Stephen Schwartz will receive the 2015 Isabelle Stevenson Tony Award. The honor is presented annually to a member of the theater community who has made a substantial contribution of volunteered time and effort on behalf of one or more humanitarian, social service or charitable organizations.
Schwartz will be presented with the Award for his commitment to serving artists and fostering new talent through his work with ASCAP Musical Theatre Workshop, ASCAP Foundation and helping develop new partnerships as President of the Dramatists Guild.
“Stephen’s successes span far beyond the Broadway stage through his commitment to fostering the next generation of musical theatre actors, lyricists and composers. We are thrilled to celebrate his countless triumphs with this honor,” Charlotte St. Martin, Executive Director of The Broadway League, and Heather Hitchens, President of the American Theatre Wing, said in a statement.
Schwartz began his Broadway career in 1969 with the title song for Butterflies Are Free. Since then, he has become known for his music and lyrics for such shows as Godspell, Pippin and Wicked. This will be Schwartz's first Tony Award.
For the past six years, as President of the Dramatists Guild, he has worked to strengthen and protect the rights of American dramatists and as a long-standing board member of the ASCAP Foundation, he has served as artistic director of the Musical Theatre Workshops in New York and Los Angeles for more than 20 years. Internationally, Schwartz has done master classes for musical theatre writers and performers in such countries as Germany, Australia, Latvia and Kenya. His other charitable work has included organizing last fall’s Uprising of Love concert at the Gershwin Theatre to benefit and raise awareness of LGBT people in hostile countries, producing benefits for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and the Faustman Clinic, and appearing in benefits for such causes as the Sandy Hook families, Marriage Equality, the Orphaned Starfish Foundation and the Gender and Family Project.
Bruce Willis and Mary-Louise Parker will announce the 2015 Tony Award Nominations on April 28. The 2015 Tony Awads will take place on June 7.
