Andrew Lloyd Webber

Hi guys relative newbie here.. in reply to the previous posts my $0.02.. (not really following the argument but anyway some random thoughts)

> >LetÂ’s be honest hereÂ… do you
> > really come out of a Lloyd Webber humming the tunes? Or do
> > you come out humming the scenery? I know thatÂ’s what I did
> > with Phantom.

That's a common knee-jerk reaction to ALW's stuff. Sales of the Phantom cast album are still going strong, and JCS and Evita started out life as concept albums, so obviously the music must have something to do with it. And then the argument that naturally follows its that some people just like crappy sappy stuff, but thats another point altogether...


> *sigh* Thats not what I meant. I meant that the public
> majority were suddenly interested in musical theatre again.
> Not just the people interested in musicals and theatre.
> Everyone knows who he is. Can that be said of Sondheim
> (believe me, its true), Alan Menken, Stephen Schwartz, Jason
> Robert Brown, Charles Strouse, Jerry Bock and even Kander and
> Ebb? The public majority do not know who these people are,
> but they sure as hell have heard of Lloyd Webber.

Sadly that's probably ALW's biggest problem. I mean Phantom 9and I think Cats as well) has made more money than Titanic. He's gotten far too big and well, in many circles far too mainstream, for his own good. Not that being mainstream is a problem in itself but it certianly seems to be so for theatre snobs and critics. Phantom has been parodied to death, Memory has been done to death and while it probably was a pretty song in its day 20 years on it's very, very hard to listen to it with fresh ears. And because his most well known (not neccessarily most popular) stuff is so overplayed (and badly sung in hotel bars), it becomes, even if it didnt start of that way, elevator music. And because those songs are his most famous there's the assumption that they are also his best, which, well, sounds crap enough as it is. And btw I cant stand people who slam the empty melodrama of Dont Cry For Me Argentina, not realising that in the context of the show that was the whole point..


> >But during the eighties and nineties people stopped seeing
> musicals >unless they were
> > bigger and brighter with more effects and stunning costumes
> > and who really cares about the music anyway!

Well I suppose if you can give the audience a "total experience", why not? I dont think the effects hide a weak score, rather they enhance the whole thing. Live musical theatre is a visual thing as much as it is an aural thing. And if it encourages people to go into the theatre why not? Although i guess the only concern will be in terms of visuals it's raised the bar so that every other musical will have to be a multimillion dollar production. But as for those, regular musical theatre fans will buy tickets anyway, spectacular scenery or not. And its precisely shows like Phantom that are creating a new generation of musical theatregoers. Its very strange how critics and theatre people keep complaining that people arent interested in musicals, and then when these shows come about and people start getting interested, they slam em for pandering to the public. Sigh.
Anyway someone asked about the Woman In White. It's opening in September (cant remember when) at the Palace Theatre, les Miz's former home. If you go to the forum at the tiretracks.co.uk there's an article on the Show from the Times.