Stephen Schwartz says the arts are “more important than ever” ahead of NJPAC concert

As the composer and lyricist behind some of musical theatre’s most enduring scores, Stephen Schwartz does not use grand language lightly. So when he promises a “panoply” of songs at his upcoming concert event, audiences would be wise to expect something extraordinary.

On Saturday, 21 February, Schwartz brings A Wicked Evening With The Wizard to the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, offering what he describes as a magnificent array of work spanning his vast catalogue. The program draws from beloved stage musicals including Wicked, Pippin, Godspell, The Baker’s Wife and Children of Eden, alongside film scores such as The Prince of Egypt and Enchanted.

The evening features a 12 piece pops orchestra and a roster of guest artists including Liz Callaway, Debbie Gravitte, Kelli Rabke, Shaleah Adkisson, Michael McCorry Rose, Scott Coulter, John Boswell and Evan Roider. For Schwartz, the presence of a full orchestra makes all the difference.

“It’s always more fun, to be honest, to do one of the concerts with the full orchestra rather than just piano,” he said. “They’re good orchestrations and I know this is a good orchestra. It just makes the music better.”

Reinventing the familiar

While audiences can expect favourites, Schwartz is determined to avoid predictability. He suggests that even devoted fans are unlikely to recognise every selection.

“I’d be willing to bet that no one in the audience will know every song,” he said, noting that the concert will include new mashups, medleys and unexpected arrangements.

“When we do songs that are really familiar, we try to put an unusual spin on them, either with the arrangement or as part of a mashup. I think it’s boring to just repeat something exactly the way you’ve heard it before.”

The structure of the concert is shaped around the performers themselves. Schwartz has worked with each singer in different capacities over the years, and programming the evening becomes an exercise in pairing repertoire with voice and personality.

“It’s a group of excellent singers, all of whom I’ve worked with in one way or another,” he said. “A lot of it has to do with what fits an individual singer the best and then we put together some medleys and mashups and duets and quartets.”

Songs that evolve with time

With a catalogue stretching back decades, revisiting earlier works offers Schwartz new insight into his own material. Distance from the original productions allows the songs to resonate differently.

“It’s getting further away from when the song was initially written or premiered,” he reflected. “The songs take on a different feel and different meaning. Every time we do a show like this there are discoveries and nuances. That makes it fun for me and for the performers.”

Live performance, he says, adds another layer of unpredictability and electricity.

“This is a live concert. Things can go wrong. Anything can happen. What we most look forward to is that interaction between audience and performers.”

A call for empathy

Beyond the music, Schwartz has been vocal about the role of the arts in an increasingly divided culture. He recently withdrew from a planned gala appearance at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, citing concerns that participation had become politicised.

“Appearing at the Kennedy Center had become a political statement and it shouldn’t have,” he said. Schwartz has been associated with the venue since its 1971 opening gala, when he wrote lyrics for Leonard Bernstein’s Mass, commissioned by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

“It’s been a great home for wonderful work from artists of all over the world and all ideologies,” he said. “I think it’s a shame when something like that gets so politicised.”

While acknowledging the view that all art can be political, Schwartz believes art must also transcend ideology.

“In some ways I feel all art should be apolitical,” he said, warning that cultural division risks becoming unsustainable. “Eventually, a nation can rip itself apart.”

For Schwartz, the central purpose of art is empathy.

“The greatest thing lacking in our current culture is empathy,” he said. “This is why I think the arts right now are more important than ever.”

Photo Credit: DepositPhotos.com