Claude-Michel Schönberg
Encyclopedia
Claude-Michel Schönberg (born 6 July 1944 Vannes, France) is a French record producer, actor, singer, songwriter, and musical theatre composer, best known for his collaborations with the lyricist Alain Boublil
.
These include the musicals:
He wrote most of the music for the French musical and rock opera
, La Révolution Française
, France's first rock opera, in 1973, and also played the role of King Louis XVI
in the show's production that year.
In 1974 he wrote the music and the lyrics of the song "Le Premier Pas", which became the number one hit in France that year and sold over one million copies. Le Premier Pas was produced by Franck Pourcel
.
Schönberg then made an album in which he sang his own pieces. In 1978, he dedicated his full attention to musicals when he and Boublil conceived the idea for a stage musical version of Victor Hugo
's Les Misérables
, which opened at the Palais de Sports in Paris in 1980. The musical opened to acclaim in London in 1985 and on Broadway in 1987. The Broadway production was nominated for twelve Tony Awards and won eight, including Best Musical and Best Original Score.
In 1989, Schönberg and Boublil took London by storm with the musical Miss Saigon
, which starred Lea Salonga
and Jonathan Pryce
. In its transition to Broadway the show broke advance-ticket sales, earning $24 million before its premiere on 11 April 1991. The show was nominated for ten Tony awards, including Best Musical and Best Original Score.
In 1997 Schönberg and Boublil premiered a new musical, Martin Guerre
at the Prince Edward Theatre
in London. The musical won the 1997 Olivier Award and went on to tour the UK and the United States.
2001 saw the composition of Schönberg's first ballet score, Wuthering Heights. This production was performed by the United Kingdom's Northern Ballet Theatre Company in September 2002.
Schönberg's next project with Boublil was The Pirate Queen
, a musical about the 16th century Irish pirate, chieftain and adventuress Grace O'Malley. The Pirate Queen completed its 8-week pre-Broadway tryout at Chicago
's Cadillac Palace Theatre on 26 November 2006. The show underwent further development in preparation for its Broadway previews at the Hilton Theater in March 2007. The Broadway opening date was 5 April 2007. Miss Saigon
co-lyricist Richard Maltby, Jr. came on-board to work with Boublil on revisions to the book and lyrics. Additionally, Graciela Daniele worked on the musical staging.
Following a critical savaging and poor ticket sales, The Pirate Queen closed on 17 June 2007 after 85 performances and 32 previews, resulting in a loss of almost $18 million, ranking it among the largest commercial flops in Broadway history.
Les Misérables celebrated its twentieth anniversary in London on 8 October 2005. The Broadway production closed on 18 May 2003, making it the third-longest-running Broadway musical following Cats
and The Phantom of the Opera
. Schönberg is currently overseeing the production of Les Misérables that returned to Broadway for an intended six-month engagement at the Broadhurst Theatre
on 9 November 2006, although it later extended its run.
Schönberg's next project with Boubil, Marguerite
, includes music by Michel Legrand
and lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer
. Set during World War II in occupied Paris, and inspired by the romantic novel La Dame aux camélias by Alexandre Dumas, fils
, Marguerite is about the mistress of a high-ranking German officer who attracts the love of a musician half her age.
In 2011 Schönberg created the musical score for the new ballet Cleopatra for the Northern Ballet, based in Leeds. Choreography is by the Ballet's artistic director David Nixon. The show is in the UK throughout the spring, summer, and autumn of 2011.
evening news anchor Béatrice Schönberg
. In 2003 he married the English ballerina Charlotte Talbot. He has three children, a son and two daughters.
Alain Boublil
Alain Boublil is a musical theatre lyricist and librettist, best known for his collaborations with the composer Claude-Michel Schönberg for musicals on Broadway and London's West End...
.
These include the musicals:
- La Révolution FrançaiseLa Révolution Française (rock opera)La Révolution Française is a French rock opera by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Raymond Jeannot, book by Alain Boublil and Jean-Max Rivière, created in 1973. The show premiered at the Palais des Sports de Paris.-Synopsis:...
(1973) - Les MisérablesLes Misérables (musical)Les Misérables , colloquially known as Les Mis or Les Miz , is a musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg, based on the novel of the same name by Victor Hugo....
(1980) - Miss SaigonMiss SaigonMiss Saigon is a musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil, with lyrics by Boublil and Richard Maltby, Jr.. It is based on Giacomo Puccini's opera Madame Butterfly, and similarly tells the tragic tale of a doomed romance involving an Asian woman abandoned by her American lover...
(1989) - Martin GuerreMartin Guerre (musical)Martin Guerre is a two-act musical with a book by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil, lyrics by Alain Boublil and Stephen Clark, and music by Claude-Michel Schönberg....
