Well, that is some of the most colorful astroturfing I've ever seen.

An opera will never be the same thing as a musical. I don't think it will top Wicked at all but we'll see what audiences think of it. Is there any website promoting it with more information?

Does anyone think Schwartz got lucky with the popularity of Wicked? I don't know enough about him or his works to have an educated opinion about it. Where any of his other shows as popular as Wicked is today? From the knowledge that I do have about Schwartz, which is very little, I think he did get lucky because he had a good premise for a musical and created a perfect score for the storyline and that's what created a big hit. The premise was important in making it more about the friendship between Glinda and Elphaba and not so much about the "dark" plot of the novel. I don't think Wicked would have the popularity it does todaty if it would have been strict to the book.

Heard a couple of pieces from this performed at the Adelaide Cabaret Festival, during "Stephen Schwartz and Friends" - a showcase of Schwartz's work performed by half a dozen Aussie performers. I thought they were quite good, quite promising, and will be interested to see the opera if I get the chance.

Schwartz spoke of the challenges of writing such for such a different genre, and I think is as interested as anyone to see how the piece is received. I think he is capable of writing a good opera, but it will never 'top' Wicked. Wicked is a Broadway blockbuster - a completely different animal to an opera.

And no, I don't think that Schwartz 'got lucky' with Wicked. I think that the changes made from the book were very deliberate, trying to streamline the many interweaving threads of the novel into a comprehensible 2 1/2-hour show that would satisfy a large amount of the theatre-going public. I think it was always intended to be a 'big' show - after all, with Universal Pictures holding the rights to the novel, it was never going to be a chamber work! That said, I don't think anyone is able to accurately predict just how successful a show is going to be.

For the uneducated, Schwartz's first hits were Godspell and Pippin (he was the youngest composer to have a show on Broadway).
Other works include Working, The Magic Show, Children of Eden and The Baker's Wife. He has also provided the lyrics for several Disney films: Hunchback of Notre Dame, Pocahontas and Enchanted.

I'm not the biggest fan of his work, but he didn't just "get lucky" with Wicked; that is to say, he didn't come out of nowhere, he's done his time.

Schwartz premiered this opera in my town about a year ago. My daughter attended with her school choral group. She said that the show was enjoyable and that the music was good. I assume that the show has done some evolving since then.

I'd be willing to listen.

He has done his time as you said..however, artistically PIPPIN is really the only one of his shows that could really be considered a strong show. Wicked is really one of his weakest.

My favourite Schwartz score (by some stretch) is The Baker's Wife - I think the show is disastrous but that score is just beautiful. The others, eh, I could take or leave.