New Dramatists has announced that its annual spring luncheon will honor songwriter Stephen Schwartz. The event will take place at the Marriott Marquis on May 26.
“For five decades, composer and lyricist Stephen Schwartz has been building an impressive body of work defined by adventure and artistic experimentation,” said New Dramatists artistic director Emily Morse in a statement. “Like the generations of playwrights supported by New Dramatists, Mr. Schwartz is unafraid to reinvent himself, and with the phenomenon of ‘Wicked,’ Mr. Schwartz’s magic is solidified in our cultural imagination.”
Schwartz began his career on Broadway penning the title song to the 1969 play “Butterflies Are Free.” In 1972 his first Broadway musical “Pippin,” with book by Roger O. Hirson and direction by Bob Fosse, would give Schwartz his first of six Tony nominations. The show would go on to win five Tonys.
Over the course of his Broadway career, Schwartz has had seven musicals produced on Broadway: “Pippin,” “The Magic Show,” “Godspell,” “Working” (which he also directed), “Rags,” “Wicked” and “The Queen of Versailles,” as well as other shows produced off-Broadway, on the West End and for films. An inductee into the Theatre Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame, Schwartz has won three Academy Awards, four Grammy Awards and a special Tony Award for his support of young theater artists.
At one point during the current season Schwartz had three different shows running in New York: on Broadway, “The Queen of Versailles” and “Wicked,” and an Off-Broadway revival of “The Baker’s Wife” at Classic Stage Company, in addition to “Wicked: For Good,” the second half of the film adaptation.
Founded in 1949, New Dramatists is the recipient of the 2001 Tony Honor for Excellence in the Theatre for its dedication to nurturing new playwrights. Christie Brown serves as the organization’s executive director.
