Defying Gravity takes readers into the creative world of Broadway and film composer Stephen Schwartz, from writing Godspell's score at age 23 through the making of the megahit Wicked. For this first authorized biography, de Giere draws from 80 hours of interviews with Schwartz and over 100 interviews with his colleagues, friends, and family. Her sympathetic yet frank narrative reveals never-before-told stories and explores both Schwartz's phenomenal hits and expensive flops. The book also includes a series of Creativity Notes with insights about artistic life, and more than 200 photographs and illustrations. In Defying Gravity, Carol de Giere pulls back the curtain and gives us a fascinating glimpse into the creative process of one of the musical theater's greatest wizards. - Stephen Flaherty, Tony-Award winning composer of Ragtime, Seussical, and Once On This Island This is a fantastic book, scrapbook, story and photo collection. - Broadwayworld.com Defying Gravity, which takes its name from the Act 1 closer in Wicked, is not just a he-did-this-then-he-did-this biography: de Giere reconstructs the collaborative process that brought Schwartz's works to the Great White Way. - The Journal News A wonderful read. And the Wicked section provides a comprehensive account of a thoroughly recondite and even mysterious event: the gestation and birth of a phenomenon. - Gregory Maguire, author of Wicked (the novel), Son of a Witch, and A Lion Among Men Trying to reconstruct the writing process of a musical is nearly impossible. Carol de Giere has captured it. - Winnie Holzman, book writer for Wicked (the musical) This is a loving, in-depth look at the career and process of one of our most important musical theater writers. I am happy to have it on my shelf. - Lynn Ahrens, Tony Award-winning lyricist of Ragtime A must-have for any of the composer's many fans. - Theatermania.com

Defying Gravity takes readers into the creative world of Broadway and film composer Stephen Schwartz, from writing Godspell's score at age 23 through the making of the megahit Wicked. For this first authorized biography, de Giere draws from 80 hours of interviews with Schwartz and over 100 interviews with his colleagues, friends, and family. Her sympathetic yet frank narrative reveals never-before-told stories and explores both Schwartz's phenomenal hits and expensive flops.

Defying Gravity takes readers into the creative world of Broadway and film composer Stephen Schwartz, from his experiences writing Godspell's score at age 23 through the collaborative journey for the making of the megahit musical Wicked. For this first authorized career biography, Carol de Giere draws from 80 hours of interviews with Schwartz and over 100 interviews with his colleagues, friends, and family members. Her sympathetic yet frank narrative reveals many never-before-told stories and delves into the challenging issues of collaboration and the decisions that led to phenomenal hits as well as expensive flops. Named after the heroine's song at the exhilarating first-act climax of Wicked, the book attests to Schwartz's determination to follow his vision despite setbacks and negative criticism. And, in a series of Creativity Notes, the composer shares his insights on tapping the subconscious mind, overcoming creative blocks, writing for character detail, surviving countless rewrites, working with feedback, and other topics. The book also covers the movie songwriting that landed Schwartz three Oscar nominations for Enchanted and three Academy Awards for Pocahontas and The Prince of Egypt.