Composer, singer plan a ‘Wicked’ good concert

October 2, 2016 at 12:05a.m.

At the end of the ’90s, Scott Coulter was already enjoying quite a bit of success as one of New York City’s honored cabaret vocalists.

However, his life changed when he attended a regional musical theater workshop, which for all intents and purposes isn’t the type of event that normally results in the opportunity of a lifetime.

“Yeah, it always pays to show up and do your work, you never know what’s going to happen,” said Coulter, calling from New York City.

What happened was Broadway composer and lyricist Stephen Schwartz struck up a conversation with Coulter. Eventually, the Tony Award-nominated legend, who is known for “Godspell,” “Pippin” and “Wicked,” asked the singer to join the touring act “Defying Gravity: Stephen Schwartz & Friends,” which comes to Westminster College’s Orr Auditorium on Thursday.

Since the turn of the century, the show, starring Schwartz with Coulter and Tony Award-winner Debbie Gravitte, has been wowing audiences with one memorable song after another.

“Stephen Schwartz is the greatest musical theater writer of my generation and one of the greatest of all time, but definitely of my generation,” Coulter said. “I grew up with his music. Being asked to sing with him and travel around the world with him was a dream come true.

“I think the music that he writes resonates so strongly with me and with most people because all of his songs really tell the story of the dreamer and the person yearning for their place in the world.”

That’s definitely the case with Pippin looking for his corner of the sky; the Hunchback of Notre Dame looking for his place out there and Elphaba wanting to defy gravity.

Invariably, Coulter has found his place in the musical theater world and more. Not only does he regularly perform with Schwartz, but in the past he’s shared the stage with Tony-Award winner Ben Vereen and Grammy Award-winner Sheena Easton.

In addition to his love of cabaret singing, the tenor has performed with symphonies all over the world including San Francisco, Baltimore, Seattle, Phoenix, Winnipeg, St. Louis and Calgary.

Still, Coulter said there’s nothing quite like the music of Schwartz that speaks to the most basic and important human emotions. He said unlike other composers who center their work around a couple of notes, Schwartz’s material runs the gamut both musically and emotionally.

Also, Coulter said his music isn’t grounded in any one period, which creates a timeless appeal.

“It’s really great to sort of be able to present his music and lyrics, and have them affect an audience in a really powerful way,” Coulter said. “And as many times as I’ve seen that happen, it never fails to move me to see how much of an impact that he’s had on people.”

He added, “They are always amazed at the breadth of his work. You see that on people’s faces when a song starts.”