“Prince of Egypt” musical: songs from the summit

Maybe this is where all songs should be created – atop Mount Sinai, viewing miles of expanse and centuries of human history.
That’s where “When You Believe” began. It would become a global hit (having Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey helped); so would the movie it was written for, “The Prince of Egypt.”
Now, 25 years later, the story and songs are back in a new form: “The Prince of Egypt: The Musical”(shown here) was filmed live in London; it’s available Dec. 5, via Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.
This was “written a long time ago, from a story thousands of years ago,” songwriter Stephen Schwartz said. It’s also disturbingly current – clashes in the Holy Land, pitting neighbors against each other.
It was originally propelled by the enthusiasm of Jeffrey Katzenberg, who was responding to a setback. “His leaving Disney didn’t have the best of circumstances,” Schwartz said in a virtual press conference.
After becoming chairman of Disney Studios at 33, Katzenberg led a worst-to-first surge. A decade later, he was turned down for a promotion he said he’d been promised. He left Disney in 1994 and linked with Steven Spielberg and David Geffen to form DreamWorks.
That’s where he revived a project he’d been suggesting at Disney – a sort of animated “Ten Commandments.” It became “Prince of Egypt,” the company’s first animated movie. “We all recognized the importance of the project,” Schwartz said.
That included Spielberg. “It was Steven’s idea to do it from the perspective of a brother” dispute.
Schwartz was signed as the composer and lyricist and was taken on a Holy Land trip, to gather inspiration. In the desert, someone suggested the film needed a big anthem. “The next morning we all climbed Mount Sinai,” Schwartz said, and he began to craft “When You Believe.”
Carey and Houston sang (“that was the persuasive power of Jeffrey Katzenberg”), with Carey recording her part in Spain. The song peaked at No. 15 in the U.S., but reached No. 1 in some countries. The movie topped $100 million in the U.S. and the song won an Academy Award, Schwartz’s third (after two for “Pocahontas”).
Katzenberg’s career soon soared with the “Shrek” films and crashed with Quibi. Meanwhile, there were efforts to turn “Prince of Egypt” into a stage musical. Shows were done in California, in Utah, in Denmark and then in London …. where Scott Schwartz (Stephen’s son, a busy director on Broadway and beyond) was in charge of a massive, 60-performer show.
That version opened in February of 2020 … was shut down by Covid rules after six weeks … then returned 16 months later, for a half-year run that drew mixed reviews. Then came the film.
Along the way, there were changes. Schwartz wrote 10 new songs, to go with five (including “When You Believe”) from the original. Other changes made this … well, not cartoony.
The movie “kind of made fun of the polytheists for their beliefs,” Schwartz said. Instead, he wanted this “to not be turning into a story about ‘my god is better than your god.’”
That’s been his approach throughout his career: Schwartz, who is Jewish, had his first success writing songs for characters based on Jesus and disciples.
He co-wrote four student musicals at Carnegie Mellon and rewrote two after his 1968 graduation:
— “Godspell” opened off-Broadway in 1971; Drama Desk awards named Schwartz the year’s most promising composer and most promising lyricist.
— “Pippin” reached Broadway in ‘72, bringing his first Tony nominattion.
He’s had others Tony nominations — for “Working,” “Rags” and, especially, “Wicked.” He’s also done movies, including “Enchanted” and “The Hunchback of Notre Dame.”
And now “Prince of Egypt” goes full circle – a movie became a stage musical which became a movie.