Andrew Lloyd Webber
{{Short description|British theatre composer (born 1948)}}
{{British barrelled name|Lloyd Webber|Webber}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox person
| honorific_prefix = The Right Honourable
| name = The Lord Lloyd-Webber
| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|size=100|KG}}
| image = Andrew Lloyd Webber in Eurovision 2009.jpg
| caption = Lloyd Webber in 2009
| module = {{Infobox officeholder | embed = yes
| office = Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
| term_start = 25 February 1997
| term_end = 17 October 2017
Life peerage
}}
| birth_name = Andrew Lloyd Webber
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1948|03|22|df=y}}
| birth_place = London, England
| death_date =
| death_place =
| nationality =
| occupation = Composer
| alma_mater = Royal College of Music
| years_active = 1965–present
| organization = {{plainlist|
- Really Useful Group
- Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation
}}
| notable_works = {{plainlist|
- Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (1968)
- Jesus Christ Superstar (1970)
- Evita (1976)
- Cats (1981)
- Starlight Express (1984)
- The Phantom of the Opera (1986)
- Sunset Boulevard (1993)
- School of Rock (2015)
}}
| awards = Full list
| spouse = {{plainlist|
- {{marriage|Sarah Hugill|24 July 1971|14 November 1983|end=divorced}}
- {{marriage|Sarah Brightman|22 March 1984|3 January 1990|end=divorced}}
- {{marriage|Madeleine Gurdon|9 February 1991}}
}}
| children = 5, including Imogen and Nick
| father = William Lloyd Webber
| relatives = Julian Lloyd Webber (brother)
| website = {{URL|andrewlloydwebber.com}}
}}
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948) is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 21 musicals, a song cycle, a set of variations, two film scores, and a Latin Requiem Mass.
Several of Lloyd Webber's songs have been widely recorded and widely successful outside their parent musicals, such as "Memory" from Cats, "The Music of the Night" and "All I Ask of You" from The Phantom of the Opera, "I Don't Know How to Love Him" from Jesus Christ Superstar, "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" from Evita, and "Any Dream Will Do" from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. In 2001, The New York Times referred to him as "the most commercially successful composer in history". The Daily Telegraph named him in 2008 the fifth-most powerful person in British culture, on which occasion lyricist Don Black said that "Andrew more or less single-handedly reinvented the musical."{{cite news |title=The 100 most powerful people in British culture |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/3672604/The-100-most-powerful-people-in-British-culture-1-20.html |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |date=9 November 2016 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/3672604/The-100-most-powerful-people-in-British-culture-1-20.html |archive-date=10 January 2022}}{{cbignore}}
Lloyd Webber has received numerous awards, including a knighthood in 1992, followed by a peerage for services to the arts, six Tony Awards, seven Laurence Olivier Awards, three Grammy Awards (as well as the Grammy Legend Award), an Academy Award, 14 Ivor Novello Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Brit Award, the 2006 Kennedy Center Honors, and two Classic Brit Awards (for Outstanding Contribution to Music in 2008, and for Musical Theatre and Education in 2018).{{cite news |title=Kennedy Center Honors Pictures |url=http://www.cbsnews.com/2300-207_162-2224288.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110424073010/http://www.cbsnews.com/2300-207_162-2224288.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=24 April 2011 |publisher=CBS News |access-date=27 September 2014}}{{cite web |url=http://www.kennedy-center.org/explorer/artists/?entity_id=16264&source_type=A |title=Explore the Arts |work=The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts |access-date=27 September 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141103052402/http://www.kennedy-center.org/explorer/artists/?entity_id=16264&source_type=A |archive-date=3 November 2014}}[http://www.classicfm.com/concerts-events/classic-brit-awards/pictures/classic-brits-outstanding-contributions-lifetime-a/andrew-lloyd-webber/#t6teXvh4AdmTM7Rx.99 "Classic BRITs - Outstanding Contributions & Lifetime Achievement Awards"]. Classic FM. Retrieved 5 August 2015 In 2018, after Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety Special (Live), he became the thirteenth person to win an Oscar, an Emmy, a Grammy, and a Tony.{{cite news |title=John Legend, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice become EGOT winners |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/sep/10/john-legend-andrew-lloyd-webber-tim-rice-egot-winners |access-date=29 June 2019 |work=The Guardian}} He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, is an inductee into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and is a fellow of the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers, and Authors.{{cite web |url=http://www.basca.org.uk/about-us/people/fellows/ |title=Fellows – The British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors |publisher=Basca.org.uk |access-date=27 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131030090735/http://www.basca.org.uk/about-us/people/fellows/ |archive-date=30 October 2013 |url-status=dead}}
The Really Useful Group, Lloyd Webber's company, is one of the largest theatre operators in London. Producers in several parts of the UK have staged productions, including national tours, of Lloyd Webber musicals under licence from the Really Useful Group. He is also the president of the Arts Educational Schools, London, a performing arts school located in Chiswick, west London. Lloyd Webber is involved in a number of charitable activities, including the Elton John AIDS Foundation, Nordoff Robbins, Prostate Cancer UK and War Child. In 1992, he started the Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation which supports the arts, culture, and heritage of the UK.[http://www.andrewlloydwebberfoundation.com/what-we-do "What we do"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150810210350/http://andrewlloydwebberfoundation.com/what-we-do |date=10 August 2015}}. Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation. Retrieved 16 August 2015
Early life
Lloyd Webber was born on 22 March 1948, at Westminster Hospital in London,{{cite news|title = Births|date = 24 March 1948|newspaper = The Times|page = 1|quote = LLOYD WEBBER.—On March 22, 1948, at the Westminster Hospital, to JEAN, wife of DR. W. S. LLOYD WEBBER—a son.}}{{cite journal |doi=10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.24803 |title=Lloyd-Webber, Baron, (Andrew Lloyd Webber) (born 22 March 1948)|journal=Who's Who |year=2007}} the elder son of William Lloyd Webber (1914–1982), a composer and organist, and Jean Hermione Johnstone (1921–1993), a violinist and pianist.{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/features/3633292/Family-detective.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/features/3633292/Family-detective.html |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Family detective |first=Nick |last=Barratt |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |date= 7 July 2007}}{{cbignore}} His younger brother, Julian Lloyd Webber, is a world-renowned solo cellist.{{cite web |last=Barnett |first=Laura |title=Julian Lloyd Webber, cellist – portrait of the artist |url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2014/jan/08/julian-lloyd-webber-cellist-portrait-artist |work=The Guardian |date=8 January 2014 |access-date=25 December 2014}} On the BBC's genealogy series Who Do You Think You Are?, he learned that his mother's great-great-uncle was the soldier Sir Peregrine Maitland who in 1815 served as a major general at the Battle of Waterloo.{{cite news |title=Andrew Lloyd Webber |url=https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/featuredarticles/2023/who-do-you-think-you-are/andrew-lloyd-webber-1841/ |work=The Genealogist |access-date=11 June 2023}}
File:Royal College of Music - April 2007.jpg in London as did his father William. In 2014, he received an honorary doctorate from the college for his "contribution to musical life".{{cite news |title=Andrew Lloyd Webber honoured by Royal College of Music |url=https://www.thestage.co.uk/news/2014/andrew-lloyd-webber-honoured-royal-college-music/ |work=The stage |access-date=29 June 2019}}]]
Lloyd Webber started writing his own music at a young age: a suite of six pieces at the age of nine.Otis L. Guernsey, Jeffrey Sweet (1995). The Best Plays of 1994-1995. p. 109. Limelight Editions He also put on "productions" with Julian and his aunt Viola in his toy theatre (which he built at Viola's suggestion). In his memoir, he writes: "mum was determined that I should be a prodigy in something or other." His aunt Viola, an actress, took him to see many of her shows and through the stage door into the world of the theatre. His father enrolled him as a part-time student at the Eric Gilder School of Music in 1963.Lloyd Webber, Andrew (2018). [https://www.amazon.co.uk/Unmasked-Andrew-Lloyd-Webber/dp/000823759X/ Unmasked: A Memoir, pp. 41–42]. London: Harper Collins. At this time he was working on a Genghis Khan musical called Westonia!.{{cite news |title=Review: Unmasked – A memoir by Andrew Lloyd Webber |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/books/102457251/review-unmasked--a-memoir-by-andrew-lloyd-webber |access-date=21 November 2023 |website=Stuff}}
From 1960 to 1965, Lloyd Webber was a Queen's Scholar at Westminster School. An avid listener of 1960s rock and pop music, he called The Rolling Stones song "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" the "best record of the Sixties", and Dusty Springfield's rendition of "Son of a Preacher Man" the song that taught him "the power of a perfect pop song".{{cite news |title=Soundtrack to my life: Andrew Lloyd Webber |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2006/jun/18/40 |access-date=21 November 2023 |work=The Guardian}} He studied history for a term at Magdalen College, Oxford, although he abandoned the course in the winter of 1965 to study at the Royal College of Music in London and pursue his interest in musical theatre.Katie Marsico (2010). [https://books.google.com/books?id=LISu9S6HyqgC&pg=PA13 How to Analyze the Works of Andrew Lloyd Webber] pp.13-14. ABDO, 2010The Illustrated London News, Volume 277. p.46. The Illustrated London News & Sketch Ltd., 1989
Career
=Early years=
{{quote box|width=29%|align=right|quote="The names of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice are, of course, forever bound together in musical theatre history, like those of Gilbert and Sullivan."|source=—Theatre critic Mark Shenton on the partnership of Lloyd Webber and Rice.{{cite news |title=Mark Shenton meets Sir Tim Rice |url=https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatre-news/interviews/mark-shenton-meets-sir-tim-rice |access-date=21 November 2023 |work=London Theatre}}}}
In 1965, when Lloyd Webber was a 17-year-old budding musical-theatre composer, he was introduced to the 20-year-old aspiring pop-song writer Tim Rice. Their first collaboration was The Likes of Us, an Oliver!-inspired musical based on the true story of Thomas John Barnardo.{{cite news |title=Duo who lost their harmony: Can Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber make up? |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/features/duo-who-lost-their-harmony-can-tim-rice-and-andrew-lloyd-webber-make-up-8913927.html |work=The Independent |date=30 October 2013 |access-date=21 November 2023}} They produced a demo tape of that work in 1966,{{cite journal |last=Chandler |first=David |title='Everyone should have the opportunity': Alan Doggett and the modern British musical |journal=Studies in Musical Theatre |volume=6 |issue=3 |pages=275–289 |year=2012 |doi=10.1386/smt.6.3.275_1}} but the project failed to gain a backer.Ellis, Samantha. [https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2003/sep/24/theatre "Joseph, London, February 1973"]. The Guardian. 24 September 2003.
