Stephen Lawrence Schwartz (born March 6, 1948) is an American musical theatre lyricist and composer. In a career spanning over four decades, Schwartz has written such hit musicals as Godspell (1971), Pippin (1972) and Wicked (2003). He has also contributed lyrics for a number of successful films, including Pocahontas (1995), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), The Prince of Egypt (1998; music and lyrics) and Enchanted (2007). Schwartz has won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics, three Grammy Awards, three Academy Awards and has been nominated for six Tony Awards.
Schwartz was born in New York City, the son of Sheila Lorna (née Siegal), a teacher, and Stanley Leonard Schwartz, who worked in business. He grew up in the area of Williston Park, where he attended Mineola High School. He studied piano and composition at the Juilliard School of Music while in high school and graduated from Carnegie Mellon University in 1968 with a B.F.A. in Drama.
Upon returning to New York City, Schwartz went to work as a producer for RCA Records, but shortly thereafter began to work in the Broadway theatre. His first major credit was the title song for the play Butterflies Are Free; the song was eventually used in the movie version as well.
In 1971, he wrote music and new lyrics for Godspell, for which he won several awards including two Grammys. This was followed by the English texts, in collaboration with Leonard Bernstein, for Bernstein's Mass, which opened the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. In 1972, the long-running Pippin premiered on Broadway. Schwartz had begun writing songs for Pippin while in college, although none of the songs from the college version ended up in the Broadway production. Both Pippin and Godspell continue to be frequently produced.
Two years after Pippin debuted, Schwartz wrote music and lyrics to The Magic Show, which ran for just under 2,000 performances. Next were the music and lyrics for The Baker's Wife, which closed before reaching Broadway after an out-of-town tryout tour in 1976. However, the cast album went on to attain cult status, leading to several subsequent productions, including a London production directed by Trevor Nunn in 1990 and, in 2005, a highly—acclaimed production at the Paper Mill Playhouse in New Jersey.
In 1978, Schwartz's next Broadway project was a musical version of Studs Terkel's Working, which he adapted and directed, winning the Drama Desk Award as best director, and for which he contributed four songs. He also co-directed the television production, which was presented as part of the PBS "American Playhouse" series. In 1977, Schwartz wrote a children's book called The Perfect Peach. In the 1980s, Schwartz wrote songs for a one-act musical for children, The Trip, which 20 years later was revised, expanded and produced as Captain Louie. He then wrote music for three of the songs to the Off-Broadway revue, Personals, and lyrics to Charles Strouse's music for the musical Rags.
In 1991, Schwartz wrote the music and lyrics for the popular musical Children of Eden. He then began working in film, collaborating with composer Alan Menken on the scores for the Disney animated features Pocahontas (1995), for which he received two Academy Awards, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996). He also provided songs for DreamWorks' first animated feature, The Prince of Egypt (1998), winning another Academy Award for the song When You Believe. He wrote music and lyrics for the original television musical, Geppetto (2000), seen on The Wonderful World of Disney. A stage adaptation of this piece premiered in June 2006 at The Coterie Theatre in Kansas City, Missouri, and was entitled Geppetto and Son. A version created for young performers, entitled Geppetto & Son, Jr. had its world premiere on July 17, 2009 at the Lyric Theatre in Stuart, Florida. It was presented by the StarStruck Performing Arts Center.
In 2003, Schwartz returned to Broadway, as composer and lyricist for Wicked, a musical based on the novel The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, which tells the story of the Oz characters from the point of view of the witches. Schwartz won a Grammy Award for his work as composer and lyricist and producer of Wicked's cast recording. On March 23, 2006, the Broadway production of Wicked passed the 1,000 performance mark, making Schwartz one of four composers (the other three being Andrew Lloyd Webber, Jerry Herman, and Richard Rodgers) to have three shows last that long on Broadway (the other two were Pippin and The Magic Show). In 2007, Schwartz joined Jerry Herman as being one of only two composer/lyricists to have three shows run longer than 1,500 performances on Broadway.
Schwartz also wrote lyrics for the 2007 Disney film Enchanted, again collaborating with Menken. Three songs from the film, "Happy Working Song," "That's How You Know," and "So Close," were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song. He has also written the theme song for the Playhouse Disney show Johnny and the Sprites, starring John Tartaglia. A recent project is incidental music for his son Scott Schwartz's adaptation of Willa Cather's My Ántonia.
In 2008, Applause Theatre and Cinema Books published the first ever Schwartz biography entitled Defying Gravity, by Carol de Giere. The book is a comprehensive look at his career and life, and also includes sections on how to write for the musical theatre.
In 2009, Schwartz collaborated with John Ondrasik in writing two songs on the Five for Fighting album Slice, the title track as well as "Above the Timberline." Ondrasik became familiar with Schwartz based on his daughter's affection for, and repeated attendance at performances of, the musical Wicked.
Schwartz has won almost every major award in his field, including three Oscars, three Grammys, four Drama Desk Awards, one Golden Globe Award and a self-described "tiny handful of tennis trophies".
He has received five Tony Award nominations, for Wicked, Pippin, and Godspell, music and lyrics; Rags, lyrics; and Working, music, lyrics, and book.
In April 2008, Schwartz was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In the 2009, he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and in January 2010 he was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame.
Butterflies Are Free (1969) title song (play and movie)
Godspell (1971) composer, lyricist
Mass (1971) English texts (in collaboration with Leonard Bernstein)
Pippin (1972) composer, lyricist
The Magic Show (1974) composer, lyricist
The Baker's Wife (1976) composer, lyricist
Working (1978) adaptation, direction 4 songs
Personals (1985) composer, 3 songs
The Trip (1986) children's show — composer, lyricist
Rags (1986) lyricist
Children of Eden (1991) composer, lyricist
Der Glöckner von Notre Dame (1999 Berlin) lyricist to Alan Menken (stage version of Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame); Michael Kunze translated the lyrics to German
Wicked (2003) composer, lyricist
Tiruvasakam — 2005 English translation of selected verses of the Tamil hymn on Lord Siva by Manickavasagar; Indian composer Ilaiyaraaja wrote the music.
Snapshots (2005)
Captain Louie (2005)
Mit Eventyr — My Fairy Tale (2005) (contributed 6 songs)
Anderson, Ruth. Contemporary American composers. A biographical dictionary, 1st edition, G. K. Hall, 1976.
Green, Stanley; Taylor, Deems. The world of musical comedy. The story of the American musical stage. As told through the careers of its foremost composers and lyricist, A. S. Barnes, 1980.
Kasha, Al. Notes on Broadway. Conversations with the great songwriters, Books, Inc., 1985.
Press, Jaques Cattell (Ed.). ASCAP Biographical Dictionary of Composers, Authors and Publishers, fourth edition, R. R. Bowker, 1980.
Suskin, Steven. Show tunes 1905—1991. The songs, shows and careers of broadway's major composers, Limelight Editions, 1992.
