Okay, this sounds really interesting. A "jukebox" musical of sorts, using songs of a musical theater writer from shows already in existence. Say what?

I mean I might have expected a musical theater writer to put together some kind of book musical with all trunk songs to expose them to the public, or a revue with established songs (like Kander and Ebb's The World Goes Round) but using established songs for a new book musical is a whole different angle. And it's not telling the writer's life story, as in A Class Act. Cool! I'd love to see this one.

According to this article in Playbill:

Snapshots, a new book musical using the songs of composer-lyricist Stephen Schwartz, gets a world premiere run starting Dec. 9 as part of the Village Originals series at Village Theatre in suburban Seattle.

New scenes and recent Schwartz songs (including a Wicked trunk song) are part of the experience at Village Theatre's First Stage. Because of its developmental nature, the production is not open to reviewers. Performances continue to Dec. 23.

Snapshots features some of Schwartz's best-loved songs and the debut of new ones written just for this production, according to production notes. This is billed as "the first-ever full production of this new version" of the show, which borrows numbers from Schwartz's songbook to create a new book musical.

"Snapshots depicts a moment of crisis in the life of a suburban couple," according to notes. "Just as Sue is preparing to leave her husband, she stumbles upon a box of old photos-snapshots-chronicling their 30-year relationship. Sue and Dan re-examine their life together through the photographs, which come to life, allowing them to relive many moments of their life together. Six actors play the two characters at various stages of life and love, from burgeoning teenagers to upwardly-mobile twenty-somethings to their current empty nest mid-life crisis. Snapshots captures human relationships, in all their complicated, imperfect beauty."

Expect favorite Schwartz songs -- "Corner of the Sky," "All Good Gifts" and "Popular" -- in new contexts, "sometimes with new lyrics."

Audiences will also be treated to a never-before heard song that was cut from the Broadway sensation Wicked, called "Making Good."

Schwartz has also written several new songs especially for this production, including the title number.

"I've never seen anything like this," said Randy Brenner, director of Snapshots, in production notes. "It's not a typical revue, and it's not a typical book musical. It is a hybrid musical unlike anything that's been done before, a compilation of Schwartz's songs that, with a distinct book and dialogue, tells a story about two very real characters."

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