STEPHEN SCHWARTZ AND THE FESTIVAL OF BROADWAY

From June 11 - 20, the University of Tasmania played host to the Festival of Broadway, a celebration of the American Musical that brought together budding Broadway composers and industry leaders in an electric mix of workshops, concerts, forums and master classes. This year, submissions were invited from Australian musical theatre composers for the inaugural Australian ASCAP Foundation musical theatre writing workshop, overseen by none other than Stephen Schwartz (Godspell, Pippin, and of course Wicked), and headed by Michael A. Kerker, Director of Musical Theatre ASCAP.
This gave writers the opportunity of a lifetime to present and gain feedback from Mr Schwartz and other panel members including Kris Stewart, the Resident Director of Wicked in Sydney, and former Executive Director of the New York Musical Theatre Festival.
Earlier this year I submitted my musical Marking Life for consideration to the ASCAP workshops and along with six other composers - David Peake, Michael Orland, Joanna White, Anthony Costanza, Mathew Robinson and Craig Christie, was fortunate enough to be chosen for presentation.
Over five weeks, I pulled together a talented cast of 11 performers and rehearsed a 45 minute section of the musical. We then flew down to Hobart over the Queen’s Birthday weekend to stand before Mr Schwartz and deliver a section of Marking Life.
Prior to the workshop, we were all extremely excited and nervous. Marking Life was the first musical to be presented and we didn’t quite know what to expect. However, we found Mr Schwartz to be a warm, humble and generous man who put the cast and I at ease from the very beginning. He was here to encourage, guide and give direction to each composer, with the ultimate aim of helping to improve and develop the concepts and musicals that were presented.
After we had performed, Mr Schwartz and the panel addressed me, and the rest audience, made up of other composers and their cast members. This was an opportunity for feedback and also for those assembled to increase their understanding of musical composition. I found Mr Schwartz to be genuinely interested in seeing new works brought to life, and keen to imbed his wide knowledge into us. He was extremely articulate; able to quickly pinpoint key areas that required development, but also affirming of the strengths of our works. More often than not, the panel were all in agreement.
Personally, the workshop confirmed everything I was doing right, and gave me a clear direction for what needed to be improved and worked on, and how to achieve it.
Apart from the ASCAP workshops, the Festival of Broadway included two performances of Stephen Schwartz’ work; An Evening With Stephen Schwartz, containing selections from his theatrical works, and When You Believe, a world-first concert of his film works including Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Enchanted and more. Both performances were backed by the Tasmanian Discovery Orchestra and the Southern Gospel Choir and headlined by a stunning selection of vocalists including Liz Callaway, Silvie Paladino, Michael Rose, Adrian Li Donni and Stephen Schwartz himself.
Liz Callaway also held a vocal master class for seven singers, and Professor Kevin Purcell presented a seminar on musical theatre composition.
The entire Festival was an exhilarating experience. I met and spent time with many professional and aspiring performers and composers, and came away from the event inspired to create and determined to improve my own compositions. The Festival of Broadway is now an annual event, and I thoroughly recommend anyone interested in musical theatre to make the pilgrimage to Hobart in 2011. If you do, I hope to see you there!
Drew Lane

Drew Lane is an award-winning musical theatre composer, based in Melbourne. For more information on his works, visit www.captivationmusicals.net

Image: Stephen Schwartz with Drew Lane and the cast of Marking Life