Stephen Schwartz isn’t exactly a songwriter known for his pathos, but something about The Stephen Schwartz Project at MetroStage makes his music seem even more sanitized.

The revue, which focuses on the show tune composer behind such works as Pippin, Godspell and Wicked, does its best to try to breathe new life into some of Schwartz’s songs by featuring non-traditional arrangements. The problem is that few of the re-workings end up for the better; a funky, unapologetically upbeat take on “Magic To Do” divests the song of its somewhat unsettling vibe (something similar happens when the other Pippin number, “The Right Track,” is given the spoken-word treatment). A solo rendition of the gorgeous “Meadowlark” cuts the whole fact that the central character of the song, well, dies. And it’s unclear why “Day By Day” is done in multiple languages, save for the fact of being different for the sake of doing so.