Defying Gravity — The Concert | The Songs of Stephen Schwartz

A magnificent concert … leaves audiences enchanted.Musicalzentrale.de, Germany✦ ★★★★★Broadway GoldLimelight Magazine✦ ★★★★★Sensational. Don't Miss It.Theater Matters✦ ★★★★★The Perfect TributeDaily Review✦ ★★★★★StunningSBS✦ Every music theatre nerd's dream come true.Broadway World✦ A magnificent concert … leaves audiences enchanted.Musicalzentrale.de, Germany✦ ★★★★★Broadway GoldLimelight Magazine✦ ★★★★★Sensational. Don't Miss It.Theater Matters✦ ★★★★★The Perfect TributeDaily Review✦ ★★★★★StunningSBS✦ Every music theatre nerd's dream come true.Broadway World✦

About the Concert

Defying Gravity

Defying Gravity brings the musical world of Stephen Schwartz to the concert stage. From Godspell, Pippin and Wicked to Pocahontas, The Prince of Egypt and Enchanted, the show celebrates songs that have become part of our lives over five decades.

Leading musical theatre voices and a live orchestra take audiences from intimate ballads to soaring anthems, from "Corner of the Sky" and "Day by Day" to "When You Believe", "For Good" and "Defying Gravity", in an evening of theatrical magic.

First staged at Sydney's Theatre Royal in 2016 with Sutton Foster, Betty Buckley and Aaron Tveit, Defying Gravity made its European debut in 2026 with the WDR Funkhausorchester at the Cologne Philharmonic Hall, where Stephen Schwartz joined a cast of some of Europe's greatest musical theatre stars on stage for the encore.

Stephen Schwartz

Music & Lyrics

Stephen
Schwartz

“Defying Gravity brings together songs from across my whole career. I’m delighted to see the concert reaching new audiences around the world.”

— Stephen Schwartz

Stephen Schwartz wrote the music and lyrics for the iconic Broadway hit Wicked, and has also contributed music and/or lyrics to Godspell, Pippin, The Magic Show, The Baker's Wife, Working (which he also adapted and directed), Rags, and Children of Eden.

A three-time Academy Award winner and four-time Grammy recipient, his film work includes Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Enchanted, and The Prince of Egypt.

Full biography →

Musical Theatre’s Finest

Sutton Foster, Aaron Tveit and Betty Buckley are among the acclaimed artists who have brought Defying Gravity to life, alongside leading voices from the West End, Australia and Europe.

Sutton Foster performing at Theatre Royal Sydney.
Sydney 2016 → Sutton Foster Photograph © Robert Catto
Betty Buckley singing with one hand raised at Theatre Royal Sydney.
Sydney 2016 → Betty Buckley Photograph © Robert Catto
Aaron Tveit performing at Theatre Royal Sydney.
Sydney 2016 → Aaron Tveit Photograph © Robert Catto
The original Sydney company performing around the piano with Stephen Schwartz.
Sydney 2016 → David Harris, Helen Dallimore, Stephen Schwartz, Aaron Tveit, Betty Buckley, Sutton Foster and Joanna Ampil at Theatre Royal Sydney. Photograph © Robert Catto
The Defying Gravity company taking their bows in front of the WDR Funkhausorchester.
Germany 2026 → Roberta Valentini, Milica Jovanović, Guy Simpson (conductor), Stephen Schwartz, Harriet Jones, Anton Zetterholm and Thomas Hohler, with the WDR Funkhausorchester at the Cologne Philharmonic Hall. Photograph © Claus Langer
Roberta Valentini performing with the orchestra at the Cologne Philharmonic Hall.
Germany 2026 → Roberta Valentini Photograph © Claus Langer

Stay in Touch

Join Us!