Defying Gravity: The Creative Career of Stephen Schwartz, from Godspell to Wicked

In 1973, I attended a dinner theatre (remember those?) in Dallas, Texas. Before the play began, a young couple came out to warm up the audience by singing a few Broadway tunes. Midway through their performance, they sang a duet of a romantic song that I had never heard before. The song only lasted about 2 1/2 minutes, but for a young guy of 24 who was a sucker for romance, it was 2 1/2 minutes of magic! After the play was over, the actors and the singing couple stood by the stage to greet visitors. I went up and asked them if they could tell me anything about the song. They told me that the name of the song was "Love Song" and it was from a new Broadway musical called "Pippin" with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, the same young man who wrote the music for "Godspell". This is the same Stephen Schwartz who thirty years later would be a multiple Oscar winner and the composer, lyricist and creative force behind the blockbuster musical "Wicked" which has been on Broadway for 7 1/2 years. And, yes, "Love Song" is still one of my most favorite songs.In Carol de Giere's book, "Defying Gravity: The Creative Career of Stephen Schwartz from Godspell to WIcked", she tells the fascinating story of the life of Stephen Schwartz from his college days to "Wicked" and beyond. It's all there from his early successes with "Godspell", "Pippin" and "The Magic Show" to lesser successes with projects in the late 1970's and 1980's then on to winning academy awards for his work on "Pocahontas" and "The Prince of Egypt" and then to the massive success of "Wicked". Anyone who is interested in the works of Mr. Schwartz as well as the interesting stories behind the scenes in the development of Broadway musicals should read this book. It is too bad that more movies haven't been made of Stephen Schwartz's musicals, but you can read about them in Carol's book and you can buy original cast CDs of shows such as "Pippin", "Wicked", "Children of Eden" and "The Baker's Wife" through Amazon. In addition, "The Stephen Schwartz Album" CD was released in 1999. It features Broadway actors singing some of Stephen's songs and it is a tremendous CD. Also, you can find the soundtracks for "Pocahontas", "The Prince of Egypt", "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" and "Enchanted". In the middle of all of his other projects, Stephen also found the time to issue at least two solo CDs, "Uncharted Territory" and "Reluctant Pilgrim". Trust me. You can't go wrong listening to Stephen's music. In my humble opinion, his songs rival those of earlier giants in musical theatre such as Rodgers and Hammerstein and Lerner and Loewe.The world is a much better place with talented individuals such as Stephen Schwartz and Carol de Giere.

This well-worn book has been in my library for six years. I read it cover to cover when first received, and have since gone back to it several times. It may be the ultimate inside story of creativity.Although I had seen Godspell in 1972, I was not keenly aware of Mr. Schwartz until my children chose Wicked for their theatre experience when we visited London in 2010. Clearly I was not the first to be blown away by the power of that musical. I had to know more about the creative development of such a work. That lead me to "Defying Gravity." I actually read the last chapter first, then worked to the beginning by chapters. Odd, but true.Ms. de Giere's exploration of creativity in the person of Mr. Schwartz is one of the clearest views I've found of what it takes to make something magical. She covers the inspiration, the perspiration, the tenacity, setbacks, trouncings and triumph. That has been very helpful for me and my own creative work.I was particularly touched by the story of how Wicked was reworked after its pre-Broadway run in San Francisco. The authors--Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman--stood their ground to exercise the power to reshape the show before opening in New York in 2003. The theater is much different from cinema. One of the greatest differences is ownership. A dramatist--in this case, Schwartz and Holzman--may LICENSE a show to a producer but as authors they still own it. Wicked's creative recess between San Francisco and New York is perfect proof of that difference. There are so many stakeholders, so much talent demanding to be put to work. So many egos. So much money, so little time. For me, Chapter 28 is the most compelling in "Defying Gravity."I found "Defying Gravity" to be engaging, uplifting, insightful, and more. I loved it on first reading and have returned several times to appreciate various parts. That's why I'm writing this 5-star review--I love this book. I hope you find this review helpful.

