The ASCAP Foundation Children Will Listen program, which is designed to introduce the American Musical Theater to youngsters who might otherwise not have the opportunity to experience it, went into high gear on Wednesday, May 25 as 120 fourth and fifth grade students from P.S. 212, the Midtown West Elementary School in Manhattan, received free orchestra level tickets to the Broadway matinee performance of Wicked.
The day before the performance, the composer/lyricist of Wicked, Stephen Schwartz, met with the students at their school where he delighted them with answers to their insightful questions about the show’s characters and theme, his inspirations and creative process and by performing the first song he ever wrote (when he was six years old) as well as performing “For Good” from Wicked. The following day the students went to see the show and immediately following the performance, Schwartz and several of the show’s cast members sat on the edge of the stage and answered more questions from the very excited and thrilled students. When it was time to leave the theater, the well-behaved students exclaimed their gratitude with multiple choruses of “thank you Stephen!”
In addition to the Broadway smash Wicked, Schwartz’s credits include Godspell, Pippin, the opera Seance On a Wet Afternoon, the Walt Disney films Pocahontas and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and the DreamWorks film The Prince of Egypt. Schwartz is the recipient of multiple Oscar and Grammy awards, and is a member of the Board of Directors of The ASCAP Foundation.
The ASCAP Foundation Children Will Listen program was established -- in honor of ASCAP member, Stephen Sondheim, composer/lyricist of Sweeny Todd, Company and A Little Night Music -- in 2005 to bring the musical theater experience to young students nationwide. The program was named for one of the songs from his musical, Into the Woods.