Although composed in 1965, The Likes of Us was not publicly performed until 2005, when a production was staged at Lloyd Webber's Sydmonton Festival. In 2008, amateur rights were released by the National Operatic and Dramatic Association (NODA) in association with the Really Useful Group. The first amateur performance was by a children's theatre group in Cornwall called "Kidz R Us". Stylistically, The Likes of Us is fashioned after the Broadway musical of the 1940s and 1950s; it opens with a traditional overture comprising a medley of tunes from the show, and the score reflects some of Lloyd Webber's early influences, particularly Richard Rodgers, Frederick Loewe, and Lionel Bart. In this respect, it is markedly different from the composer's later work, which tends to be either predominantly or wholly through-composed, and closer in form to opera.
File:Paul Nicholas Allan Warren.jpg, starring Paul Nicholas, at the Palace Theatre, London in 1972. Its success saw Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice expand and release their previous biblical-based musical Joseph.]]
In the summer of 1967, Alan Doggett, a family friend of the Lloyd Webbers who had assisted on The Likes of Us and who was the music teacher at the Colet Court school in London, commissioned Lloyd Webber and Rice to write a piece for the school's choir.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_g-DDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA564|title=The Oxford Handbook of the British Musical|first1=Robert|last1=Gordon|first2=Olaf|last2=Jubin|date=21 November 2016|publisher=Oxford University Press|via=Google Books|isbn=9780199988754}} Doggett requested a "pop cantata" along the lines of Herbert Chappell's The Daniel Jazz (1963) and Michael Hurd's Jonah-Man Jazz (1966), both of which had been published by Novello and were based on the Old Testament. The request for the new piece came with a 100-guinea advance from Novello. This resulted in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, a retelling of the biblical story of Joseph, in which Lloyd Webber and Rice humorously pastiched a number of pop-music styles such as Elvis-style rock'n'roll, Calypso and country music. Joseph began life as a short cantata that gained some recognition on its second staging with a favourable review in The Times. For its subsequent performances, Rice and Lloyd Webber revised the show and added new songs to expand it to a more substantial length. Continued expansion eventually culminated in a 1972 stage musical and then a two-hour-long production being staged in the West End in 1973 on the back of the success of Jesus Christ Superstar.{{cite web|author=Robert Bradley |url=http://www.springfieldcontemporarytheatre.org/blog/andrew-lloyd-webber-and-jesus-christ-superstar |title=Andrew Lloyd Webber and 'Jesus Christ Superstar' |work=Springfield Contemporary Theatre |date=31 March 2017}}
In 1969, Rice and Lloyd Webber wrote a song for the Eurovision Song Contest called "Try It and See", which was not selected. With rewritten lyrics, it became "King Herod's Song" in their third musical, Jesus Christ Superstar (1970). Debuting on Broadway in 1971, by 1980 the musical had grossed more than {{US$|237 million|long=no}} worldwide.{{cite news |title=London's Longest-Running Musical To Close |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/107621009/ |access-date=8 June 2020 |work=The Indianapolis Star |date=20 August 1980 |page=25}} Running for over eight years in London between 1972 and 1980, it held the record for longest-running West End musical before it was overtaken by Cats in 1989.{{cite book|title=The Megamusical|first=Jessica|last=Sternfeld|year=2006|publisher=Indiana University Press|isbn=978-0-253-34793-0|page=169}} The planned follow-up to Jesus Christ Superstar was a musical comedy based on the Jeeves and Wooster novels by P. G. Wodehouse. Tim Rice was uncertain about this venture, partly because of his concern that he might not be able to do justice to the novels that he and Lloyd Webber so admired.(Rice, 1999) Rice backed out of the project and Lloyd Webber subsequently wrote the musical Jeeves with Alan Ayckbourn, who provided the book and lyrics.Andrew Lloyd Webber: His Life and Works – Walsh, Michael (1989, revised and expanded, 1997). p. 82, Abrams: New York Jeeves failed to make any impact at the box office and closed after a run of only 38 performances in the West End in 1975.{{cite news |title=By Jeeves - Review |url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2011/feb/21/by-jeeves-review |access-date=29 June 2019 |work=The Guardian}} Many years later, Lloyd Webber and Ayckbourn revisited this project, producing a thoroughly reworked and more successful version entitled By Jeeves (1996).{{cite web | url=https://variety.com/1997/film/reviews/by-jeeves-2-1200449214/ | last=Isherwood | first=Charles | title=By Jeeves | website=Variety | access-date= 21 November 2023 | date=16 March 1997}}
=Mid-1970s=
File:Evita at the Adelphi.jpg at the West End's Adelphi Theatre. Lloyd Webber purchased the theatre in 1993.]]
Lloyd Webber collaborated with Rice once again to write Evita (1978), a musical based on the life of Eva Perón. As with Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita was released first as a concept album (1976) featuring Julie Covington singing the part of Eva Perón. The song "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" became a hit single and the musical was staged at the West End's Prince Edward Theatre in a production directed by Harold Prince and starring Elaine Paige in the title role.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4665128.stm Lloyd Webber to revive Evita show]. BBC News, 31 January 2006. Retrieved 29 June 2019. This original production was enormously successful, eventually running for nearly eight years in the West End.[http://www.thisistheatre.com/shows/princeedward40.html Evita at Prince Edward Theatre]. thisistheatre.com. Retrieved 28 April 2022.
Evita transferred to Broadway in 1979, in a production starring Patti LuPone as Eva and Mandy Patinkin as Che; it won seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical, helped launch the careers of both LuPone and Patinkin, and ran for almost four years. Rice and Lloyd Webber parted ways soon after Evita, although they have sporadically worked together since then.{{cite book |last=Propst |first=Andy |title=The 100 Most Important People in Musical Theatre |date=2019 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |page=155}}
In 1978, Lloyd Webber embarked on a project with his cellist brother Julian, the Variations, based on the 24th Caprice by Paganini; this reached number two in the pop album chart in the United Kingdom. The main theme was used as the theme tune for ITV's long-running South Bank Show throughout its 32-year run.{{cite news |title=End of South Bank Show is not music to Julian Lloyd Webber's ears |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mandrake/5291888/End-of-South-Bank-Show-is-not-music-to-Julian-Lloyd-Webbers-ears.html |access-date=22 November 2023 |work=The Telegraph}} The same year, Lloyd Webber also composed a new theme tune for the long-running documentary series Whicker's World, which was used from 1978 to 1980.{{cite book |last=Ranson |first=Philip |title=A Guide to the Popular Names and Nicknames of Classical Music, and to Theme Music in Films, Radio, Television and Broadcast Advertisements |date=1984 |publisher=Northern Regional Library System |page=59}} He also composed the instrumental "Argentine Melody" as the theme music for the BBC's coverage of the 1978 FIFA World Cup held in Argentina.{{cite news |title=My strong vote for BBC World Cup dream theme |url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2009/dec/10/bbc-world-cup-theme |work=The Guardian |date=10 December 2009 |access-date=22 November 2023}}
=1980s=
File:Palladium Theatre (16427934069).jpg at the London Palladium]]
Lloyd Webber was the subject of This Is Your Life in November 1980 when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews in the foyer of Thames Television's Euston Road Studios in London.Michael Coveney (1999). Cats on a Chandelier: The Andrew Lloyd Webber Story. p. 89. Hutchinson He would be honoured a second time by the television programme in November 1994 when Michael Aspel surprised him at the West End's Adelphi Theatre.{{cite news |title=This Is Your Life (1994) |url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b7dd27f3f |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211130121218/https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b7dd27f3f |url-status=dead |archive-date=30 November 2021 |access-date=30 November 2021 |publisher=British Film Institute}}
Lloyd Webber embarked on his next project without a lyricist, turning instead to the poetry of T. S. Eliot. Cats (1981) was to become the longest-running musical in London, where it ran for 21 years and 8,949 performances before closing.{{cite magazine |title='Cats' To Close In London |url=https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/cats-to-close-in-london-77149/ |access-date=21 November 2023 |magazine=Billboard}} On Broadway, Cats ran for 18 years, a record which would ultimately be broken by another Lloyd Webber musical, The Phantom of the Opera.{{cite web |url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/cats-4186 |title=Cats |website=IBDB.com |publisher=Internet Broadway Database}}{{cite web |url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/the-phantom-of-the-opera-4491 |title=The Phantom of the Opera |website=IBDB.com |publisher=Internet Broadway Database}} Elaine Paige collaborated again with Lloyd Webber, originating the role of Grizabella in Cats, and had a Top 10 UK hit with "Memory".{{cite web|title=Elaine Paige – Full Official Chart History|url=http://www.officialcharts.com/artist/17213/elaine-paige/|website=Official Charts Company|date=21 October 1978 |access-date=20 January 2016}}
File:Matthew Goodgame als Greaseball.JPG has been running in Bochum, Germany, since 1988.]]
