Stephen Schwartz to Promote DEFYING GRAVITY Novel at B&N 10/30

Award-winning songwriter Stephen Schwartz, famed for his scores for such hit musicals as Godspell, Pippin, and Wicked, will speak, answer questions, and perform several of his songs during the book signing event Thursday, October 30th, 5:30 pm at Barnes and Noble at 1972 Broadway at 66th street in Manhattan. He joins Carol de Giere, author of Defying Gravity: The Creative Career of Stephen Schwartz, from Godspell to Wicked, the new 544-page authorized career biography of Schwartz from Applause Theatre and Cinema Books now available in stores and online. Schwartz, de Giere, and singer Scott Coulter will be guests on the WOR Radio Joey Reynold's show that will air the following morning.

At the Barnes and Noble event, biographer Carol de Giere will be querying Schwartz about musical themes in the Wicked score, the making of Godspell, working with his agent Shirley Bernstein (Leonard Bernstein's sister), and other topics. Mr. Schwartz will take questions from the audience and perform at the piano. Schwartz and de Giere will autographs books at the end of the presentation. The event helps celebrate Wicked's 5th anniversary on Broadway.

Defying Gravity takes readers behind the scenes for the making of Schwartz-related musicals from Godspell in 1971 through Wicked in 2003. The Wicked section of the book spans 150 pages and covers the story of the show's developmental stages. Bookwriter Winnie Holzman has commented: "Trying to reconstruct the writing process of a musical is nearly impossible. Carol de Giere has captured it." The author developed her manuscript after conducting over eighty hours of interviews with Schwartz as well as with 100 colleagues, friends, and family members.

The book's official website includes additional information:  http://www.defyinggravitythebook.com/.

The Joey Reynold's radio show segment with Schwartz and de Giere runs live in the New York Tri-State between 4 and 5 am on October 31st. It will then be available as a podcast in the morning on the WOR web page and archived on Joey's web page. The show runs nationally with the segment airing earlier in other parts of the country. As part of the show, Scott Coulter and Stephen Schwartz will perform several popular songs from Schwartz's musicals. http://wor710.com/.

Photo Credit Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.