartz’s musical right hand man.
Mr. Schwartz has written enough great songs to fill many such evenings. (Who doesn’t prefer Godspell to that other Jesus musical? And likewise, I’d much rather watch the 1996 Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame, than that other Victor Hugo musical, mon dieu!) My only carp might be that there were too many gravity-defying, big belting inspirational anthems. Mr. Schwartz has written all kinds of songs, including many that sound like more traditionally melodic show tunes, as well as comedy and vaudeville songs like “Popular” (Wicked) and “All For the Best” (Godspell). I could have done with more of those.
The major benefit to honoring a living and currently active maestro is obvious: “For Good” not only whetted my appetite to listen to Rags and Eden again, but looking forward to whatever Stephen Schwartz chooses to bestow upon us next.
For Good: A Celebration of Stephen Schwartz was presented for one performance on May 9, 2022 at Merkin Hall. Information: americansongbookassociation.org
