Review by Liz Eichler
With an excellent cast of stellar voices, Corner of the Sky: The Songs of Stephen Schwartz puts his music where it belongs: center stage.
Why Schwartz? First, he gave audiences Pippin, Godspell, The Magic Show and The Baker’s Wife while he was still in his twenties. His music and lyrics have been part of generations of childhoods through Disney films including Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and The Prince of Egypt. And, of course, there is Wicked, Children of Eden, Working, and the recent Queen of Versailles, and many more musical accomplishments. After more than five decades of creating award-winning, memorable music, it is time to sing his praises.
In fact, Cincinnati proclaimed September 9, 2026, Stephen Schwartz Day, and Schwartz was in the opening-night audience to receive the honor.
Conceived and created by Scott Coulter, the world-premiere musical revue showcases Schwartz’s music and lyrics while stripping away the stories that usually surround them. Coulter asks: “Could five decades of storytelling be traced back to the beginning? What if ‘Corner of the Sky,’ the ‘I want’ song from Schwartz’s first Broadway musical, contained the seeds for all that came after?”
Director and choreographer Vincent DeGeorge gives the music and performers space to feel the joy in the songs, as well as the loneliness, and the hope. DeGeorge allows the production to answer Coulter’s question in a compelling and cohesive way.
He lets them fly.
Corner of the Sky Begins
The show begins quietly when a songwriter enters a rooftop space, putters about a bit, then starts playing a beautiful grand piano. He scribbles, hits a few notes and begins shaping the lines of the song “Corner of the Sky.” He gets stuck on some rhymes. As the lyrics projected above him come alive, the cast appears, animating specific phrases.
This is the heart of “Corner of the Sky,” finding the place–or people–you belong to is an ongoing and universal search, from a queen to the baker’s wife, from the princes to the outcasts.
Both Songwriter and Music Director, John Boswell’s piano accompaniment demonstrates a love for every note. He also illuminates the songwriting process itself: finding the right words for a character, a moment or an emotion. Sometimes the lyrics arrive easily. Sometimes the songwriter labors over them. Characters slip in and out of his head and into the space.
The cast–Klea Blackhurst, Chris Blem, Jordyn Amani Jones, Kenneth Early, Chanduni Herath, Gavin Poronsky and Sydney Short–is uniformly strong. Jessica Hendy serves as female swing, ready to step in for any performer.
Every member of the cast gets a chance to shine, and they do. More importantly, they remain onstage throughout, listening and supporting one another. Director DeGeorge has created lovely tableaus while we focus on the music. That reinforces a sense of ensemble even as individual voices take center stage.
Goosebumps Throughout
There are plenty of goosebump-inducing moments.
The first comes with “Prepare Ye.” Those opening notes send me–and likely most grown theatre kids–immediately into a nostalgic wormhole.
As a child of the ’70s, I wore out library copies of Godspell and Pippin, much to the annoyance of my siblings. I can still recite every word. So when Klea Blackhurst began singing the comic “It’s an Art,” about a waitress from Working, I immediately anticipate that her distinctive vocal quality will be perfect for “No Time At All” from Pippin. Of course, Coulter includes this classic, and Blackhurst delivers one of the high points of the show. It is one of those moments that makes you remember exactly why these songs have endured.
Sydney Short delivers another standout with “Caviar Dreams” from The Queen of Versailles (2025). Short brings a grit and intensity that gives the song a new identity–maybe even more powerful than I recall of Kristin Chenoweth’s version, which ran on Broadway last fall. Paired with Jordyn Amani Jones’ “Extraordinary” from Pippin (1972) the mashup becomes one of the evening’s biggest crowd-pleasers, bringing many audience members to their feet.
Jordyn Amani Jones is stellar. They have the kind of voice and delivery that could make a phonebook worth listening to. Their rendition of “Meadowlark” from Schwartz’s The Baker’s Wife is a showstopper. Jones finds both the power and vulnerability in the song, and the applause builds and builds.
The cast also demonstrates the versatility of Schwartz’s music, particularly in the production’s later material. Gavin Poronsky and Chanduni Herath have some fun with “Popular,” showing that this collection isn’t all soaring ballads and emotional introspection.
Kenneth Early’s “Fathers and Sons” lands differently. Rather than a vocal showcase, it is an emotional punch to the gut, capturing the complicated relationship between a father and son in just a few minutes.
Beautiful, Amazing and I Wanted More
The production is set on a New York City rooftop, with multiple levels, skylights and ambient lighting. Sparkling lights appear on the walls and floor, creating an understated but lovely environment for the performers.
Brian c. Mehring’s lighting design, Cat Schmeal-Swope’s costumes and Shannon Rae Lutz’s properties and design assistance all contribute without competing with the real focus: the music. Becca Schall’s projections add handwriting to the wall, reinforcing the feeling that we are watching a songwriter create and shape these pieces. (Does he only write in words? Do images or doodles ever arise?)
The sound is excellent, thanks to sound designers Jake Tillman and Danielle Lobello. The vocals come through beautifully, which is essential in a production built almost entirely around the human voice and a piano. Margot Whitney serves as production stage manager.
And yet, I left wanting more.
More time with Blackhurst singing “No Time At All.” More of Jordyn, especially in “Defying Gravity.” And perhaps more variety in the song selections. There are a lot of “I want” songs and ballads, and after a while, the emotional palette begins to feel somewhat similar. A little more of that tonal variety — perhaps even some additional percussion — could give the revue another dimension. Then again, he wrote a lot of great “I want songs” and ballads.
I wanted more of Blem’s rich voice. Blem’s rendition of “Out There” from The Hunchback of Notre Dame deserves more applause. The production moved on too quickly without giving the audience a chance to respond to his powerful character work and mashup with Poronsky’s “Boy on the Roof.”
Overall
“Leave them wanting more” may be part of the magic of the concept.
Coulter’s compilation gives the songs room to become something else, revealing connections across five decades of Schwartz’s work and, ideally, enticing audiences to seek out more of it.
Corner of the Sky takes the songs out of the corner of a musical and puts them center stage.
Corner of the Sky: The Songs of Stephen Schwartz runs through September 27 at Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati. The production runs approximately 90 minutes with no intermission. Tickets begin at $22. Get tickets at the Ensemble Cincinnati Box Office HERE.
