When you are invited to a private Zoom conversation with a musical mogul like Andrew Lloyd Webber, you cancel all your plans (well, in these Covid days, your only plan!) and hover over the “JOIN” hyperlink with excitement and apprehension, at least an hour beforehand!
The familiar face of Andrew comes to life on your phone. My God! He is looking directly into your eyes and thanking you for joining. I am melting.
He shares that he has always been fascinated by music and musical theater from an early age, thanks to his actress aunt and his father, who was the Director of the London College of Music and taught at the prestigious Royal College of Music. But his early loves included architecture! He visited castles and abbeys, and visual objects affected him. This is a factor in his success. For Andrew, the visual production “must fit the music like a glove.” The musicals he has written and produced, which are prolific, include Phantom of the Opera, with that chandelier falling, Evita, Jesus Christ Superstar, Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat, and Cats.
Musicals, Andrew says, are a collaborative effort that fuses the best of music, lyrics, choreography, performers, lighting, production, etc. His mentor, Harold Prince, once told him, “You can’t listen to music if you can’t see it,” and Andrew has relied heavily on that mantra throughout his work.
He is a big fan of current contemporary musicals like Hamilton, Dear Evan Hansen, and Six, whose composers he admires. All successful creators love to see each other thrive, and he clearly supports and endorses new modern ways to attract people to the theater.
When asked about the impact of social media on musical theater, Andrew states that he may be a bit “old” to fully embrace them himself (his daughter, Bella, helps him with that and was probably filming while we spoke), but he knows they offer talents a remarkable opportunity to be discovered. His advice to young artists was, “just perform somewhere and you never know what will transpire.”
Who are your favorite composers? Andrew frequently referred to Richard Rogers and Hammerstein, whose musicals touched and inspired him from an early age, as well as Gershwin, and his favorite opera composers include Britten, Prokofiev, Puccini, and Verdi. He is also a fan of Indian composer A R Rahman, known as the Mozart of Madras, who composed the music for Slumdog Millionaire.
On a personal note, Andrew is involved in a lot of philanthropy with his own Foundation, stating that he feels it is important to give back, as he has been fortunate enough to achieve so much doing something he is passionate about. His goal is to bring music to schools and make music classes available to all children. He knows that the impact will benefit communities and result in better academic performance and behavioral health.
While awaiting the reopening of theaters to launch his latest musical, Cinderella, he volunteered to participate in the Covid-19 vaccine trials at the University of Oxford. “If I want things to return to normal then I need to play my part,” he states, adding that he is feeling well, with no side effects after receiving the vaccine. Now that’s true commitment!
He is truly a beacon of creativity, and his work ethic has borne fruit over the years. He continues to inspire and compose while seeking and collaborating with the greatest talents in music, theater, and film. Thank you, Sir Andrew, for sharing this virtual time with me!
LINDA LEVY
Entrepreneur & Public Relations Consultant
http://il2productions.com