Andrew Lloyd Webber

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Birthday:

22 March 1948, South Kensington, London, England, UK

Height:

176 cm

Andrew Lloyd Webber is arguably the most successful composer of our time. He is best known for stage and film adaptations of his musicals Jesus Christ Superstar (1973), Cats (1994), Evita (1996), and The Phantom of the Opera (2004).He was born on March 22, 1948, in South Kensington in London, England, the first of two sons of William Lloyd Webber, an organist and composer. His mother, Jean Johnstone, was a pianist and violinist. Young Andrew Lloyd Webber learned to play various musical instruments at home and began composing at an early age. He continued his music studies at Westminster School, where his father was an organist. At the age of 9, young Andrew was able to play the organ and assisted his father during performances. In 1964 he went to Oxford University as a Queens Scholar of history.In 1965 he met lyricist Tim Rice and dropped out of school to compose musicals and pop songs. In 1968 he had his first success with the West End production of 'Joseph and the Amasing Techicolor Dreamcoat'. From the 1960s to 2000s Lloyd Webber has been constantly updating his style as an eclectic blend of musical genres ranging from classical to rock, pop, and jazz, and with inclusion of electro-acoustic music and choral-like numbers in his musicals.Andrew Lloyd Webber shot to fame in 1971 with the opening of his rock opera 'Jesus Christ Superstar'. His next successful collaboration with Tim Rice was the musical biopic 'Evita', based on the true story of Eva Peron of Argentina. Andrew Lloyd Webber has been constantly updating the genre of musical theatre. In 1981 he delivered 'Cats', based on Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats and other poems by T.S. Eliot. It was produced at New London Theatre, where stage was designed as a giant junkyard with large-scale bottles and cans scattered around a huge tire representing a playground for cats dressed in exotic costumes who would come and go through the aisles. The record-breaking production of 'Cats' was on stage for 21 seasons, from 1981 - 2002, and became one of the most popular musicals of all time. It played the total of 8,949 performances in London and 7,485 in New York.In 1986 Andrew Lloyd Webber released his most successful musical, 'The Phantom of the Opera', based on the eponymous book by Gaston Leroux with the English lyrics by Charles Hart. 'The Phantom of the Opera' became the highest grossing entertainment event of all time, with total worldwide gross of 3,3 billion dollars and attendance of 80 million. It is also the longest running Broadway musical of all time and the most financially successful Broadway show in history. 'The Phantom of the Opera' was translated into several languages and was produced in more than twenty countries as "clones" of the original production, using similar staging, direction, costumes concept and sets design.He was knighted Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber in 1992, and was created an honorary life peer in 1997 as Baron Lloyd-Webber, of Syndmonton in the County of Hampshire. He won the 1996 Academy Award for Best Music, Original Song for Evita (1996), and received two more Oscar nominations. Among his other awards are seven Tonys and three Grammys, including his 1986 Grammy Award for Requiem in the category of best classical composition. In 2006 Andrew Lloyd Webber was Awarded Kennedy Center Honors. He owns seven London theatres, which he also restored. Outside of his entertainment career he developed a passion for collecting Pre-Raphaelite paintings and Victorian art. He was married three times and has five children. He is residing in England.Andrew Lloyd Webber is currently working on his new opera titled 'Master and Margarita' based on the eponymous novel by Mikhail A. Bulgakov. Show less «

There is a recommendation that schools spend a certain amount of time teaching music but it really depends on whether the teachers believe i...Show more »

There is a recommendation that schools spend a certain amount of time teaching music but it really depends on whether the teachers believe in it. In some primary and secondary schools there is no musical provision at all but other well-resourced schools have plenty. Show less «

In reference to singer/actress Emmy Rossum: "She is a wonderfully pure soprano, with an exceptional range. But more than this she also bring...Show more »

In reference to singer/actress Emmy Rossum: "She is a wonderfully pure soprano, with an exceptional range. But more than this she also brings real character into the voice - so rare for her age." Show less «

If you're a composer you do want to know how people are reacting to it but at the same time, of course, the performer is the most important ...Show more »

If you're a composer you do want to know how people are reacting to it but at the same time, of course, the performer is the most important thing. Show less «

I'm a composer and therefore I know when I've written a good tune. When you've written a good song is when you know that the lyric is comple...Show more »

I'm a composer and therefore I know when I've written a good tune. When you've written a good song is when you know that the lyric is completely coalesced with the song. Sometimes I think I've written melodies that may have got a bit buried because maybe the lyric hasn't worked with the song. Sometimes, actually, it's the other way around. When you're writing for musical theatre the story comes first. If the story's right then the songs will probably come right. Show less «

You're the luckiest person in the entire world if you know what you really want to do, which I was lucky enough to know when I was very youn...Show more »

You're the luckiest person in the entire world if you know what you really want to do, which I was lucky enough to know when I was very young. And you're the luckiest person in the world if you can then make a living out of it. Show less «

I have lived and worked in Britain all my life. Not even in the dark days of penal Labour taxation in the Seventies did I have any intention...Show more »

I have lived and worked in Britain all my life. Not even in the dark days of penal Labour taxation in the Seventies did I have any intention of leaving the country of my birth. Despite a rumour put around some years back, I have never contemplated leaving Britain for tax reasons. Show less «

More than ever before we need to keep high-flying professionals in the UK. We can't, as we have done in the past, dump on them through penal...Show more »

More than ever before we need to keep high-flying professionals in the UK. We can't, as we have done in the past, dump on them through penal personal taxation. Of course we know that there have been some shocking excesses in the City of London. But for years we have also had drummed into us that the City of London proudly took over from manufacturing as the UK's main source of income. New Labour rejoiced in the fruits of the excesses of the bankers. Of course, with hindsight, their bonuses were obscene. But New Labour gratefully taxed them. Show less «

The regrets in the theatre have always been the shows that you know ought to have worked, but for one reason of another haven't. I suppose i...Show more »

The regrets in the theatre have always been the shows that you know ought to have worked, but for one reason of another haven't. I suppose if I had one regret it's that I would have loved to have had a long-term partner like Rodgers had with either Hart or Hammerstein. I was really hoping that the Tim Rice relationship would have gone on, but I'm obsessed with theatre and for Tim it's something that he does enjoy doing, is very good at, but it isn't his whole life as it is with me. Show less «

What strikes me is that there's a very fine line between success and failure. Just one ingredient can make the difference. A really good exa...Show more »

What strikes me is that there's a very fine line between success and failure. Just one ingredient can make the difference. A really good example of that is design and 'Love Never Lies'. The London production didn't have any consistency of style, so it would go from say, art nouveau to art deco, to straightforward, old-fashioned showbiz. The Australian production had its own language. It was at one with the piece. Show less «

[on composing songs] I've sometimes found that they've taken a while, but then you get the ones where it's so obvious that you think 'that m...Show more »

[on composing songs] I've sometimes found that they've taken a while, but then you get the ones where it's so obvious that you think 'that must have been done before', so you go through agonies and get musicologists and people to look at them. Show less «

[observation, 2013] In the last few years, everything seems to have gone slightly away from music and more toward the comedy musicals, the '...Show more »

[observation, 2013] In the last few years, everything seems to have gone slightly away from music and more toward the comedy musicals, the 'Hairsprays' and 'The Book of Mormons'. I just don't know if there's a public for something now which is much more serious and is old-fashioned, in the sense that it is melodic. Show less «