Starlight Express (1984) was a commercial hit, but received negative reviews from the critics. It ran for 7,409 performances in London, making it the ninth longest-running West End show. It ran for less than two years on Broadway. The show has also seen two tours of the US, as well as an Australian/Japanese production, a three-year UK touring production, which transferred to New Zealand later in 2009. Starlight Express runs full-time in a custom-built theatre in Bochum, Germany, where it has been running since 1988.{{cite news|url=https://www.thestage.co.uk/features/2016/international-how-lloyd-webbers-starlight-express-keeps-on-track-in-germany/|title=International: How Lloyd Webber's Starlight Express keeps on track in Germany|date=19 May 2016|work=The Stage|access-date=3 July 2018}} The German production holds the Guinness World Record for most visitors to a musical in a single theatre.{{cite web |url=https://www.waz.de/staedte/bochum/starlight-express-in-bochum-feiert-neuen-rekord-id12197252.html |title="Starlight Express" in Bochum feiert neuen Rekord |first=Kristina |last=Gerstenmaier|date=19 June 2019 |work=Waz |access-date=21 November 2023}}
Lloyd Webber wrote a Requiem Mass dedicated to his father, William, who had died in 1982. It premiered at St. Thomas Church in New York on 24 February 1985. Church music had been a part of the composer's upbringing and the composition was inspired by an article he had read about the plight of Cambodian orphans. Lloyd Webber had on a number of occasions written sacred music for the annual Sydmonton Festival.Snelson, 2004 Lloyd Webber received a Grammy Award in 1986 for Requiem in the category of best classical composition. Pie Jesu from Requiem achieved a high placing on the UK Singles Chart and was certified silver.{{cite certification|region=United Kingdom|artist=Sarah Brightman & Paul Miles-Kingston|title=Pie Jesu|id=5101-380-1}} Perhaps because of its large orchestration, live performances of the Requiem are rare.
In 1986, Prince Edward, the youngest son of Queen Elizabeth II, commissioned a short musical from Lloyd Webber and Rice for his mother's 60th birthday celebration.Snelson, John. [https://books.google.com/books?id=RRFx7fFsi0AC&pg=PA223q=%22a%20commission%20from%20Prince%20Edward%2C%20The%20Queen's%20youngest%20son%22 Andrew Lloyd Webber]. Yale University Press, 2009. p. 223. Cricket (1986), also called Cricket (Hearts and Wickets), reunited Lloyd Webber with Rice to create this short musical for the Queen's birthday, first performed at Windsor Castle.[http://webspace.webring.com/people/oc/camillofan/cricket/musical.html Cricket – The Musical] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727062109/http://webspace.webring.com/people/oc/camillofan/cricket/musical.html |date=27 July 2011}}Citron, Stephen. [https://books.google.com/books?id=AWaZ1LAFAZEC&pg=PA355&q=cricket%20musical%20%22lloyd%20webber%22%20rice%20ian%20%22charleson%22 Sondheim and Lloyd-Webber: The New Musical.] Oxford University Press, 2001. p. 355. Several of the tunes were later used for Aspects of Love and Sunset Boulevard.
File:Lighted Princess of Wales theatre on King's Street, Toronto (27899773785).jpg at the Princess of Wales Theatre, Toronto]]
Lloyd Webber premiered The Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty's Theatre in the West End in 1986, inspired by the 1911 Gaston Leroux novel. He wrote the part of Christine for his then wife, Sarah Brightman, who played the role in the original London and Broadway productions alongside Michael Crawford as the Phantom. The production was directed by Harold Prince, who had also earlier directed Evita. Charles Hart wrote the lyrics for Phantom with some additional material provided by Richard Stilgoe, with whom Lloyd Webber co-wrote the book of the musical. It became a hit and is still running in the West End; in January 2006 it overtook Lloyd Webber's Cats as the longest-running show on Broadway. On 11 February 2012, Phantom of the Opera played its 10,000th show on Broadway. With over 14,200 London productions it is the second longest-running West End musical.[http://londonist.com/2011/04/top-10-longest-running-london-theatre-shows.php Top 10 Longest-Running London Theatre Shows] Londonist.com. Retrieved 29 June 2019 The Broadway production closed on 16 April 2023, having played 13,981 performances, the most in Broadway history.{{cite magazine |title=The Phantom of the Opera" Takes a Final Bow |url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-theatre/the-phantom-of-the-opera-takes-a-final-bow |access-date=20 April 2023 |magazine=The New Yorker}}
Aspects of Love followed in 1989, a musical based on the story by David Garnett. The lyrics were by Don Black and Charles Hart and the original production was directed by Trevor Nunn. Aspects had a run of four years in London, but closed after less than a year on Broadway. It has since gone on a tour of the UK. It is famous for the song "Love Changes Everything", which was performed by Michael Ball in both the West End and Broadway casts. It stayed in the UK Singles Chart for 14 weeks, peaking at number 2 and becoming Ball's signature tune.{{cite web|url=http://www.theofficialcharts.com/artist/_/michael%20ball/ |title=Michael Ball | Artist |publisher=Official Charts |access-date=24 November 2019}}
=1990s=
File:Los Angeles (California, USA), Hollywood Boulevard, Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber -- 2012 -- 4980.jpg in 1993 for his contribution to live theatre.]]
Lloyd Webber was asked to write a song for the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona and he composed "Amigos Para Siempre — Friends for Life" with Don Black providing the lyrics. This song was performed by Sarah Brightman and José Carreras.{{cite news |title=Andrew Lloyd Webber and Antonio Banderas team up for Spanish venture |url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2022/jun/28/andrew-lloyd-webber-antonio-banderas-team-up-spanish-venture |work=The Guardian |date=28 June 2022 |access-date=21 November 2023}}
Lloyd Webber had toyed with the idea of writing a musical based on Billy Wilder's critically acclaimed movie, Sunset Boulevard, since seeing the film in the early 1970s, but the project did not come to fruition until after the completion of Aspects of Love when the composer finally managed to secure the rights from Paramount Pictures,{{cite web |title=Lloyd Webber, Andrew: Inspired By Sunset Boulevard Really Useful Group |url=http://reallyuseful.com/rug/shows/sunset/show.htm |access-date=11 June 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080918101137/http://www.reallyuseful.com/rug/shows/sunset/show.htm |archive-date=18 September 2008}} The composer worked with two collaborators, as he had done on Aspects of Love; this time Christopher Hampton and Don Black shared equal credit for the book and lyrics. Sunset Boulevard opened at the Adelphi Theatre in London on 12 July 1993, and ran for 1,529 performances.Wolf, Matt. "As 'Sunsets' fade, Rug's new era dawns", Variety, 7 April 1997 – 13 April 1997, p. 175
In 1994, Sunset Boulevard became a successful Broadway show, opening with the largest advance in Broadway history, and winning seven Tony Awards that year. Even so, by its closing in 1997, "it had not recouped its reported $13 million investment."Singer, Barry. Ever After: The Last Years of Musical Theater and Beyond, Hal Leonard Corporation, 2004, {{ISBN|1-55783-529-2}}, p. 97 From 1995 to 2000, Lloyd Webber wrote the Matters of Taste column in The Daily Telegraph where he reviewed restaurants and hotels, and these were illustrated by Lucinda Rogers.{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/longterm/theater/bckgrnd/lloydwebber.htm|title=WashingtonPost.com: Lloyd Webber, Superstar|newspaper=The Washington Post}}
In 1998, Lloyd Webber released a film version of Cats, which was filmed at the Adelphi Theatre in London.{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1998-10-22-9810220066-story.html|title=One More Time|work=Chicago Tribune|date=22 October 1998|first=Donald|last=Liebenson|access-date=5 April 2019}} David Mallet directed the film, and Gillian Lynne choreographed it. The cast consisted of performers who had been in the show before, including Ken Page (the original Old Deuteronomy on Broadway), Elaine Paige (original Grizabella in London) and John Mills as Gus: the Theatre Cat.{{cite web|url=http://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/cats-performance/3578/|title=Preview and Cast of Cats|access-date=28 March 2019|publisher=PBS|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190328074448/http://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/cats-performance/3578/|archive-date=28 March 2019|date=24 October 2014}}
In 1998, Whistle Down the Wind made its debut, a musical written with lyrics supplied by Jim Steinman. Originally opening in Washington, Lloyd Webber was reportedly not happy with the casting or Harold Prince's production and the show was subsequently revised for a London staging directed by Gale Edwards. The production included the Boyzone number-one hit "No Matter What", which remained at the top of the UK charts for three weeks. His The Beautiful Game opened in London and has never been seen on Broadway. The show had a respectable run at The Cambridge Theatre in London. The show was re-worked into a new musical, The Boys in the Photograph, which had its world première at The Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts in April 2008.The Boys in the Photograph Marketing Information {{cite web |url=http://www.lipa.ac.uk/publicperformances/theboys.asp |title=Public Season 08 : The Boys in the Photograph |access-date=24 November 2019|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080414015827/http://www.lipa.ac.uk/publicperformances/theboys.asp |archive-date=14 April 2008}}, LIPA's Performance season websiteGans, Andrew. [http://www.playbill.com/news/article/115205-Lloyd-Webbers-Boys-in-the-Photograph-Will-Have-Workshop-Run-in-UK "Lloyd Webber's 'Boys in the Photograph' Will Have Workshop Run in U.K."] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121015225842/http://www.playbill.com/news/article/115205-Lloyd-Webbers-Boys-in-the-Photograph-Will-Have-Workshop-Run-in-UK |date=15 October 2012}} playbill.com, 24 November 2019
=2000s=
Having achieved great popular success in musical theatre, Lloyd Webber was referred to by The New York Times in 2001 as "the most commercially successful composer in history".{{cite book |last=Citron |first=Stephen |year=2001 |title=Sondheim and Lloyd-Webber: the new musical |url=https://archive.org/details/sondheimlloydweb0000citr |url-access=registration |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780195357271}} In 2002 he turned producer, bringing the musical Bombay Dreams to London. With music by Indian Music composer A.R. Rahman and lyrics by Don Black, it ran for two years at the Apollo Victoria Theatre. A revised Broadway production at the Broadway Theatre two years later ran for only 284 performances. On 16 September 2004, his production of The Woman in White opened at the Palace Theatre in London. It ran for 19 months and 500 performances. A revised production opened on Broadway at the Marquis Theatre on 17 November 2005. Garnering mixed reviews from critics, due in part to the frequent absences of the show's star Maria Friedman due to breast cancer treatment, it closed only a brief three months later on 19 February 2006.Jones, Kenneth. [http://www.playbill.com/article/into-the-mist-broadways-woman-in-white-will-close-feb-19-com-130680 "Into the Mist: Broadway's 'Woman in White' Will Close Feb. 19"] Playbill, 3 February 2006
Lloyd Webber produced a staging of The Sound of Music, which débuted in November 2006. He made the controversial decision to choose an unknown to play leading lady Maria, who was found through the BBC's reality television show How Do You Solve a Problem like Maria?, in which he was a judge.{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2006/06_june/06/maria.shtml |title=How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?, Panel Chosen |publisher=BBC |access-date=27 September 2014}} The winner of the show was Connie Fisher. A 2006 project, The Master and Margarita, was abandoned in 2007.[http://www.starpulse.com/news/index.php/2007/03/27/andrew_lloyd_webber_abandons_the_master_] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131125235355/http://www.starpulse.com/news/index.php/2007/03/27/andrew_lloyd_webber_abandons_the_master_|date=25 November 2013}}
File:2006 Kennedy Center honorees.jpg and First Lady Laura Bush stand with the Kennedy Center honourees in the Blue Room of the White House during a reception Sunday, 3 December 2006. From left, they are: singer and songwriter William "Smokey" Robinson; Andrew Lloyd Webber; country singer Dolly Parton; film director Steven Spielberg; and conductor Zubin Mehta.]]
