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Table of Contents for Defying Gravity

  1. Overture: Entry to Schwartz’s Oz 1

The Creative Career

Act I — 1948 To 1974

Early Success: Godspell, Pippin, and The Magic Show

  1. A Focused Childhood 5
  2. Morning Glow – The College Years 15
  3. Transitions: Keep Dancing Through… 31
  4. Godspell Off-Off-Broadway 43
  5. Godspell at Cherry Lane 55
  6. Godspell Meets Mass and Pippin 67
  7. Pippin Comes to Broadway 81
  8. The Magic Show Conjures Up A Crowd 107

Act II — 1974 To 1991

Downturn: The Baker’s Wife, Working, and Rags

  1. The Baker’s Wife: Mixed Ingredients 121
  2. Working: Help Wanted 145
  3. Mid-Journey Reflections 175
  4. Rags and the 1980s 185
  5. Children of Eden: Second Chances 205

Act III — 1991 To 2003

A Comeback: Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Prince of Egypt, and Wicked

  1. Pocahontas and The Hunchback of Notre Dame 229
  2. Mulan and The Prince of Egypt 249
Wicked
  1. Landing In Oz 271
  2. Structuring Twists and Turns 279
  3. On the Right Track 287
  4. Story by Committee 295
  5. Somewhere Over the Keyboard 301
  6. First Drafts and "Adjustifications" 307
  7. We’re Off to See a Reading 313
  8. Turning Points in Oz 321
  9. If We Only Had a Team 333
  10. Character Development 349
  11. The Countdown Begins 361
  12. Shock at First Sight 387
  13. Pre-Broadway Summer 401
  14. Wicked on Broadway 413
Epilogue
  • After the Tonys 427

Extras

  • About an Author and a Songwriter 435
  • From Idea to Audience: The Odyssey of a Song 441
  • Godspell Song Stories457
  • Updates and New Projects 471
  • An Enchanted Conversation 491
  • Workshops and Concerts 497
  • Wicked Outline by Stephen Schwartz 503
  • Recordings 511

Chapter Notes

Selected Bibliography

Licensing Information for the Musicals

Acknowledgements and Credits

Illustration Credits

Index

Official website for Defying Gravity: the Creative Career of Stephen Schwartz, from Godspell to Wicked (musical theatre biography)

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