An evening honoring Stephen Schwartz. Don’t you love misleading headlines? It was really American Opera Projects 25th Anniversary Gala Honoring Stephen Schwartz, and I was there—writing for my supper as always.
I helped my pal and frequent partner in crime, er, I mean musical theater, Laura Berguist. She put together a fantastic night of opera singers (including the world-renown Lauren Flannigan) and musical theater people (how about Betsy Wolfe and Jessica Phillips?) to sing Stephen’s works for musical theatre, opera, the movies and TV. I wrote the script for the evening as one luminary after another shared stories of how Stephen changed their lives for good. (Did you catch that Wicked reference?)
It was an eclectic program mostly featuring things of his you don’t hear a lot. (Bravo, Stromboli! for example. Heard that one lately?)
The night was particularly poignant for me. In high school, I was not a musical theater kid. But a very brave senior English teacher named Milton Bransford made me wish I had been.
Mr. Bransford (I still can’t call my teachers by their first names) spent his two weeks off each Christmas seeing the latest shows on Broadway. In 1972, he returned with posters, newspaper ads (remember them?) and an album (remember those?) of the big hit . . . Pippin. He even acted out and sang Magic To Do for us. I was mesmerized. Bought the album myself. And my very winding road toward being here, now, writing musical theater began.
To play even the smallest part in the night honoring Stephen made a special night for him into a special night for me.
OK. That's it, and that's enough.
I helped my pal and frequent partner in crime, er, I mean musical theater, Laura Berguist. She put together a fantastic night of opera singers (including the world-renown Lauren Flannigan) and musical theater people (how about Betsy Wolfe and Jessica Phillips?) to sing Stephen’s works for musical theatre, opera, the movies and TV. I wrote the script for the evening as one luminary after another shared stories of how Stephen changed their lives for good. (Did you catch that Wicked reference?)
It was an eclectic program mostly featuring things of his you don’t hear a lot. (Bravo, Stromboli! for example. Heard that one lately?)
The night was particularly poignant for me. In high school, I was not a musical theater kid. But a very brave senior English teacher named Milton Bransford made me wish I had been.
Mr. Bransford (I still can’t call my teachers by their first names) spent his two weeks off each Christmas seeing the latest shows on Broadway. In 1972, he returned with posters, newspaper ads (remember them?) and an album (remember those?) of the big hit . . . Pippin. He even acted out and sang Magic To Do for us. I was mesmerized. Bought the album myself. And my very winding road toward being here, now, writing musical theater began.
To play even the smallest part in the night honoring Stephen made a special night for him into a special night for me.
OK. That's it, and that's enough.
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