In September 2006, Lloyd Webber was named a recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors with Zubin Mehta, Dolly Parton, Steven Spielberg, and Smokey Robinson. He was recognised for his outstanding contribution to American performing arts.[http://www.kennedy-center.org/programs/specialevents/honors/home.html The Kennedy Center Honors] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060923155858/http://www.kennedy-center.org/programs/specialevents/honors/home.html |date=23 September 2006}} He attended the ceremony on 3 December 2006; it aired on 26 December 2006. On 11 February 2007, Lloyd Webber was featured as a guest judge on the reality television show Grease: You're the One that I Want!.[http://www.andrewlloydwebber.com/sections/news/newsdb.php?article=44/] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071227071052/http://www.andrewlloydwebber.com/sections/news/newsdb.php?article=44%2F|date=27 December 2007}}
Between April and June 2007, he appeared in BBC One's Any Dream Will Do!, which followed the same format as How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?. Its aim was to find a new Joseph for his revival of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Lee Mead won the contest. Viewers' telephone voting during the series raised more than £500,000 for the BBC's annual Children in Need charity appeal, according to host Graham Norton on air during the final.{{cite news |title=Lee wins Any Dream Will Do, will become Joseph|url=https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2007/06/09/lee-wins-any-dream-will-do-will-become-joseph/ |access-date=24 November 2019 |work=Pink News}}
In 2007, Lloyd Webber's cat, Otto, leaped onto his Clavinova piano and "destroyed the entire score for the new 'Phantom' in one fell swoop". The Phantom in question was The Phantom of Manhattan, a planned sequel to The Phantom of the Opera.{{cite web|url=http://www.playbill.com/article/cat-destroys-lloyd-webbers-phantom-sequel-score-com-141523|title=Cat Destroys Lloyd Webber's Phantom Sequel Score|website=Playbill|access-date=11 December 2016|date=14 June 2007}} On 1 July 2007, Lloyd Webber presented excerpts from his musicals as part of the Concert for Diana held at Wembley Stadium, London, an event organised to celebrate the life of Princess Diana almost 10 years after her death.{{cite news|title=What is the Concert for Diana?|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/concertfordiana/features/about.shtml|publisher=BBC|date=13 August 2015}}[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/6257986.stm Diana concert a 'perfect tribute'] BBC News. Retrieved 12 April 2012 BBC Radio 2 broadcast a concert of music from the Lloyd Webber musicals on 24 August 2007.[https://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/proginfo/radio/wk34/fri.shtml] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131116063740/http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/proginfo/radio/wk34/fri.shtml|date=16 November 2013}} Denise Van Outen introduced songs from Whistle Down the Wind, The Beautiful Game, Tell Me on a Sunday, The Woman in White, Evita and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat – as well as Rodgers and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music, which Lloyd Webber revived in 2006 at the London Palladium, and the 2002 musical Bombay Dreams.{{cite web |title=Original Bombay Dreams Cast, London 2002 |url=http://www.reallyuseful.com/rug/shows/bombaydreams/cast/londonorig2002.htm |website=reallyuseful.com |access-date=23 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080125035816/http://www.reallyuseful.com/rug/shows/bombaydreams/cast/londonorig2002.htm |archive-date=25 January 2008 |url-status=dead}}
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In April 2008, Lloyd Webber reprised his role as judge, this time in the BBC musical talent show I'd Do Anything. The show followed a similar format to its Maria and Joseph predecessors, this time involving a search for an actress to play the role of Nancy in a West End production of Lionel Bart's Oliver!, a musical based on the Charles Dickens' novel Oliver Twist.{{cite news |last=Darvell |first=Michael |title=Andrew to help BBC find Oliver! |publisher=Andrew Lloyd Webber |date=21 December 2008 |url=http://www.andrewlloydwebber.com/sections/news/newsdb.php?article=118 |access-date=29 June 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080125062007/http://www.andrewlloydwebber.com/sections/news/newsdb.php?article=118 |archive-date=25 January 2008 |url-status=dead}} The show also featured a search for three young actors to play and share the title character's role, but the show's main focus was on the search for Nancy. The role was won by Jodie Prenger despite Lloyd Webber's stated preference for one of the other contestants; the winners of the Oliver role were Harry Stott, Gwion Wyn-Jones and Laurence Jeffcoate. Also in April 2008, Lloyd Webber was featured on the U.S. talent show American Idol, acting as a mentor when the 6 finalists had to select one of his songs to perform for the judges that week.{{cite news |url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2008/04/american-idol-3.html |title=American Idol Tracker: What's new, Andrew Lloyd Webber? |work=Los Angeles Times |access-date=27 September 2014 |date=18 April 2008}}
Lloyd Webber accepted the challenge of managing the UK's entry for the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest, to be held in Moscow. In early 2009 a series, called Eurovision: Your Country Needs You, was broadcast to find a performer for a song that he would compose for the competition. Jade Ewen won the right to represent Britain, winning with "It's My Time", by Lloyd Webber and Diane Warren. At the contest, Lloyd Webber accompanied her on the piano during the performance. The United Kingdom finished fifth in the contest.{{cite news |last=Nikkhah |first=Roya |title=No more nul points at Eurovision? |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/4415361/No-more-nul-points-at-Eurovision.html |url-status=dead |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |date=31 January 2009 |access-date=31 January 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090203184903/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/4415361/No-more-nul-points-at-Eurovision.html |archive-date=3 February 2009}}
On 8 October 2009, Lloyd Webber launched the musical Love Never Dies at a press conference held at Her Majesty's Theatre, where the original Phantom has been running since 1986.{{cite news |last=Dunn |first=Carrie |title=Love Never Dies for Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera |url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/theatreblog/2009/oct/08/love-never-dies-lloyd-webber-phantom |newspaper=The Guardian |date=8 October 2009 |access-date=24 November 2019}} Also present were Sierra Boggess, who had been cast as Christine Daaé, and Ramin Karimloo, who portrayed Phantom, a role he had recently played in the West End.
=2010s=
Following the opening of Love Never Dies, Lloyd Webber again began a search for a new musical theatre performer in the BBC One series Over the Rainbow. He cast the winner, Danielle Hope, in the role of Dorothy Gale, and a dog to play Toto in his forthcoming stage production of The Wizard of Oz. He and lyricist and composer Tim Rice wrote a number of new songs for the production to supplement the songs from the film.{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/6168531/Andrew-Lloyd-Webber-to-audition-dogs-for-The-Wizard-of-Ozs-Toto.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090914050138/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/6168531/Andrew-Lloyd-Webber-to-audition-dogs-for-The-Wizard-of-Ozs-Toto.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=14 September 2009|title=Andrew Lloyd Webber to audition dogs for The Wizard of Oz{{'s}} Toto |last=Midgley|first=Neil|date=11 September 2009|work=The Daily Telegraph |location=UK|access-date=3 January 2010}}
File:Sunset at the Palace.jpg at the London Coliseum was well-received, in 2017 the production transferred to the Palace Theatre on Broadway (pictured).]]
