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:
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Schönberg began his career as a record producer and a singer.
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.[2] 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.[3]
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.[4]
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.
Claude-Michel Schönberg was formerly married to France 2 evening news anchor Béatrice Schönberg. In 2003 he married the English ballerina Charlotte Talbot. He has three children, a son and two daughters.
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