Stephen Schwartz joined OPERA America President/CEO Michael J. Bobbitt for a conversation exploring his creative process, approach to storytelling, and insights into the intersection of opera and musical theater.
Michael J. Bobbitt joined OPERA America as president and CEO in January 2026. Bobbitt is a nationally recognized arts executive, producer, and artist whose career bridges public policy, organizational transformation, and creative practice. Before coming to OPERA America, he served as executive director of the Mass Cultural Council in Boston since 2021. As Massachusetts’ highest-ranking public official for arts and culture, he led strategy, operations, and cross-sector partnerships for a $29.7B creative economy. During his tenure, the agency secured $60.1 million in COVID relief; state appropriations grew from $18.2 million to $26.9 million; and the arts were explicitly embedded in statewide health, education, and economic policies.
Before public service, Bobbitt led two producing theaters. As producing artistic director of New Repertory Theatre (Massachusetts) from 2019 to 2021, he repositioned the company around inclusion and community engagement while growing audiences, ticket revenue, contributed income, and board giving. From 2007 to 2019, as artistic director of Adventure Theatre MTC (Maryland), he oversaw major audience growth, quadrupled fundraising, commissioned more than 50 new works, earned national media attention, merged with a theater academy to strengthen education pipelines, and pioneered sensory-friendly/autism-inclusive performances that became a national model.
Bobbitt’s work as a playwright, director, and choreographer includes adaptations and premieres such as Bob Marley’s Three Little Birds, The Stephen Schwartz Project, The Yellow Rose of Texas, The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings, Caps for Sale, Garfield: The Musical with Cattitude, Jumanji, Make Way for Ducklings, Big the Musical (TYA), and Monster Mash, the Musical. His work has garnered multiple Helen Hayes nominations, including one for the Charles MacArthur Award for Outstanding New Play or Musical. Directing and choreography credits span the National Philharmonic, Washington National Opera (with Washington Performing Arts), Ford’s Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Studio Theatre, the Kennedy Center, La Jolla Playhouse, Singapore Repertory Theatre, Center Stage, and others.
A trumpet and voice major in college, Bobbitt later studied theater at CAP21 (NYU Tisch) and the American Musical and Dramatic Academy and dance at The Washington Ballet. He holds an M.B.A. in arts innovation and a B.A. summa cum laude in interdisciplinary studies, with executive education at Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard Business School, and National Arts Strategies’ Chief Executive Program. He has taught at Boston Conservatory at Berklee, The Catholic University of America, Howard University, George Washington University, and other institutions.
Stephen Schwartz wrote the music and lyrics for the current Broadway hit Wicked, and has also contributed music and/or lyrics to Godspell, Pippin, The Magic Show, The Baker's Wife, Working (which he also adapted and directed), Rags, and Children of Eden. He collaborated with Leonard Bernstein on the English texts for Bernstein’s Mass and wrote the title song for the play and movie Butterflies Are Free. For children, he has written songs for two musicals, Captain Louie and My Son Pinocchio. He has also worked in film, collaborating with Alan Menken on the songs for Disney’s Enchanted as well as the animated features Pocahontas and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and writing the songs for the DreamWorks animated feature The Prince of Egypt. His first opera, Seance On A Wet Afternoon, was produced at Opera Santa Barbara and New York City Opera. A book about his career, “Defying Gravity,” has been released by Applause Books. Mr. Schwartz has been inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and has been given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Awards include three Academy Awards, four Grammy Awards, and a tiny handful of tennis trophies. stephenschwartz.com.