On 1 March 2011, The Wizard of Oz opened at The Palladium Theatre, starring Hope as Dorothy Gale and Michael Crawford as the Wizard of Oz. In 2012, Lloyd Webber fronted a new ITV primetime show Superstar which gave the UK public the chance to decide who would play the starring role of Jesus in an arena tour of Jesus Christ Superstar. The arena tour started in September 2012 and also starred comedian Tim Minchin as Judas Iscariot, former Spice Girl Melanie C as Mary Magdalene and BBC Radio 1 DJ Chris Moyles as Herod Antipas.{{cite web|url=http://www.jesuschristsuperstar.com/2012/05/16/jesus-christ-superstar-arena-tour-2/ |title=Jesus Christ Superstar Arena Tour |url-status = dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120520133814/http://www.jesuschristsuperstar.com/2012/05/16/jesus-christ-superstar-arena-tour-2/ |archive-date=20 May 2012}} Tickets for most venues went on sale on 18 May 2012.
In 2013, Lloyd Webber reunited with Christopher Hampton and Don Black on Stephen Ward the Musical.{{cite news |title=Profumo musical set for West End |url=http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/entertainment/news/profumo-musical-set-for-west-end-29379638.html |work=Belfast Telegraph |date=28 June 2013 |access-date=28 June 2013}} For his next project, a 2015 musical adaptation of the 2003 film School of Rock,{{cite news|author=Matt Trueman |url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2013/apr/08/andrew-lloyd-webber-school-of-rock |title=Andrew Lloyd Webber to stage School of Rock | Culture |work=The Guardian|access-date=26 August 2014}} auditions were held for children aged nine to fifteen in cooperation with the School of Rock music education program, which predated the film by several years.{{cite web|title=An Exciting Announcement!|url=http://highwood.schoolofrock.com/blog/exciting-announcement|publisher=SchoolofRock.com|access-date=20 January 2015|quote=We, here at School of Rock, are so proud and excited to announce that we are now partnered with School of Rock the Musical. Andrew Lloyd Webber and his team have expressed an enthusiastic interest in having School of Rock kids audition for roles in the show!}}{{cite web|title=Audition for a Role in School of Rock |url=http://schoolofrockthemusical.com/auditions |access-date=20 January 2015 |quote=We are holding band tryouts for rock stars ages 9-15, male and female, who are great singers and actors. We're also looking for talented kids who play drums, bass guitar, guitar, and piano/keyboard. Show us your kid's chops and he or she could be on Broadway! |url-status = dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150112073850/http://www.schoolofrockthemusical.com/auditions |archive-date=12 January 2015}}
In April 2016, the English National Opera staged a revival of Sunset Boulevard at the London Coliseum.{{cite web |title=Sunset Boulevard |url=https://www.eno.org/whats-on/sunset-boulevard/ |website=English National Opera |access-date=27 November 2019}} The limited run, semi-staged production directed by Lonny Price brought Glenn Close to reprise her star turn as Norma Desmond, which was her first time performing the role in London; she had originated the role in Los Angeles in December 1993 and then on Broadway in November 1994 (which won her the 1995 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical). The 2016 London revival was so well-received that the production transferred to the Palace Theatre on Broadway in February 2017, making Lloyd Webber the first musical-theatre composer since 1953 to have four musicals running simultaneously on Broadway – a feat that his heroes Rodgers and Hammerstein had previously achieved.{{cite news |title=Andrew Lloyd Webber Has 4 Musicals on Broadway – At The Same Time |url=https://www.npr.org/2017/02/12/514785665/andrew-lloyd-webber-has-4-musicals-on-broadway-at-the-same-time |publisher=NPR |date=12 February 2017 |access-date=24 November 2019}}{{cite news |last=Brantley |first=Ben |title=Review: That 'Sunset Boulevard' Close-Up, Finely Focused |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/09/theater/sunset-boulevard-review.html |work=The New York Times |date=25 June 2017 |issn=0362-4331}}
Lloyd Webber's memoir, Unmasked, was published in 2018.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/05/theater/andrew-lloyd-webber-memoir-unmasked.html|title=5 Things We Learned From Andrew Lloyd Webber's New Memoir|date=5 March 2018|author=Joshua Barone|work=The New York Times|access-date=7 March 2018}} On 9 September 2018, Lloyd Webber, along with Tim Rice and John Legend each won an Emmy for Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert. With this win, Lloyd Webber, Rice and Legend joined the list of people who have won Academy, Emmy, Grammy, and Tony Awards.{{cite news |title=Andrew Lloyd Webber, John Legend and Tim Rice join the ranks of EGOT winners |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/2018/09/10/andrew-lloyd-webber-john-legend-tim-rice-join-ranks-egot-winners/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/2018/09/10/andrew-lloyd-webber-john-legend-tim-rice-join-ranks-egot-winners/ |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=29 June 2019 |work=The Telegraph}}{{cbignore}} Lloyd Webber wrote the song "Beautiful Ghosts" with Taylor Swift for the film adaptation of Cats, produced by Greg Wells and released in December 2019.{{cite web |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/andrew-lloyd-webber-talks-working-taylor-swift-new-cats-song-1249724 |title=Andrew Lloyd Webber Talks Working With Taylor Swift on New 'Cats' Song|last=Vlessing|first=Etan|website=The Hollywood Reporter|date=24 October 2019 |access-date=25 October 2019}} In an interview in August 2020, Lloyd Webber called the film "ridiculous" in the ways that it changed the musical: "The problem with the film was that Tom Hooper decided that he didn't want anybody involved in it who was involved in the original show."{{cite news |title=Andrew Lloyd Webber calls Cats film 'ridiculous' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/aug/03/andrew-lloyd-webber-calls-cats-film-ridiculous |access-date=6 August 2020 |work=The Guardian}} He said that seeing the film caused him to get a dog.Lang, Brent. [https://variety.com/2021/legit/features/andrew-lloyd-webber-broadway-reopening-phantom-of-the-opera-cats-cinderella-1235081430 "Andrew Lloyd Webber on Broadway's Reopening, Cinderella and Why the Cats Movie Caused Him to Buy a Dog"], Variety, 10 October 2021
=2020s=
File:Cinderella London 2021.jpg at the West End's Gillian Lynne Theatre in July 2021]]
Lloyd Webber's new version of Cinderella opened at the Gillian Lynne Theatre in the West End in 2021. The opening, which was originally set to take place in August 2020, was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.{{cite web |last=Wood |first=Alex |title=Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cinderella delays opening until October |url=https://www.whatsonstage.com/london-theatre/news/andrew-lloyd-webbers-cinderella-delays-west-end_51104.html |website=WhatsOnStage.com |date=5 March 2020 |access-date=3 December 2020}} Based on a book by Emerald Fennell, Lloyd Webber wrote: "Emerald Fennell has written something truly exciting and original, and the moment I read her outline I knew I'd found my latest collaborator."{{cite web |last=Wiegand |first=Chris |title=Killing Eve's Emerald Fennell and Andrew Lloyd Webber create new Cinderella |url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2020/jan/10/killing-eve-emerald-fennell-andrew-lloyd-webber-new-cinderella-west-end |work=The Guardian |date=10 January 2020 |access-date=10 January 2020}} He garnered press attention in July 2021 for saying that he was "prepared to be arrested" to open Cinderella to full houses in spite of rising Covid cases and in defiance of Government advice.{{cite news|date=9 June 2021|title=Andrew Lloyd Webber 'prepared to be arrested' over theatre reopening|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-57410819|access-date=9 June 2021}} A 2021 feature in Variety suggested: {{blockquote|Lloyd Webber, at 73, appears to have been reanimated creatively in recent years. Both School of Rock and Cinderella earned him some of the best reviews of his career and had a lightness and wit that had been missing from his work. They came after a grueling period in the wilderness, one characterized by failures, disappointments and missteps. ... It seemed, for a time, as though the Lloyd Webber formula, which relied on swooning, rapturous melodies and razzle-dazzle, had grown stale.}}
In 2022, Lloyd Webber appeared alongside Lin-Manuel Miranda in the BBC Platinum Jubilee Concert for Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II. They initially appeared singing alternative words to "The King's Song" from Jesus Christ Superstar and "Any Dream Will Do" from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and "The Phantom of the Opera" from The Phantom of the Opera were parts of the musical theatre section.{{Cite web |last=Thomas |first=Sophie |date=6 June 2022 |title=Watch Andrew Lloyd Webber and Lin-Manuel Miranda perform at the Queen's Platinum Jubilee |url=https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatre-news/news/watch-andrew-lloyd-webber-and-lin-manuel-miranda-platinum-jubilee |access-date=31 March 2024 |website=London Theatre |language=en}}{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhWh6eVhLTg |title=5 Biggest Musical Moments from The Queen's #PlatinumJubilee {{!}} Andrew Lloyd Webber |language=en |access-date=31 March 2024 |via=YouTube}} In 2023, Lloyd Webber was one of twelve composers asked to write a new piece for the coronation of Charles III and Camilla.{{cite news |title=Andrew Lloyd Webber piece among new coronation music |work=BBC News |date=18 February 2023 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-64682655 |access-date=20 February 2023}} His anthem, "Make a Joyful Noise", was performed during the enthronement of Queen Camilla.{{cite web |title=The Authorised Liturgy for the Coronation Rite of His Majesty King Charles III |url=https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2023-04/23-24132%20Coronation%20Liturgy%20Commentary.pdf |work=Church of England |language=en-GB |access-date=29 April 2023 |archive-date=29 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230429213249/https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2023-04/23-24132%20Coronation%20Liturgy%20Commentary.pdf |url-status=live}}
