3/16/2024 0 Comments Steven schwartz chicagoFor Schwartz, the next four years of work for Scotch ‘n’ Soda proved “instrumental in training me for my career that followed.”īy the time Schwartz became involved in the 1964-65 school year, the spring 1965 show had already been chosen by the selection committee. It served as a testing ground for budding talents in a similar way that the University of Miami’s Dramatics Club had for Jerry Herman. The club, funded by student activities fees and ticket sales, mounted original musicals each spring in a theater in the Skibo Student Center. It was his Scotch ‘n’ Soda club experience that gave him direct experience with the musical stage. A lot of writers don’t understand how to get that internal process going, so they write songs that are nice but not really actable.” Schwartz Wrote Musicals for Scotch ‘n’ Soda Club Productions He once commented, “I think everybody writing for theater should take acting, because the processes are so similar. He found acting lessons to be especially helpful for thinking about characters. Schwartz studied all aspects of putting on a show. Fellow student and future Godspell star Robin Lamont explains, “If you graduated from Carnegie you were expected to go into a repertory theater in a place like Seattle or Chicago and do all the classic plays, like do a lot of Shakespeare.” The faculty geared the curriculum and opportunities in that direction, whether or not it was what the students wanted. Student actors gained experience with Shakespeare and with 18th and 19th century plays that were often performed in professional theaters around the country. “When you mentioned My Fair Lady you had to frown and turn up your nose-’Oh, one of those mainstream musicals.'” “Musicals represented mainstream, and this was a very rebellious time,” explains Katz. According to faculty member Leon Katz, musicals were not popular with the instructors. In fact, the only musical staged as part of the traditional curriculum while Schwartz attended was the first act of The Apple Tree, which was his own senior directing project. Stephen was accepted as a playwriting major for the fall semester of 1964, after submitting a play he’d written, and later switched to the directing major.Įven though CMU has a highly reputed musical theater department today, in the 1960s it did not. CIT shortly thereafter merged with Mellon Institute to become Carnegie Mellon University. When Stan Schwartz explained that his drama-loving son was looking for the right college, Mielziner said, “Well, if he’s really interested in the theater, he should check out Carnegie.” The drama department was part of “Carnegie Institute of Technology,” or “Tech” as the students called it. One day, his father was helping with technology for the 1964 World’s Fair in New York and found himself working alongside the renowned Broadway and film scenic designer, Jo Mielziner, who had graduated from Carnegie Institute of Technology. Here are a few highlights:Īs Schwartz was finishing high school and applying to colleges, he was rejected by Harvard and Yale (even though he had high test scores and good grades) and wasn’t sure where to turn. The biography, Defying Gravity, reveals how Stephen Schwartz’s youthful experiences contributed to his later career. Stephen Schwartz’s journey to the honorary doctorate from Carnegie Mellon began five decades earlier with a bit of luck, or perhaps a gift of destiny. This club staged original musicals, allowing him to practice and polish his creative skills. He also emphasizes the essential role of the extracurricular Scotch ‘n’ Soda student club. Schwartz acknowledges the support of his college classroom work in preparing him for writing songs for a musical’s characters, even though there was no musical theater department at CMU at the time he studied there. The drama department benefits from Schwartz’s attention when he travels to the Pittsburgh, PA campus to offer workshops and talks about his craft to drama and musical theater students. As one of the most successful musical theater writers today, with Broadway hits such as Pippin and Wicked among his claims to fame, Schwartz has certainly been a credit to the school. On May 17, 2015, composer-lyricist Stephen Schwartz donned a graduation gown and received an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from his alma mater, Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). She and Stephen were friends during their school days at CMU. Also pictured: Paula Wagner, a film producer and film executive. PHOTO: Stephen Schwartz at Carnegie Mellon University receiving an honorary doctorate. Stephen Schwartz’s CMU Education Helped Launch Career
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