‘This is a story for right now’ Schwartz says about ‘The Prince of Egypt: The Musical’
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“The Prince of Egypt: The Musical” combines music by Grammy and Academy Award-winning composer Stephen Schwartz (of “Wicked” fame) with Scott Schwartz’s directing abilities to transform a popular into a musical.
Distributed by NBCUniversal Global Distribution, “The Prince of Egypt: The Musical” is based on the DreamWorks animated film by the same name.
Filmed live in the West End’s Dominion Theater in London, “The Prince of Egypt: The Musical” will be available to rent or buy on Tuesday.
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“Journey through the wonders of Ancient Egypt as two young men, raised together as brothers in a kingdom of privilege, find themselves suddenly divided by a secret past,” a press release for the musical said. “One must rule as Pharaoh, the other must rise up and free his true people; both face a destiny that will change history forever.”
It’s a fresh twist on the movie, the director Schwartz told me on a video call. “I think there are 12 totally new songs, and a lot of new music in the show. There are characters in the show that are not in the movie.”
Schwartz decided to adapt the movie into a musical when DreamWorks approached him about the adaptation. He said it was driven by several requests from amateur and professional theater companies to make into a stage show.
For Schwartz, it was an exciting prospect.
“To take this great film with these amazing songs and this epic, beloved story, a story that’s so central to so many different cultures around the world and to find a way to do that on stage,” he said. “I mean, that was an offer I couldn’t refuse.”
Calling the film “brilliant,” Schwartz said adapting it into a musical allowed the emotions to shine through.
There’s moment of struggles in show as well as joy, he said. “There’s moments of humor and delight and surprise to be able to feel that energy of seeing live history.”
For those who are skeptical about seeing the show, Schwartz said that the core of the story is “deeply human.”
“This is a story about people contending with events that are larger than themselves and changes and struggles in the world that are bigger than than that. And how those changes and struggles affect them and their relationships,” he said.
“I think this is a story for right now,” Schwartz said. “It’s a story about brothers. It’s a story about love. It’s story about people in extraordinary circumstances.”
He hopes that the story will lead to reconciliation and a desire to understand others more.
“I hope people will say ‘it makes me want to call my brother or my sister or my dad or my mom and talk to them and reconnect with them,” he said. He added that he hopes the audience pushes “as deeply as possible into their human experience of these events.”