In 2024, Lloyd Webber announced that his next musical will be an adaptation of the 2006 film The Illusionist, which will feature lyrics by Bruno Major, book by Chris Terrio and will be directed by Jamie Lloyd and produced by Michael Harrison (following the 2023 and 2024 London and Broadway revivals of Sunset Boulevard). In 2025, Lloyd Webber will reunite with Tim Rice to create the original songs for Sherlock Holmes and The 12 Days of Christmas, a comedy whodunit play written by Humphrey Ker and David Reed (members of the British sketch comedy troupe The Penny Dreadfuls) which will premiere at the Birmingham Rep for the Christmas season.{{Cite news |last=Wiegand |first=Chris |date=11 February 2025 |title=Sign of the four: Sherlock Holmes returns for Christmas comedy by two duos |url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/feb/11/sherlock-holmes-andrew-lloyd-webber-tim-rice-birmingham-rep-christmas |access-date=12 February 2025 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}
Accusations of plagiarism
Among the accusations of plagiarism that Lloyd Webber has received, the Dutch composer Louis Andriessen stated that he: "has yet to think up a single note; in fact, the poor guy's never invented one note by himself. That's rather poor".{{cite web |last=Moutby |first=Adrian |title=The high-brow just don't know how to love him |url=http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storycode=185925 |work=Times Higher Education |date=9 January 2004 |access-date=29 March 2012}} Lloyd Webber's biographer, John Snelson, acknowledged a similarity between the andante movement of Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E minor and the Jesus Christ Superstar song "I Don't Know How to Love Him", but wrote that Lloyd Webber:
{{blockquote|...brings a new dramatic tension to Mendelssohn's original melody through the confused emotions of Mary Magdalene. The opening theme may be Mendelssohn, but the rhythmic and harmonic treatment along with new lines of highly effective melodic development are Lloyd Webber's. The song works in its own right as its many performers and audiences can witness.}}
An accusation of plagiarism regarded the 1971 Pink Floyd album Meddle. The sixth track of the album, "Echoes", has a riff on which Lloyd Webber allegedly based the opening organ riff in "The Phantom of the Opera". The two riffs share very similar notes and the order of the notes played. Lloyd Webber's pipe organ riff from "Phantom of the Opera" plays D, C{{music|sharp}}, C, B, A{{music|sharp}}, then ascending A{{music|sharp}}, B, C, C{{music|sharp}}, D. Pink Floyd's "Echoes" plays C{{music|sharp}}, C, B, A{{music|sharp}}, A, then ascending A, A{{music|sharp}}, B, C, C{{music|sharp}}. Pink Floyd bassist and co-lead vocalist Roger Waters pointed this out and said it was "probably actionable", but stated that he did not care to take it to court.{{cite web |title=Who the hell does Roger Waters think he is? |url=http://utopia.knoware.no/users/ptr/pfloyd/interview/roger2.html |url-status=dead |work=Q |date=November 1992 |access-date=20 November 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19981205160956/http://utopia.knoware.nl/users/ptr/pfloyd/interview/roger2.html |archive-date=5 December 1998}}
Noting similarities between Lloyd Webber's "The Music of the Night" and a recurring melody in Giacomo Puccini's 1910 opera, La fanciulla del West (The Girl of the Golden West), in 1987 the Puccini estate filed a lawsuit against Lloyd Webber, accusing him of plagiarism. The case was settled out of court, but details were not released to the public.{{cite news |last=Ouzounian |first=Richard |title=Aspects of Andrew |newspaper=Toronto Star |date=2 January 2006 |via=EBSCOHost Research Database}} The songwriter Ray Repp claimed in a court case that Lloyd Webber had stolen a melody from his own song "Till You", but the court ruled in Lloyd Webber's favour.{{cite news |title=Lloyd Webber wins Phantom battle |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/235906.stm |work=BBC News |date=16 December 1998 |access-date=27 September 2014}}
Personal life
Lloyd Webber has been married three times. He married first Sarah Hugill, youngest daughter of Lieutenant-Commander Antony Hugill and Fanny née Gore Browne, on 24 July 1971; they divorced on 14 November 1983. Together they had two children, a daughter and a son:
- Imogen Lloyd Webber (born 31 March 1977)
- Nicholas Lloyd Webber (2 July 1979 – 25 March 2023)
File:Placido Domingo, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Sarah Brightman 1985.jpg (right) in 1985. He would cast her as Christine in The Phantom of the Opera which debuted in London the following year.]]
He then married English soprano Sarah Brightman on 22 March 1984, in Hampshire. He cast Brightman in the lead role in his musical The Phantom of the Opera, among other notable roles. They divorced on 3 January 1990, but have remained close friends and have also continued to work together.{{cite news |last=Green |first=Alex |title=Andrew Lloyd Webber and Sarah Brightman to reunite for special festive show |url=https://www.independent.ie/entertainment/music/andrew-lloyd-webber-and-sarah-brightman-to-reunite-for-special-festive-show-39791172.html |work=Irish Independent |date=25 November 2020 |access-date=31 October 2022}}
Thirdly, he married Madeleine Gurdon in Westminster on 9 February 1991. They have three children, two sons and one daughter.
Lloyd Webber and his third wife Madeleine founded the Watership Down Stud in 1992. In 1996, they expanded their equestrian holdings by purchasing Kiltinan Castle Stud near Fethard in County Tipperary, Ireland.[https://www.watershipdownstud.com/ Watership Down Stud and Kiltinan Castle Stud] They were invited to ride in the King's procession at Royal Ascot 2023.{{cite news |title=King Charles and Queen Camilla Spend Prince William's Birthday at Royal Ascot with Special Guests |url=https://people.com/king-charles-queen-camilla-royal-ascot-prince-william-birthday-special-guest-andrew-lloyd-webber-7550925 |access-date=12 January 2025 |work=People}}
In a 1971 interview with The New York Times, Lloyd Webber said he is an agnostic. He also said he views Jesus as "one of the great figures of history".{{cite web|author=Guy Flatley|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/10/31/archives/they-wrote-it-and-theyre-glad-they-wrote-superstar.html|title=They rote It—And They're Glad|work=The New York Times|location=New York City|date=12 April 2020|access-date=12 April 2020}}
He is a lifelong supporter of London-based football club Leyton Orient F.C.,[https://www.thestage.co.uk/features/2008/lesser-known-andrew-lloyd-webber-facts/ "Lesser-known Andrew Lloyd Webber facts"]. The Stage. Retrieved 29 January 2020 as is his younger brother Julian.{{cite web|author=Tim Walker|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mandrake/5551272/Julian-Lloyd-Webber-is-to-marry-for-a-fourth-time.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mandrake/5551272/Julian-Lloyd-Webber-is-to-marry-for-a-fourth-time.html |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Julian Lloyd Webber is to marry for a fourth time|work=The Daily Telegraph|location=London|date=16 June 2009|access-date=14 April 2012}}{{cbignore}}
In late 2009, Lloyd Webber had surgery for early-stage prostate cancer,{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8324689.stm|title=Lloyd Webber treated for cancer|date=25 October 2009|work=BBC News |access-date=25 October 2009| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20091026165602/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8324689.stm|archive-date=26 October 2009|url-status = live}} but had to be readmitted to hospital with post-operative infection in November. In January 2010, he declared he was cancer-free.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8452277.stm|title=Andrew Lloyd Webber gets cancer 'all clear'|work=BBC News|access-date=27 September 2014|date=11 January 2010}} He had his prostate completely removed as a preventative measure.{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/prostate-trouble-down-below-9324290.html|title="Trouble down below" by Philip Hodson, The Independent|work=The Independent|access-date=27 September 2014|location=London|date=6 May 2014}}
In 2023, Lloyd Webber's son Nicholas died at the age of 43 after an 18-month battle with gastric cancer.{{cite news|url=https://apnews.com/article/andrew-lloyd-webber-son-nicholas-dies-4bf42c1d48d1d07e2e5a4840e8edfc6a|title=Nicholas Lloyd Webber, son of famed composer, dies at 43|date=25 March 2023|work=AP News |access-date=26 March 2023}}
Lloyd Webber has a house in Eaton Square in Belgravia, London; in 2024 he revealed he had had his house blessed by a priest in an attempt to displace a "poltergeist" that was haunting the property.{{cite web |title=Andrew Lloyd Webber asked priest to bless London home over poltergeist |url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2024/jan/03/andrew-lloyd-webber-asked-priest-to-bless-london-home-over-poltergeist |website=The Guardian |access-date=11 January 2024 |date=3 January 2024}}
Wealth
The Sunday Times Rich List 2006 ranked him the 87th-richest person in Britain with an estimated fortune of £700 million. His wealth increased to £750 million in 2007, but the publication ranked him 101st in 2008.{{cite web |url=http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/specials/rich_list/rich_list_search|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080706182513/http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/specials/rich_list/rich_list_search/|url-status=dead|archive-date=6 July 2008|work=Sunday Times|title=Rich List 2007|access-date=2 October 2008|location=London}} The Sunday Times Rich List of 2019 saw him ranked the richest musician in the UK (overtaking Paul McCartney) with a fortune of £820 million ($1.074 billion).{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-48204955|title=Ed Sheeran tops Adele as Stormzy joins Sunday Times Rich List|work=BBC News|publisher=BBC|access-date=9 May 2019|date=9 May 2019}}{{cite news |title=How composer Andrew Lloyd Webber built a billion dollar fortune off 'Cats' and 'The Phantom of the Opera' |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/andrew-lloyd-webber-net-worth-cats-phantom-of-the-opera-2019-12?r=US&IR=T |access-date=21 November 2023 |work=Business Insider}} He lives at Sydmonton Court, Hampshire, and owns much of nearby Watership Down.Lloyd Webber, Andrew (2018). Unmasked: A Memoir. p. 188. London: Harper Collins.
