On this episode we are excited to bring you novelist, playwright and actor Ashley Griffin talking to the legendary Stephen Schwartz.
Among numerous theater works, Griffin’s award-winning plays Trial and Snow have had successful Off-Broadway runs, and her debut novel, The Spindle is out now, with a second novel Blank Paige set for release in 2023.
Schwartz has won numerous awards for his iconic musicals Godspell, Pippin and Wicked, and three Oscars for his music in the animated musical films Pocahontas and Prince of Egypt. He is also the author of a children’s book, Perfect Peach.
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A must listen for aspiring writers of any genre, Ashley and Stephen explore the commonalities of multiple artistic vocabularies, including adapting novels to theater, pairing technique with the magical work of the unconscious, and finding confidence as the youngest creative person in the room.
Read Along!
The Spindle is the classic fairy tale, Sleeping Beauty, retold from the dark fairy’s point of view…
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Set in the Celtic world of the fifth century, the Faeries, elemental spirits charged with caring for the earth and all its inhabitants, are being forgotten and facing extinction. In a desperate bid for survival, sweet, sycophantic Violet, faerie of beauty, love and dreams, breaks the faerie law and gives the barren Queen a child, threatening to dismantle the future of human history. Her sister Nor, the faerie of death, who desires to be truly loved though she is shunned by all mankind, must right Violet’s wrong and restore Princess Rose to her correct place in time before it’s too late. Her plan is threatened by a prideful King desperate to maintain his power, the kind, poor gardener Arthur whose destiny is endangered by his deep love for the Princess he was never supposed to meet, and Princess Rose herself, an intelligent, passionate young woman fated to become one of the greatest rulers the land has ever known.
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Check out this early children's novel by the prolific Stephen Schwartz!
A royal prince escapes his always anxious parents and together with his pet tortoise visits the mountain of the gods.
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The Book Club
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