Stephen
Schwartz

His first Broadway credit was the title song for the play Butterflies Are Free (1969). The song was eventually used in the movie version as well.

In 1971, he wrote the music and new lyrics for Godspell, for which he won two Grammys among other awards. 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. The following year, he wrote the music and lyrics for Pippin, and two years later, The Magic Show. At one point, Godspell, Pippin and The Magic Show were all running on Broadway simultaneously.

He next wrote the music and lyrics for The Baker's Wife (1976), which recently enjoyed a well-received revival at the Classic Stage Company. This was followed in 1978 by a musical version of Studs Terkel's Working, to which he contributed four songs and which he also adapted and directed, winning a Drama Desk Award as best director.

Other work for the musical theatre includes music and lyrics for Children of Eden and The Queen of Versailles, lyrics for Rags (music by Charles Strouse), and two musicals produced overseas, Mit Eventyr (My Fairy Tale) in Denmark and Schikaneder in Austria. He has also written songs for two musicals for young audiences, Captain Louie and My Son, Pinocchio. Compilation revues of his work include Snapshots and, for Princess Cruise Lines, Magic To Do.

Currently, Mr. Schwartz's 2003 musical Wicked, for which he wrote music and lyrics, is running on Broadway and in several other productions around the world.

For film, he collaborated with composer Alan Menken on the songs for Disney's Pocahontas, for which he received two Academy Awards and another Grammy, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and Enchanted. He also provided songs for DreamWorks' first animated feature, The Prince of Egypt, for which he won another Academy Award. The Hunchback of Notre Dame and The Prince of Egypt have both been adapted for the stage.

His opera, Séance on a Wet Afternoon, premiered at Opera Santa Barbara in the fall of 2009 and has had subsequent productions in New York and Houston. He has also released two singer/songwriter CDs, Reluctant Pilgrim and Uncharted Territory.

Mr. Schwartz is a past President and current Council Member of the Dramatists Guild and serves on the Council of the ASCAP Foundation.

He has been awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and received the Isabelle Stevenson Tony Award for his humanitarian and mentorship contributions to the theatre.