Lloyd Webber is an art collector, with a passion for Victorian painting. An exhibition of works from his collection was presented at the Royal Academy in 2003 under the title Pre-Raphaelite and Other Masters – The Andrew Lloyd Webber Collection. In 2006, Lloyd Webber planned to sell Portrait of Angel Fernández de Soto by Pablo Picasso to benefit the Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation.{{cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&sid=aFsbc2fOE9l8|title=Andrew Lloyd Webber Auctions Art For Charity|publisher=Bloomberg.com|access-date=27 September 2014|date=17 March 2010}} In November 2006, he withdrew the painting from auction after a claim that the previous owner had been forced to sell it under duress in Nazi Germany.{{cite web|url=https://theartwolf.com/news/picasso_soto_withdrawn/|title=Picasso's Angel Fernandez de Soto withdrawn from Christie's sale|date=6 November 2006 |publisher=The Art Wolf|access-date=18 March 2010| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100323054533/http://www.theartwolf.com/picasso_soto_withdrawn.htm|archive-date=23 March 2010|url-status = live}} An out-of-court settlement was reached, where the foundation retained ownership rights.{{cite news|url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Lloyd+Webber's+Picasso+to+be+sold+after+Nazi+row+settled-a01612169204|title=Lloyd Webber's Picasso to be sold after Nazi row settled|date=17 March 2010|agency=Agence France-Presse|access-date=18 March 2010|archive-date=26 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131126024925/http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Lloyd+Webber%27s+Picasso+to+be+sold+after+Nazi+row+settled-a01612169204|url-status=dead}} On 23 June 2010, the painting was sold at auction for £34.7 million to an anonymous telephone bidder.{{cite news |title=Picasso reaches £34.7m in Christie's auction |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment_and_arts/10396341.stm |url-status=live |work=BBC News|date=24 June 2010 |access-date=26 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100626060753/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment_and_arts/10396341.stm |archive-date= 26 June 2010}}
Charity
File:"Paddington Lloyd Webbear" Paddington Bear, China Town - geograph.org.uk - 4245753.jpg statue in London, auctioned to raise funds for the NSPCC]]
Lloyd Webber is involved in a number of charitable activities, including the Elton John AIDS Foundation, Nordoff Robbins, Prostate Cancer UK and War Child.{{cite news |last=Body |first=Jamie |title=LW Theatres partners with War Child to support children in conflict zones |url=https://www.thestage.co.uk/news/lw-theatres-partners-with-war-child-to-support-children-in-conflict-zones |work=The Stage |date=15 December 2022 |access-date=23 November 2023}}{{cite news |last=Kennedy |first=Maev |title=Andrew Lloyd Webber gives away £31.5m from Picasso sale |url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2011/may/19/andrew-lloyd-webber-pablo-picasso |work=The Guardian |date=19 May 2011 |access-date=23 November 2023}} In 1992, he started the Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation which supports the arts, culture, and heritage of the UK.
In 2013, the Andrew Lloyd Webber Programme was launched to aid the Music in Secondary Schools Trust (MiSST), which aims to give every child at participating schools across the UK the opportunity to study a musical instrument as part of the curriculum.{{cite news |title=The transformative free musical instrument scheme that Andrew Lloyd Webber wants in every secondary school |url=https://www.classicfm.com/music-news/free-musical-instrument-scheme-school/ |access-date=23 November 2023 |publisher=Classic FM}} He told LBC: "What music does in these schools, isn't actually necessarily about trying to make the children musicians. But what it does, is it really helps them as people."
In 2014, Lloyd Webber designed a Cats-themed Paddington Bear statue, which was located in Chinatown, London (one of 50 placed around London), with the statues auctioned to raise funds for the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC).{{cite news |title=Why Paddington Bear Statues Have Taken Over London |url=https://www.cntraveler.com/galleries/2014-11-24/paddington-bear-statues-taken-over-london-david-beckham-benedict-cumberbatch |access-date=10 June 2022 |work=Condé Nast}}
Politics
Lloyd Webber was made a life peer in 1997, sitting for the Conservative Party. By the end of 2015, he had voted only 33 times in the House of Lords.{{cite web|url=http://www.publicwhip.org.uk/mp.php?id=uk.org.publicwhip/member/100381&showall=yes|title=Voting Record – Lord Lloyd-Webber (13305) — The Public Whip|website=publicwhip.org.uk}} Politically, Lloyd Webber has supported the Conservatives, allowing his song "Take That Look Off Your Face" to be used on a party promotional film seen by an estimated one million people before the 2005 general election.{{cite web|url=http://www.conservatives.com/tile.do?def=news.story.page&obj_id=121755|date=13 April 2005|title='Take that look off your face', Mr Blair told |publisher=Conservative Party|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070704203511/http://www.conservatives.com/tile.do?def=news.story.page&obj_id=121755|archive-date=4 July 2007}} In August 2014, Lloyd Webber was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to The Guardian opposing Scottish independence in the run-up to September's referendum on that issue.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/aug/07/celebrities-open-letter-scotland-independence-full-text |title=Celebrities' open letter to Scotland – full text and list of signatories |work=The Guardian|date=7 August 2014 |access-date=26 August 2014}}
In October 2015, Lloyd Webber was involved in a contentious House of Lords vote over proposed cuts to tax credits, voting with the Government in favour of the plan. Lloyd Webber was denounced by his critics because he flew in from abroad on his personal plane to vote, when his voting record was scant.{{cite news|last1=Deacon|first1=Michael|title=George Osborne, tax credits... and the quiet revenge of the Lords|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/georgeosborne/11955616/George-Osborne-tax-credits...-and-the-quiet-revenge-of-the-Lords.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/georgeosborne/11955616/George-Osborne-tax-credits...-and-the-quiet-revenge-of-the-Lords.html |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|website=The Daily Telegraph|access-date=27 October 2015|date=26 October 2015}}{{cbignore}}{{cite web|last1=Troup Buchanan|first1=Rose|title='Desperate' Tories flew in peer Andrew Lloyd Webber from New York to prop up government vote on tax credits|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/tax-credits-andrew-lloyd-webber-flown-in-from-new-york-in-attempt-to-salvage-tory-proposal-a6710301.html|website=The Independent|access-date=28 October 2015|date=27 October 2015}} In October 2017, Lloyd Webber retired from the House of Lords, stating that his busy schedule was incompatible with the demands of Parliament considering the upcoming crucial Brexit legislation.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2017/oct/16/andrew-lloyd-webber-quits-as-conservative-peer |title=Andrew Lloyd Webber quits as Conservative peer |last=Elgot |first=Jessica |newspaper=The Guardian |date=16 October 2017 |access-date=17 October 2017}}
In July 2021, he told Good Morning Britain that he would never vote for the Conservatives again, due to their handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and poor treatment of the arts sector during that time.{{cite tweet |user=GMB |number=1418439372031119363 |title=Andrew Lloyd Webber emotionally tells @PipTomson he will never vote Conservative again after the Impresario had to postpone the opening of his new show Cinderella because of self-isolation rules.}}
File:Coat of arms of Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber, KG.png
Awards and honours
{{main|List of awards and nominations received by Andrew Lloyd Webber}}
Lloyd Webber was knighted in the Queen's 1992 Birthday Honours for services to the arts.{{London Gazette |issue=52952 |date=12 June 1992 |page=2 |supp=y}} He was given a life peerage in the 1997 New Year Honours and created Baron Lloyd-Webber, of Sydmonton in the County of Hampshire, on 18 February 1997.{{London Gazette|issue=54689|date=25 February 1997|page=2341}} He is properly styled "The Lord Lloyd-Webber"; the title is hyphenated, although his surname is not. He sat as a Conservative member of the House of Lords until his retirement from the House on 17 October 2017.{{cite news |title=Andrew Lloyd Webber quits as Tory peer as he claims House of Lords demands more time than ever before |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/10/16/andrew-lloyd-webber-quits-tory-peer-claims-house-lords-demands/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/10/16/andrew-lloyd-webber-quits-tory-peer-claims-house-lords-demands/ |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=29 June 2019 |work=The Telegraph}}{{cbignore}}
On St George's Day 2024, he was appointed a Knight Companion of the Order of the Garter (KG).{{cite web|url=https://www.royal.uk/appointments|title=New appointments to various Orders of Chivalry announced|work=The Royal Family|date=23 April 2024|access-date=23 April 2024}}{{London Gazette|issue=64378|page=8190|date=25 April 2024}}
Theatre credits
Note: Music composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber unless otherwise noted.
= Musicals =
{{colbegin}}
- The Likes of Us (1965)
- Lyrics by Tim Rice
- Book by Leslie Thomas
- Not produced until 2005
- Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (1968)
- Lyrics by Tim Rice
- Jesus Christ Superstar (1970)
- Lyrics by Tim Rice
- Jeeves (1975)
- Book and lyrics by Alan Ayckbourn
- Revised in 1996 as By Jeeves
- Evita (1976)
- Lyrics by Tim Rice
- Tell Me on a Sunday (1979)
- Lyrics by Don Black
- Cats (1981)
- Lyrics based on Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot
- Additional lyrics after Eliot by Richard Stilgoe and Trevor Nunn
- Song and Dance (1982)
- Lyrics by Don Black (revised by Richard Maltby Jr. for Broadway)
- Combination of Variations (1978) and Tell Me on a Sunday (1979)
- Starlight Express (1984)
- Lyrics by Richard Stilgoe
- Later revisions by Don Black and David Yazbek
- Inspired by The Railway Series books by The Rev. W. Awdry.