(1996) - The Pirate QueenThe Pirate QueenThe Pirate Queen is a musical written by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil, best known for their adaptation of Les Misérables. John Dempsey is the co-lyricist. The Pirate Queen marks the first time Boublil and Schönberg have created a musical with American collaborators...
(2006) - MargueriteMarguerite (musical)Marguerite is a musical with a book by Alain Boublil, Claude-Michel Schönberg and Jonathan Kent, lyrics by Alain Boublil and Herbert Kretzmer, and music by Michel Legrand, with original French lyrics by Boublil. Based on the romantic novel La Dame aux Camélias by Alexandre Dumas, fils, the musical...
(2008)
Career
Schönberg began his career as a record producer and a singer.He wrote most of the music for the French musical and rock opera
Rock opera
A rock opera is a work of rock music that presents a storyline told over multiple parts, songs or sections in the manner of opera. A rock opera differs from a conventional rock album, which usually includes songs that are not unified by a common theme or narrative. More recent developments include...
, La Révolution Française
La Révolution Française (rock opera)
La Révolution Française is a French rock opera by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Raymond Jeannot, book by Alain Boublil and Jean-Max Rivière, created in 1973. The show premiered at the Palais des Sports de Paris.-Synopsis:...
, France's first rock opera, in 1973, and also played the role of King Louis XVI
Louis XVI of France
Louis XVI was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre until 1791, and then as King of the French from 1791 to 1792, before being executed in 1793....
in the show's production that year.
In 1974 he wrote the music and the lyrics of the song "Le Premier Pas", which became the number one hit in France that year and sold over one million copies. Le Premier Pas was produced by Franck Pourcel
Franck Pourcel
Franck Pourcel was a French easy listening musician.-Biography:Born in Marseille, Pourcel's father started to teach him music at the age of six...
.
Schönberg then made an album in which he sang his own pieces. In 1978, he dedicated his full attention to musicals when he and Boublil conceived the idea for a stage musical version of Victor Hugo
Victor Hugo
Victor-Marie Hugo was a Frenchpoet, playwright, novelist, essayist, visual artist, statesman, human rights activist and exponent of the Romantic movement in France....
's Les Misérables
Les Misérables (musical)
Les Misérables , colloquially known as Les Mis or Les Miz , is a musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg, based on the novel of the same name by Victor Hugo....
, which opened at the Palais de Sports in Paris in 1980. The musical opened to acclaim in London in 1985 and on Broadway in 1987. The Broadway production was nominated for twelve Tony Awards and won eight, including Best Musical and Best Original Score.
In 1989, Schönberg and Boublil took London by storm with the musical Miss Saigon
Miss Saigon
Miss Saigon is a musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil, with lyrics by Boublil and Richard Maltby, Jr.. It is based on Giacomo Puccini's opera Madame Butterfly, and similarly tells the tragic tale of a doomed romance involving an Asian woman abandoned by her American lover...
, which starred Lea Salonga
Lea Salonga
Lea Salonga-Chien is a mezzo-soprano singer and actress from the Philippines well known for originating the lead role of Kim in the musical Miss Saigon, for which she won the Olivier, Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics and Theatre World awards.She was the first Asian to play the roles of Éponine and...
and Jonathan Pryce
Jonathan Pryce
Jonathan Pryce, CBE is a Welsh stage and film actor and singer. After studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and meeting his longtime partner English actress Kate Fahy in 1974, he began his career as a stage actor in the 1970s...
. In its transition to Broadway the show broke advance-ticket sales, earning $24 million before its premiere on 11 April 1991. The show was nominated for ten Tony awards, including Best Musical and Best Original Score.
In 1997 Schönberg and Boublil premiered a new musical, Martin Guerre
Martin Guerre (musical)
Martin Guerre is a two-act musical with a book by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil, lyrics by Alain Boublil and Stephen Clark, and music by Claude-Michel Schönberg....
at the Prince Edward Theatre
Prince Edward Theatre
The Prince Edward Theatre is a West End theatre situated on Old Compton Street, just north of Leicester Square, in the City of Westminster.The theatre was designed in 1930 by Edward A. Stone, with an interior designed by Marc-Henri Levy and Gaston Laverdet...
in London. The musical won the 1997 Olivier Award and went on to tour the UK and the United States.
2001 saw the composition of Schönberg's first ballet score, Wuthering Heights. This production was performed by the United Kingdom's Northern Ballet Theatre Company in September 2002.
Schönberg's next project with Boublil was The Pirate Queen
The Pirate Queen
The Pirate Queen is a musical written by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil, best known for their adaptation of Les Misérables. John Dempsey is the co-lyricist. The Pirate Queen marks the first time Boublil and Schönberg have created a musical with American collaborators...
, a musical about the 16th century Irish pirate, chieftain and adventuress Grace O'Malley. The Pirate Queen completed its 8-week pre-Broadway tryout at Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
's Cadillac Palace Theatre on 26 November 2006. The show underwent further development in preparation for its Broadway previews at the Hilton Theater in March 2007. The Broadway opening date was 5 April 2007. Miss Saigon
Miss Saigon
Miss Saigon is a musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil, with lyrics by Boublil and Richard Maltby, Jr.. It is based on Giacomo Puccini's opera Madame Butterfly, and similarly tells the tragic tale of a doomed romance involving an Asian woman abandoned by her American lover...
co-lyricist Richard Maltby, Jr. came on-board to work with Boublil on revisions to the book and lyrics. Additionally, Graciela Daniele worked on the musical staging.
Following a critical savaging and poor ticket sales, The Pirate Queen closed on 17 June 2007 after 85 performances and 32 previews, resulting in a loss of almost $18 million, ranking it among the largest commercial flops in Broadway history.
Les Misérables celebrated its twentieth anniversary in London on 8 October 2005. The Broadway production closed on 18 May 2003, making it the third-longest-running Broadway musical following Cats
Cats (musical)
Cats is a musical composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot...
and The Phantom of the Opera
The Phantom of the Opera (1986 musical)
The Phantom of the Opera is a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on the French novel Le Fantôme de l'Opéra by Gaston Leroux.The music was composed by Lloyd Webber, and most lyrics were written by Charles Hart, with additional lyrics by Richard Stilgoe. Alan Jay Lerner was an early collaborator,...
. Schönberg is currently overseeing the production of Les Misérables that returned to Broadway for an intended six-month engagement at the Broadhurst Theatre
Broadhurst Theatre
The Broadhurst Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre located at 235 West 44th Street in midtown Manhattan.It was designed by architect Herbert J. Krapp, a well-known theatre designer who had been working directly with the Shubert brothers; the Broadhurst opened 27 September 1917...
on 9 November 2006, although it later extended its run.
Schönberg's next project with Boubil, Marguerite
Marguerite (musical)
Marguerite is a musical with a book by Alain Boublil, Claude-Michel Schönberg and Jonathan Kent, lyrics by Alain Boublil and Herbert Kretzmer, and music by Michel Legrand, with original French lyrics by Boublil. Based on the romantic novel La Dame aux Camélias by Alexandre Dumas, fils, the musical...
, includes music by Michel Legrand
Michel Legrand
Michel Jean Legrand is a French musical composer, arranger, conductor, and pianist...
and lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer
Herbert Kretzmer
Herbert Kretzmer OBE is a South African-born English journalist and lyric writer. He is perhaps best known as the lyricist for the English-language musical adaptation of Les Misérables.-Journalist:...
. Set during World War II in occupied Paris, and inspired by the romantic novel La Dame aux camélias by Alexandre Dumas, fils
Alexandre Dumas, fils
Alexandre Dumas, fils was a French author and dramatist. He was the son of Alexandre Dumas, père, also a writer and playwright.-Biography:...
, Marguerite is about the mistress of a high-ranking German officer who attracts the love of a musician half her age.
In 2011 Schönberg created the musical score for the new ballet Cleopatra for the Northern Ballet, based in Leeds. Choreography is by the Ballet's artistic director David Nixon. The show is in the UK throughout the spring, summer, and autumn of 2011.
Personal life
Claude-Michel Schönberg was formerly married to France 2France 2
France 2 is a French public national television channel. It is part of the state-owned France Télévisions group, along with France 3, France 4, France 5 and France Ô...
evening news anchor Béatrice Schönberg
Béatrice Schönberg
Béatrice Schönberg is a French TV journalist on France 2 for the 8 pm weekend news. Her newscasts can be seen on TV5 in Canada on weekends at 6:30 pm North American Eastern Time...
. In 2003 he married the English ballerina Charlotte Talbot. He has three children, a son and two daughters.
Broadway Productions
- The Pirate Queen [Original, Musical, Drama], Music, Book, 5 Apr 2007 – 17 Jun 2007
- Les Misérables [Revival, Musical, Drama] Music, Book, 9 Nov 2006 – 6 Jan 2008
- Miss Saigon [Original, Musical, Drama] Music, Book, 11 Apr 1991 – 28 Jan 2001
- Les Misérables [Original, Musical, Drama], Music, Book, 12 Mar 1987 – 18 May 2003