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Pittsburgh CLO Honors CMU Alum, Composer

Composer's Work Includes Godspell, Pippin, Wicked

POSTED: 12:23 pm EDT May 10, 2009

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PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera recognized on Saturday a Carnegie Mellon University alum for his work in musical theater, from "Godspell" to "Pippin" and "Wicked."

Composer and lyricist Stephen Schwartz received the CLO's prestigious Richard Rodgers Award on Saturday night.

"Tell them how I'm defying gravity," Schwartz told WTAE Channel 4's Sally Wiggin.

"Defying Gravity" is the title of a newly released book about his career.

"I loved the idea when I came across it. I thought it had a good chance to be successful, but what has made a difference between it being a hit and it becoming the phenomenon it had become, those things are impossible to codify," Schwartz said.

Schwartz pointed to looking inward.

"I think some of it has to do with the identification factor that, in some way, all of us have with the green girl inside of us, the character who becomes the wicked witch, the one who feels that he or she doesn't fit in," Schwartz said.

Schwartz was born in New York City, studied at the famed Julliard School of Music and graduated from CMU in 1968. He returned there at least every other year to teach a master's class or two.

"I had a really great experience here. I like the town, I liked the school. I give a lot of credit to what I learned over the four years I was at Carnegie, for the good things that happened to me in my career," Schwartz said.

Schwartz has won three Grammy Awards and three Academy Awards.

"Being there on stage, Mel Gibson being in the front row sticking his tongue out, (it's) pretty exciting. He had worked on 'Pocahontas' and (we) knew one another ... That was in the days before he was so crazed. He was actually a pretty funny guy," Schwartz said.

He said joining the likes of director Rob Marshall, actress Shirley Jones and Stephen Sondheim -- previous winners of the CLO's award -- is gratifying.

"To be perfectly honest, an award like tonight's award is somehow more meaningful because it is for a lifetime and a body of work," Schwartz said.