Claude-Michel Schönberg

Claude-Michel Schönberg was born on 6 July 1944 in Vannes, France, to Hungarian Jewish parents — a father who repaired organs and a mother who tuned pianos. A composer, book writer, record producer, singer, and songwriter, he is best known for his long creative partnership with lyricist Alain Boublil, a collaboration that produced some of the most commercially successful musicals in Broadway history.

Schönberg launched his career as a record producer and singer before turning his attention to the stage. In 1973 he composed most of the music for La Révolution Française, France's first rock opera, and performed in the production as King Louis XVI. The following year he wrote both music and lyrics for "Le Premier Pas," which reached number one in France and sold over one million copies; the song was produced by Franck Pourcel. Also in 1974, he wrote a French-language adaptation of the ABBA song "Waterloo," recorded by the group. He subsequently released an album of his own compositions as a singer.

In 1978, Schönberg and Boublil began developing a stage musical based on Victor Hugo's Les Misérables. The original production opened at the Palais de Sports in Paris in 1980, followed by a London premiere in 1985 and a Broadway opening on 12 March 1987. The Broadway production received twelve Tony Award nominations and won eight, among them Best Musical and Best Original Score. Schönberg personally received the Tony Award for Best Original Score and the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical, both in 1987, as well as the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music that same year. The production ran on Broadway until 18 May 2003, becoming the third-longest-running show in Broadway history at that time, behind only Cats and The Phantom of the Opera. Les Misérables marked its twentieth anniversary in London on 8 October 2005, and Schönberg oversaw a Broadway revival that opened at the Broadhurst Theatre on 9 November 2006, running through 6 January 2008.

Miss Saigon, the next major Schönberg-Boublil collaboration, premiered in London in 1989 with Lea Salonga and Jonathan Pryce in leading roles. Its Broadway transfer generated $24 million in advance ticket sales before opening on 11 April 1991, and the production received ten Tony nominations, including Best Musical and Best Original Score. Miss Saigon ran on Broadway until 28 January 2001. In 1997, Schönberg and Boublil brought Martin Guerre to the Prince Edward Theatre in London, where it won the 1997 Olivier Award and subsequently toured the United Kingdom and the United States.

Schönberg expanded into ballet composition in 2001 with Wuthering Heights, performed by the Northern Ballet Theatre Company in September 2002. In 2011 he composed the score for a second Northern Ballet production, Cleopatra, choreographed by the company's artistic director David Nixon, which toured the United Kingdom throughout that year.

The Pirate Queen, a musical centered on the sixteenth-century Irish chieftain Grace O'Malley, represented Schönberg and Boublil's next Broadway venture. The show completed an eight-week pre-Broadway tryout at Chicago's Cadillac Palace Theatre in November 2006 before opening at the Hilton Theater on 5 April 2007. Miss Saigon co-lyricist Richard Maltby Jr. contributed to revisions of the book and lyrics, and Graciela Daniele handled the musical staging. The production closed on 17 June 2007 after 85 performances and 32 previews, with a reported loss of nearly $18 million. Schönberg is also credited as a book writer on The Pirate Queen, as he is on Les Misérables and Miss Saigon.

Marguerite, another Schönberg work, features music by Michel Legrand and lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer. Set in German-occupied Paris during World War II and inspired by Alexandre Dumas fils's La Dame aux camélias, the piece concerns the mistress of a high-ranking German officer who becomes involved with a younger musician. Schönberg received a nomination for Best Original Song at both the 70th Golden Globe Awards and the 85th Academy Awards for "Suddenly," written for the 2012 film adaptation of Les Misérables.

In his personal life, Schönberg was previously married to television news anchor Béatrice Schönberg, with whom he has two children. In 2003 he married Charlotte Talbot, an English ballerina, with whom he has a daughter. He holds the rank of Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters, awarded in 2016, and was named a Knight of the Legion of Honour in 2024.