Written December 7, 1997 by Molly Lemmer
lemmermj@flagler.edu
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Get your own Free Home PageAndrew went to Oxford but dropped out after his first year. College life didn't suit the quiet, shy young man--He wanted to compose! Enter Tim Rice.
Tim Rice had heard from a mutial friend about a composer looking for a lyricist. He wrote to Andrew saying: "I hear you're in need of a bang up lyricist. Well, I'm it." Thus, began one of the best known and loved pairing in musical theater--Webber and Rice. The duo's first musical together was a short little piece titled The Likes Of Us that never saw the West End. It was performed but not to any large audiences. Andrew Lloyd Webber was 17 and Tim Rice 21. Two young men who were about to become millionaires.
In 1969, Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat premiered. The world sat up and took notice. It was an instant success and followed by a rapid string of hits--Jesus Christ Superstar(1971, album; 1973, stage version), Evita(1977, album; 1978, stage version; 1979, broadway). Everything this pair breathed life into seemed golden--blessed to win every Tony they were nominated for. If an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical was up for awards--forget the competition! Andrew and Tim had become millionaires at the ripe old ages of 21 and 25 with the release of Jesus Christ Superstar. But trouble was brewing.
In 1980, while in the early production stages of Cats, the duo had a falling out. Tim stayed up all night and wrote lyrics to Memory but--in the end--they weren't used. The two had been growing apart for some time now and the relationship was too strained to go on any longer. Tim was having an affair with Elaine Page(the original London Eva Peron, and Grisabelle in Cats) and some sources say that Andrew loved her too, and that was the main cause of the team's breakup. Either way, Tim left to pursue other projects and Andrew finished Cats. Charles Hart became his new lyricist with Richard Stilgoe sometimes helping out.
During Cats, which opened in 1981, Andrew met a 21-year-old dancer/singer named Sarah Brightman. She had spiked, blue hair at the time having just left her stint as the lead singer in a punk rock band, but there was something that drew him to her. Problem is, he was already married--To a girl he had known for years, also named Sarah, and they had two children. Sarah#2(which he DID call her) landed a minor role in Cats. Their relationship grew from there. Eventually, Andrew divorced Sarah#1 and married Sarah Brightman. He had already begun work on his latest musical which was soon to become one of the best loved of all time--The Phantom Of The Opera. The role of Christine was modeled for his new, young bride.
The Phantom Of The Opera opened at Her Majesty's Theater in 1986. It made instant celebrities out of it's stars: Michael Crawford as the Phantom, and Sarah Brightman as Christine. It swept the Tony awards the following year but--strangely enough--The 24-year-old Sarah#2 was overlooked for Best Actress in a Musical. When Andrew accepted his award for Best Musical, he said: "This is for Sarah." Andrew and Sarah#2 divorced a few years later and he is currently married to his third wife--a non-sarah.
In 1989, to follow his last monsterous hit, Andrew premiered his latest project Aspects of Love He recycled songs he had meant to use for Phantom but never quite fit. It's his favorite out of all his works, but the show didn't create the fevor Phantom of the Opera did. Still, it's star--Michael Ball as Alex--has gone on to a highly successful career. Being cast in Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals virtually guarentees future success.
In 1992, Andrew's newest musical Sunset Boulevard premiered in the West End. Based on the 1950 Billy Wilder Classic, it's--for all intents and purposes--the movie set to music. (Aspects of Love was also based on a 1953 novel by David Garnet. Song Passages were taken from the book.) After a few years of blah-musicals on Broadway, Sunset was welcomed with open arms and swept the 1994 Tony Awards.
Currently, Andrew's latest project--Whistle Down The Wind--will open on Broadway soon, and there have been revivals of Joseph, and Jesus Christ Superstar. Phantom is still playing to packed houses in every city, and Cats has become the longest running musical in history.
In 1992, the Queen honored Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice by knighting them. The former duo also seems to have put aside their differences, for, in 1996, a $40 million movie version of Evita was released staring Madonna, Johnathon Price and Antonio Banderas. It won several Golden Globe Awards including: Best Musical or Comedy, Best Actress, and Best Original Song (You Must Love Me). Tim Rice was on hand to accept that award and included "If Andrew were here, I'm sure he'd say. . ." in his speech. When You Must Love Me won at the Oscars, though, both Andrew and Tim were on stage to accept their awards--marking the first time they had been on stage together since Evita won it's 9 Tony awards in 1980.
Also in the works for future projects, are cartoon versions of Cats, and Starlight Express. There's also talk of live versions of Phantom of the Opera and Sunset Boulevard since Evita did so well.
Andrew Lloyd Webber has been spreading his musical magic throughout the world for over 20 years. If you think lyricists are the reason his songs are remembered and beloved, listen to a symphonic recording of any show. Andrew Lloyd Webber is truly one of the musical titans of the 20th century.
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