- Cricket (1986)
- Lyrics by Tim Rice
- First performed for Queen Elizabeth II's 60th birthday
- The Phantom of the Opera (1986)
- Lyrics by Charles Hart
- Additional Lyrics by Richard Stilgoe
- Book by Richard Stilgoe and Andrew Lloyd Webber
- Based on the novel by Gaston Leroux
- Aspects of Love (1989)
- Lyrics by Don Black and Charles Hart
- Book by Andrew Lloyd Webber
- Based on the novel by David Garnett
- Sunset Boulevard (1993)
- Book and lyrics by Christopher Hampton and Don Black
- Based on the 1950 film by Billy Wilder
- Whistle Down the Wind (1996)
- Lyrics by Jim Steinman
- Book by Patricia Knop, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Gale Edwards
- The Beautiful Game (2000)
- Book and lyrics by Ben Elton
- Updated as The Boys in the Photograph (2009)
- The Woman in White (2004)
- Lyrics by David Zippel
- Book by Charlotte Jones
- Based on the Wilkie Collins novel
- Based on elements of the short story The Signal-Man by Charles DickensAustin, Jeremy (2004). "Interview with Andrew Lloyd Webber". The Woman in White: Education Pack. pg 14
- Love Never Dies (2010)
- Book & Lyrics by Glenn Slater
- Book by Ben Elton & Frederick Forsyth
- Additional lyrics by Charles Hart
- The Wizard of Oz (2011)
- Book by Andrew Lloyd Webber & Jeremy Sams
- Music by Harold Arlen
- Lyrics by E.Y. Harburg
- Additional music by Andrew Lloyd Webber
- Additional lyrics by Tim Rice
- Based on the 1939 motion picture The Wizard of Oz
- Based on the 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
- Stephen Ward (2013)
- Book and lyrics by Christopher Hampton and Don Black
- School of Rock (2015)
- Lyrics by Glenn Slater
- Book by Julian Fellowes
- Based on the 2003 film by Richard Linklater
- Cinderella (2021)
- Lyrics by David Zippel
- Book by Emerald Fennell
- Based on the classic story
- Produced on Broadway as Bad Cinderella{{colend}}
= Plays =
{{colbegin}}
- Sherlock Holmes and The 12 Days of Christmas (2025)
- Written by Humphrey Ker and David Reed
- Lyrics by Tim Rice{{colend}}
Film adaptations
There have been a number of film adaptations of Lloyd Webber's musicals: Jesus Christ Superstar (1973), directed by Norman Jewison; Evita (1996), directed by Alan Parker; The Phantom of the Opera (2004), directed by Joel Schumacher and co-produced by Lloyd Webber; and Cats (2019), directed by Tom Hooper and executive produced by Lloyd Webber. Cats (1998), Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (1999), Jesus Christ Superstar (2000) and By Jeeves (2001) have been adapted into made-for-television films that have been released on DVD and VHS and often air on BBC.
A special performance of The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall for the 25th anniversary was broadcast live to cinemas in early October 2011 and later released on DVD and Blu-ray in February 2012. The same was also done with a reworked version of Love Never Dies. Filmed in Melbourne, it received a limited cinema release in the US and Canada in 2012, to see if it would be viable to bring the show to Broadway.
Other works
- Gumshoe (1971) - film score
- The Odessa File (1974) – Film score.
- Variations (1978) – A set of musical variations on Niccolò Paganini's Caprice in A minor that Lloyd Webber composed for his brother, cellist Julian. This album featured fifteen rock musicians including guitarist Gary Moore and pianist Rod Argent and reached number 2 in the UK album chart upon its release. It was later combined with Tell Me on a Sunday to form one show, Song and Dance. Lloyd Webber also used variation five as the basis for Unexpected Song in Song and Dance. The main theme is used as the theme music to The South Bank Show.
- Requiem (1985) – A classical choral work composed in honour of his father, William.
- Watership Down (1999) – Lloyd Webber and Mike Batt, main soundtrack composer of the animated series adaptation of Richard Adams' novel of the same name, composed the song "Fields of Sun". The actual song was never used on the show, nor was it available on the CD soundtrack that was released at the time. He was however still credited for the unused song in the show's opening titles.
Discography
Musicals and show recordings
{{main|Andrew Lloyd Webber discography}}
- The Likes of Us (1965)
- Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (1968)
- Jesus Christ Superstar (1970)
- Jeeves (1975)
- Evita (1976)
- Tell Me on a Sunday (1979)
- Cats (1981)
- Song and Dance (1982)
- Starlight Express (1984)
- The Phantom of the Opera (1986)
- Aspects of Love (1989)
- Sunset Boulevard (1993)
- Whistle Down the Wind (1998)
- The Beautiful Game (2000)
- The Woman in White (2004)
- Love Never Dies (2010)
- The Wizard of Oz (2011)
- Stephen Ward (2013)
- School of Rock (2015)
- Cinderella (2021)
- Bad Cinderella (2023)
Other albums
- Variations (1978)
- Variations with London Philharmonic Orchestra (1986)
- Symphonic Suites (2021)
See also
- View of Geelong by Eugene von Guerard, 1856 painting once owned by Lloyd Webber
{{Clear}}
References
{{Reflist}}
Further reading
- Pre-Raphaelite and Other Masters: The Andrew Lloyd Webber Collection – Royal Academy of Arts, London 2003 {{ISBN|1-903973-39-2}}
- Cats on a Chandelier – Coveney, M (1999), Hutchinson, London
- Oh What a Circus – Rice, Tim (1999), Hodder & Stoughton, London
- Andrew Lloyd Webber – Snelson, John (2004), Yale University Press, New Haven CT. {{ISBN|0-300-10459-6}}
- Andrew Lloyd Webber: His Life and Works – Walsh, Michael (1989, revised and expanded, 1997), Abrams: New York
External links
{{commons}}
- {{Official website|http://www.andrewlloydwebber.com/}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20040803093212/http://www.reallyuseful.com/rug/andrew Biography] at the Really Useful Group
- {{IBDB name}}
- {{IMDb name|id=0515908|name=Andrew Lloyd Webber}}
- [http://www.songwriter.co.uk/page901.html Interview with Andrew Lloyd Webber in International Songwriters Association's "Songwriter Magazine"]
{{S-start}} {{S-ach}}
{{s-bef|before= Stephen Sondheim
for Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street}}
{{s-ttl|title = Grammy Award for Best Cast Show Album|years = 1980
for Evita
shared with Tim Rice}}
{{s-aft|after = Quincy Jones
for Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music}}
{{s-bef|before= Henry Krieger – Composer, Tom Eyen – Lyricist, David Foster – Producer
for Dreamgirls}}
{{s-ttl|title = Grammy Award for Best Cast Show Album|years = 1983
for Cats}}
{{s-aft|after = Stephen Sondheim – Composer and lyricist, Thomas Z. Shepard
for Sunday in the Park with George}}
{{s-bef|before= None}}
{{s-ttl|title = Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Composition|years = 1985
for Requiem}}
{{s-aft|after = Witold Lutosławski
for Symphony No. 3}}
{{s-prec|uk}}
{{s-bef|before=The Lord Whitty}}
{{s-ttl|title=Gentlemen
Baron Lloyd-Webber }}
{{s-fol|after=The Lord Falconer of Thoroton}}
{{s-end}}
{{Andrew Lloyd Webber}}
{{Navboxes
|title= Awards for Andrew Lloyd Webber
|list1=
{{AcademyAwardBestOriginalSong 1991–2000}}
{{DramaDesk Music 1976–2000}}
{{DramaDesk Orchestrations 1984–2000}}
{{Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song}}
{{Grammy Legend Award}}
{{Kennedy Center Honorees 2000s}}
{{Satellite Award for Best Original Song}}
{{OlivierAward SpecialAward}}
{{Special Tony Award}}
{{TonyAward MusicalScore 1976–2000}}
}}
{{EGOT winners}}
{{Lloyd Webber and Rice}}
{{Andrew Lloyd Webber musical revival search}}
{{Members of the Order of the Garter}}
{{Authority control}}
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Category:20th-century English composers
Category:21st-century English composers
Category:21st-century English memoirists
Category:Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford
Category:Alumni of the Royal College of Music
Category:Best Original Song Academy Award–winning songwriters
Category:British ballet composers
Category:British male opera composers
Category:Broadway composers and lyricists
Category:Broadway theatre producers
Category:Composers awarded knighthoods
Category:Composers from London
Category:Conservative Party (UK) life peers
Category:Drama Desk Award winners
Category:English art collectors
Category:English film score composers
Category:English male composers
Category:English male film score composers
Category:English male songwriters
Category:English musical theatre composers
Category:English opera composers
Category:English philanthropists
Category:English racehorse owners and breeders
Category:English record producers
Category:English television personalities
Category:English theatre directors
Category:English theatre managers and producers
Category:Golden Globe Award–winning musicians
Category:Grammy Legend Award winners
Category:Ivor Novello Award winners
Category:Kennedy Center honorees
Category:Knights of the Garter
Category:Laurence Olivier Award winners
Category:Life peers created by Elizabeth II
Category:Male musical theatre composers
Category:Musicians awarded knighthoods
Category:Musicians who were peers
Category:Peers retired under the House of Lords Reform Act 2014
Category:People educated at Westminster School, London
Category:People from Belgravia
Category:People from Kensington
Category:Primetime Emmy Award winners
Category:Recipients of the Praemium Imperiale
Category:Sony Classical Records artists
Category:Special Tony Award recipients
Category:Television personalities from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea