The War Against Terror: The Musical

Samuel Schwenk (b. 1943) has had a seemingly endless career in musical theatre, with a prolific – some would even say diarrhoeatic – output that includes some of the most patriotic and most violent musicals ever written.

In the 1960s, the young Schwenk moved to New York from Alabama and cut his prodigious teeth on tributes to the classic ‘Golden Era’ of the Hollywood musicals. The nostalgic scores that he provided for such shows as Girl Silly (1965), Maybe, Mabel (1967) and Hey! Milwaukee (1968) were the start of what has become a life-long paean to the American way of life – the classic image mom’s apple pie.

That image first began transforming into the image of mom’s apple pie smashing into a human skull forever in Schwenk’s highly controversial, pro-war and pro-xenophobia off-Broadway revue If You Please, Johnny Chinese (1969), premiering in New York as it did at the outbreak of the Vietnam War. Undoubtedly there are no finer examples of the now-infamous Schwenkian marriage of staunch Republican doctrine with lilting melodies in such memorable numbers as “It Goes Ka-Chink”, “Don’t Be So Yellow” and “There’s A Nasty Nip In The Air”.

Although considered too outspoken by the Broadway art community to be nominated any Tony awards, If You Please … won Annies (Ayn Rand Arts Council Award) for Best Original Score and Most Jingoistic Musical. After a slight dip in his career with Definitely, Daphne (1970) (the ill-conceived sequel to Maybe, Mabel which closed after only 13 performances), Schwenk was back in full force.

The 70’s saw Schwenk produce some of his finest, most experimental and most dogmatic work to date. In December 1971 he went to see a production of Hair. Angered by what he saw as an ‘attack’ against the ideals and principles of the American middle-class, Schwenk responded with his own musical, Haircut (1972), an optimistic fable about an idealistic yuppie’s quest for money and power sent against the romantic backdrop of corporate New York. A notable stylistic departure for Schwenk, it proved to be the turning point in his career as he embraced the driving rhythm of modern rock music. The central song “The New Fiscal Year” became instant commercial classics and earned Schwenk another Annie for Best Original Score. Haircut was quickly followed by How to Succeed in College Without Taking Ecstasy (1973), from which the 11 o’ clock showstopper “Straighten Up and Fly Right” became a breakaway hit for clean-cut pop idols The Osmonds.

Hunky Dory (1975), Schwenk’s somewhat creative ‘re-imagining’ of the Wall Street Crash and the Great Depression, and Backgammon (1976), a triumphant parable of America’s complete and thorough victory against the Eastern Bloc nations in an international backgammon championship, both garnered Annies for Best Original Score and Best Special Effects (Bodily Fluids), the latter also winning the Pulitzer Prize for Propaganda, so far the only musical to be so honoured.

After providing music for the philosophical ballet-spectacular Christ on Ice (1977), Schwenk spent the next few years re-connecting with his Christian roots. He made a series of worthy attempts at Biblical adaptations such as Patience (1978), telling the story of the Book of Job, Apocalypse Wow (1979), an unprecedented 7-and-a-half-hour-long, painstaking rock-opera recreation of the Book of Revelations, and Leviticus! 3000 (1981), an adaptation of the Book of Leviticus set in space. In 1983 he released a compilation album of these religious works, The Gospel According to Schwenk, which features such selected highlights as “I Love You Through The Pain (And Plague of Boils)”, “My Will Be Done”, “When There Is Mildew (If It Is Greenish or Reddish)” and “Oh Rapture! (Burn In Hell, Faggots)”.

Schwenk professed to being so enlightened by the ‘spiritual odyssey’ he undertook in penning these works that his output lessened considerably over the next decade as he devoted much of his time to his newfound faith in the Church of Latter-Day Saints. He re-emerged briefly to provide music and lyrics for two musical sequels. Romeo and Juliet 2: Montague’s Revenge (1986), a vehicle for Madonna, was adapted into a film and became a box office smash at video stores named ‘Box Office’ nationwide. It’s About Time! (1990), a musical sequel to Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, faired less well, closing on off-off-off-Broadway, although the catchy number “Let’s Talk Rubbish” has since become a favourite on the cabaret circuit.

For a long time it appeared as if the General Patton of Broadway had hung up his megaphone. With the aftermath of 9/11, however, it is clear that he was merely looking for a worthy cause to champion. The War Against Terror (2002) marks a return to the classic Schwenk formula – militant bravado backed up by mule-headed seriousness and lilting melodies – that has so doggedly seen him through his long and decorated career and makes it clear that he is by no means willing to shut up just yet. He is already deep into the negotiations with Stanley Kubrick’s estate to buy up the rights for a musical adaptation of Full Metal Jacket with a Broadway opening projected for 2005.