Godspell. Pippin. Wicked.

Huge Broadway hits with one thing in common: Stephen Schwartz – the brilliant man who wrote them.

Stephen Schwartz, an award-winning American musical theater lyricist and composer, not only wrote these amazingly successful musicals, but his lyrics also appeared in such films as POCAHONTAS, THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME, THE PRINCE OF EGYPT, AND ENCHANTED.

Lyrics that won him three Grammy Awards, three Academy Awards, four Drama Desk Awards, one Golden Globe Award, and six Tony nominations. Not bad.

And this past Saturday and Sunday, 40 students from McCoy Rigby Dance Academy and The California Conservatory had the privilege of performing at the Irvine Barclay Theater where Stephen Schwartz was the guest of honor at “Defying Gravity – The Music and Lyrics of Stephen Schwartz.” Featuring songs from the entire Schwartz songbook, our dancers shared the stage with the incredible Broadway talents of Shoshana Bean (“Wicked”), Rex Smith (“Pirates of Penzanze,” “Sunset Boulevard,” “Scarlet Pimpernel”). Eric Kunze (“Miss Saigon,” “Les Miserables,” “Damn Yankees”). Marissa Perry (“Hairspray”), Lindsay Mendez (“Grease”), Terron Brooks (“The Lion King”), Jonelle Allen (“two Gentlemen of Verone”), and our very own Tony-nominated actor Cathy Rigby McCoy (“Peter Pan,” “Seussical”).

It was a fantastic performance by all, one that even included a solo by Chloe Leatherwood. Susanne Stewart, team mom for ballet and Future Stars at MRDA, had this to say: “I went to the Stephen Schwartz show at the Irvine Barclay theater last night and it was wonderful! Cathy performed and I was truly blown away by her awesome performance. She looked exquisite and she even sang in French! Chloe looked absolutely beautiful when she performed her solo. We also had quite a few of our girls dancing as well and they did a wonderful job. We are so fortunate to be surrounded by so many talented people and this was an opportunity to see just how great that talent is.”

And it truly was an amazing opportunity for our girls here at MRDA, performing alongside such brilliant Broadway talents to songs written by such a brilliant Broadway lyricist.