Broadway's Stephen Schwartz Makes Opera Debut with Seance

Broadway composer Stephen Schwartz, best known for penning the scores to hits like Wicked and Godspell, is branching into a new genre: opera. The composer is currently working on a contemporary opera titled Séance on a Wet Afternoon. The production opens at The Granada in Santa Barbara, California on September 26, 2009, with Schwartz’s son, Scott, at the helm.

“I’ve always entertained the idea of writing an opera,” Schwartz told New York Post gossip maven Cindy Adams. “I actually wrote a really bad one in college.”

The new work, based on the novel of the same name by Mark McShane, follows the story of Myra Foster, a medium who has never received the fame she feels she deserves for her gift. She and doting husband Bill eventually hatch a plan to kidnap the daughter of a wealthy industrialist, waiting for the media frenzy to build before Myra can swing into the spotlight with a “vision” that leads to the recovery of the missing child. The plan is derailed when a tragedy occurs and Myra’s own sanity begins to fracture. Schwartz’s website describes the piece as a “psychological thriller.”

Schwartz has won three Academy Award, three Grammy Awards and four Drama Desk Awards over the course of his long career. His stage shows include Godspell, Pippin, The Magic Show, Working, Rags, Children of Eden, The Baker’s Wife and Wicked. Film scores include The Hunchback of Notre Dame and The Prince of Egypt.