Interview: Stephen Schwartz Reflects on the Phenomenon That is WICKED

Richard Ridge of "Backstage with Richard Ridge" recently sat down with the 2015 Isabelle Stevenson Award recipient and renowned composer Stephen Schwartz, to discuss receiving this prestigious award, his work on numerous classic Broadway musicals, and so much more!

Check out a sneak peek of the interview in which Schwartz discusses his history with writing WICKED, the phenomenon it has become and reimagining the world of WICKED for the big screen. Check back on Saturday morning for the full interview!

I want to talk about the phenomenon known as WICKED. I mean did you ever think during the time period you were writing it that it would have the longevity that it had. I mean I'm sure you wanted that when you write something. The success.

One never really thinks about that. You never think 'Is this going to run for 10 minutes, 10 days or 10 years." I mean you don't. You know, you are just trying to get the show right and trying to get as close to what the collective vision is. For me and my collaborators we're trying to get as close to that on the stage. We did have early inklings that we were onto something special because of the way people responded just in readings of the show. Even when it was way too long and a mess and the story wasn't being told very well. And even when we first opened in San Francisco, and the show was a mess. And at this point we were still in previews and we were coming down after 11 o'clock, so the producers were horrified saying 'You got to gut this because it's costing us a fortune every night.'

And I think we had done three previews and we had creative meeting, which was very tense and there was a lot sort of yelling back and forth, which sometimes can happen out of town and even when the team is, as we for the most part did was a good collaboration, you can get tense. So I came out of that meeting having yelled at the director and the director yelled at Winnie [Holzman] and she cried and the producers were yelling that we have to cut the show and I came out of the meeting and I was walking to the theatre to meet the musical director and I got to the theatre and there was a mob outside the theatre. I remember thinking 'Oh my god, there has been a terrible accident. A car has driven into the lobby or a brick has fallen off of the Curran Theatre and hit somebody and all of these people are gathered because of this horrible accident that has happened.' And then when I got closer I realized it was a line at the box office and that happened in three days before the show had even opened.

So, we began to have an inkling that we were onto something, if we could just get it right. All of us have tried to understand what it is about that show that has made it such a phenomenon because you know, there are hit shows and I've had my share of hit shows as well as failures but every now and then something happens where it goes beyond the show itself. And you just hit the culture, the zeitgeist, at exactly the right time and you know to an extent I think The Book of Mormon has done that. Way, way back at the beginning of my career that's what happened with Godspell, it was just the right show at the right time and then it sort of explodes and there is no way of planning for it or expecting it. If you get on that ride, just enjoy it.

Schwartz's Credits Include: Pippin (Music and Lyrics), The Magic Show (Music and Lyrics), Godspell (Music and Lyrics), The Bakers Wife (Lyrics), Working (Adaptor and Director), Rags (Lyrics), Wicked (Music and Lyrics) and The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Lyrcis). http://www.stephenschwartz.com/