I have been a fan of Stephen Schwartz's music for a long time having played in various pit bands and got to know his material quite well - Godspell especially and Children of Eden. But it was when I went to see Wicked when it first came to London that totally blew me away and made me realise what a genius he is. I compose music too so this book seemed ideal for me because it covered his history of all his shows and provides a helpful insight into how he works and creates his songs and music. This in itself is invaluable to me. The book goes into a lot of detail and has many contributions from the people who have worked with him over the years. It also shows that it was not all plain sailing. In fact, after the success of Godspell and the resurrection of Pippin, it went a bit pear shaped with The Bakers Wife and Working (both great musicals in my opinion) and he literally gave up work for three years. This just goes to show that the world of theatre is tough for everyone and it was actually good to know that even the most successful talented people have had their knocks. I really liked this book for all the info it provides. I have given it four stars instead of five purely because I would have preferred that it was an autobiography so that everything you read comes straight from the man himself. However, as an autobiography does not exist, this is the next best thing and it is a really great read. I thoroughly recommend this book to anyone who loves musical theatre and, especially the work of Stephen Schwartz.

I have already posted a review of this book on amazon.com, but I need to let you know that if you love all things Schwarzian, if Broadway floats your boat, then this well written, readable and thoroughly enjoyable book should already be in your basket!Get it...I defy you to be disappointed!

Fascinating background to Stephen Schwartz, essential reading for anyone who enjoys his shows.

Creio que não há melhor momento para se ler este livro aqui no Brasil, visto que neste ano de 2016 dois dos maiores sucessos de Stephen Schwartz – Wicked e Godspell – são montados em São Paulo. O livro trata sobre a carreira de Schwartz, desde sua infância até a estreia de Wicked na Broadway, entremeado com os principais marcos em sua vida pessoal. Extensa pesquisa foi realizada para que se pudesse escrever a obra e várias são as fontes citadas ao longo do texto, incluindo documentos de época, entrevistas com o próprio Schwartz e pessoas que conviveram com ele, escritos e rascunhos pessoais do compositor, entre outros. O livro também é ricamente ilustrado e, como eu li a edição para Kindle, pude ver as imagens coloridas (no livro impresso, as imagens são em preto e branco) e em maior tamanho. Ao longo do texto, há várias seções extras escritas especificamente para ilustrar os detalhes do processo criativo que levou à construção de determinadas canções ou trechos das peças. Para quem se interessa por teatro musical e sobretudo pela obra de Schwartz, recomendo muito a leitura desse livro. Reforço apenas que, apesar de o livro trazer diversos dados sobre a vida pessoal do compositor, não se trata propriamente de uma biografia, mas sim de uma descrição detalhada e bem documentada do árduo processo envolvido entre o momento em que Schwartz tinha as primeiras ideias para um novo projeto até a estreia desse show na Broadway.This is a fantastic book about Stephen Schwartz career, extensively detailed and packed with a huge variety of information. There is also a significant number of photographs, some of them not easy to find in other sources (they are black and white in printed version, but they can be seen in full color in the digital format version). Although this book brings a lot of data on Schwartz personal life, it is not a standard biography, since the primary concern of the author was to adequately describe and analyze Schwartz cultural production over the last decades. The process involved in the creation, conception and execution of each artistic work is fully presented, ever since his first projects (such as Pippin and Godspell), with notes on authorship, partnership, song and lyric writing and necessary improvements and changes along the way to its final stage version. The first chapters are about Schwartz’s childhood and college years, together with the creation of Pippin and Godspell and the lyrics for Bernstein’s Mass. After that, there are chapters on The Magic Show, The Bakers Wife, Working (1 chapter for each show) and some “smaller” productions. Next, it is time for the animated cartoons, Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and The Prince of Egypt (and the contend that took him off Disney’s Mulan, even after going on a field trip to China in preparation for working on this project). By reading these chapters, I notice how often religious themes are present in Schwartz’s works (Godspell, Mass, Children of Eden, Prince of Egypt), and I got surprised in reading that is was entirely unintentional. The most comprehensive section of the book is dedicated to Schwartz biggest hit: Wicked. There are fifteen chapters only about this show – which is a delight to fans. Details are given on:- the very first moment when Schwartz came up with the idea of turning Maguire’s book into a musical while riding a boat;- all the way through obtaining the rights and funds for the musical;the process of writing songs and sharing comments and ideas about lyrics and libretto with Winnie Holzman;- the choice of the right colleagues and actors to work with (and all the struggles Schwartz had to face with his creative team along the process of putting on the show – actually, something recurrent in his career);- the first readings and rehearsals;- the San Francisco try-out and, finally, Broadway opening, followed by the show immediate success.I got interested in this book by now because I am Brazilian, and two official Schwartz’s musical productions are currently on show in my city, both fully translated into Portuguese – Wicked and Godspell. Reading this book before and after attending those shows gave me a more in-depth understanding of them and so I would recommend it to all theater lovers, in Brazil or anywhere else!