Stephen Schwartz is a composer and lyricist known for his work on Godspell (1976), Pippin (1972), The Magic Show (1974), and most recently Wicked (2003). He studied music at Julliard and Carnegie Mellon University, before breaking into the performance industry as a producer. After producing he moved on to writing musicals for Broadway and songs for film. He has written songs for movies, such as Disney’s Pocahontas and The Hunchback of Notre Dame (“Biography The Pieces of My Heart”). But, his big break was writing the score of Godspell. According to Broadway.com, “The show is composed of various musical parables from The Gospel According to Matthew. Jesus Christ recruits a group of followers and teaches them various lessons through song and dance” (“Godspell”). Godspell quickly blew up and became a major success. IBDB.com reports that Schwartz won Most Promising Composer and Most Promising Lyricist for Godspell at the 1971 Drama Desk Awards. Although he has been nominated for six Tony Awards since 1973, he just won his first one in 2015, the Isabelle Stevenson Award (“Stephen Schwartz”). Like every other composer, Schwartz …show more content…
Schwartz chooses to write small amounts of lyrics to inspire music, when working alone. When he is writing with a partner, they typically write music first. However, Schwartz prefers to write second in the process, when working with a co-writer. In that case, he does not care whether lyrics are written before music or vice versa, his want to write second in the creative process takes precedence over his normal routine (“FAQ”). Schwartz is one of the most well known composers to the current generation due to his work on the commercial success that is Wicked, but he does not have the consistent line of hit musicals like Stephen