Showing posts with label Andrew Lloyd Webber. Show all posts

Thursday, May 18, 2023

Catherine, Princess of Wales plays piano in incredible surprise cameo at Eurovision

Catherine, Princess of Wales plays piano in the Crimson Drawing Room of Windsor Castle, for the opening sequence of the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 Grand Final. Picture: Alex Bramall

By Classic FM

Catherine, Princess of Wales, stunned Eurovision viewers with a surprise cameo appearance playing piano as the song competition finale began.

As is tradition, the grand final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 opened with a ‘flag parade’, as performers from the 26 competing countries assembled in the UK’s Liverpool Arena, to a soundtrack of musical performances.

Amongst them: a surprise piano performance from Catherine, Princess of Wales.

This year’s theme was a celebration of Ukraine, as Liverpool hosted the event on behalf of the country since the ongoing Russian invasion made it impossible for last year’s Eurovision winners to do so.

Kalush Orchestra - Voices of a New Generation | Grand Final | Eurovision 2023 #UnitedByMusic 🇺🇦🇬🇧

The performance kicked off with 2022 Eurovision winners, Kalush Orchestra, performing ‘Voices of a New Generation’.

The performance blended their winning song ‘Stefania’ with string quartet, a guitar-shredding solo by 2022 runner-up Sam Ryder atop the city’s Royal Liver Building, a ballet performance, and piano cameos from the Princess of Wales and Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Wearing a royal blue dress in a subtle nod to the Ukrainian flag, the Princess of Wales played a short segment on the piano against the rich, red backdrop of Windsor Castle’s Crimson Drawing Room.

The opening segment also featured a piano performance by the great British composer and musical theatre legend, Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Following the broadcast on Saturday 13 May, the Kalush Orchestra released a statement thanking the Princess of Wales for joining their performance.

They also extended an invitation for her to join them on a future tour: “We would definitely like to invite her to tour with us if she would like to pursue a new career in a hip-hop folk band?!” he Princess of Wales’ first public piano appearance was on Christmas Eve in 2021, when she accompanied singer-songwriter Tom Walker in ‘For Those Who Can’t Be Here’ at Westminster Abbey, dedicating the performance to the ‘unsung heroes’ of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Princess learned piano as a young girl, taking lessons with Daniel Nicholls between the ages of 10 and 13. She is also known to have achieved Grade 5 in singing and music theory, having reportedly been deputy head chorister in her chapel choir, as well as having played flute in a chamber orchestra and flute choir, alongside her sister Pippa.

Monday, April 17, 2023

‘The Phantom of the Opera’ ends Broadway run after 35 years

By Alicia Powell via Reuters

Laird Mackintosh, who substituted for Ben Crawford as the Phantom takes a bow after his final performance of the Phantom of the Opera, which closes after 35 years on Broadway, in New York City, U.S., April 16, 2023. (Reuters/Caitlin Ochs)

NEW YORK— Musical “The Phantom of the Opera” ended a record-breaking 35-year Broadway run on Sunday when, amid predictions that the show would one day return, teary-eyed cast members took a final bow alongside its original stars.

Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber dedicated the final Broadway performance to his son Nicholas, who died of gastric cancer last month.

“In the last few months I don’t think… any of us thought that ‘The Phantom’ would go out quite with the bang it has. And so maybe it may come back, you never know…,” Lloyd Webber told a packed audience from the stage after the show.

“It couldn’t have gone out with a better performance.”

His production, whose closure date was set last year following a sharp drop in ticket sales, is based on a novel by Gaston Leroux.

It was originally directed by Harold Prince and Broadway legends including Michael Crawford, who was the first to play the Phantom, Sarah Brightman and Judy Kaye have taken lead roles.

Set in the 19th century, it tells the story of aspiring opera singer Christine Daae who is taught by the mysterious Phantom to hone her vocal skills. However, things take a dark turn when the Phantom chooses Christine as his muse, and she falls in love with arts benefactor Raoul.

A staple of the Broadway world with nearly 14,000 performances since it debuted there in 1988, the show has won over 70 major awards.

Brightman, who joined cast members on stage on Sunday, described the production as “a very special piece”.

“Being there at its inception, it was written with a huge amount of love and passion and understanding of the human soul, actually. So, I think this is why people are so connected to it,” she told Reuters on the red carpet.

“I think that people will miss it so much that… it will reopen at some point. That’s my instinct about it.”

—Reporting by Alicia Powell; editing by John Stonestreet

Wednesday, October 19, 2022

The Music Of The Night

2,280,836 views Oct 30, 2018 Provided to YouTube by Universal Music Group

The Music Of The Night · Andrew Lloyd Webber · Gerard Butler

The Phantom Of The Opera

Tuesday, October 18, 2022

Andrew Lloyd Webber: Jesus Christ Superstar Arr. Henry Mancini

12,198 views Feb 1, 2020 Andrew Lloyd Webber: Jesus Christ Superstar (Arranged for orchestra by Henry Mancini)

Novaya Russiya Orchestra

John McLaughlin Williams, Conductor

Thursday, June 10, 2021

Andrew Lloyd Webber ‘will risk being arrested’ to fully reopen theatres on 21 June

Andrew Lloyd Webber ‘will risk being arrested’ to fully reopen theatres on 21 June. Picture: PA

By Maddy Shaw Roberts, ClassicFM London

Composer pledges to fully reopen theaters on 21 June – even if it means getting arrested.

“We are going to open, come hell or high water,” Andrew Lloyd Webber told the Telegraph.

Lloyd Webber, one of the world’s most prolific and celebrated musical theaters composers, said his theaters were suffering “acute financial stress” that could only be lifted by theaters reopening without social distancing.

He said that if the government postpones lifting restrictions, “We will say: come to the theaters and arrest us.”

Cinderella, Lloyd Webber’s first West End show in five years, is slated to have its first preview in just over weeks, with opening night set for 14 July after almost a year’s delay.

Lloyd Webber would struggle to break even if he does not sell every seat during Cinderella’s run, due to the high production cost.

Read more: Andrew Lloyd Webber may ‘sue’ the government if theaters reopening is delayedowever, reports suggest the government may push back the lifting of restrictions on 21 June due to concerns over the impact of the Delta COVID-19 variant, which originated in India.

Lloyd Webber insists he has “seen the science from the tests”, and theatres are not a breeding ground for the virus. “They all prove that theaters are completely safe, the virus is not carried there.”

The theater impresario added: “If the government ignore their own science, we have the mother of all legal cases against them. “If Cinderella couldn’t open, we’d go, ‘Look, either we go to law about it, or you’ll have to compensate us.’”

Lloyd Webber revealed that it costs him £1 million a month just to keep his six theaters dark. He has remortgaged his London home, a townhouse in Belgravia, and warned that he may have to sell his six West End theaters if restrictions are not lifted as planned.

Cinderella's opening night is slated for 14 July. Picture: PA

“I don’t think [the government] understand it,” he told the Telegraph. “We’ve never taken any profit out of the theaters. I’ve always tried to put back in, which is why we’re in a muddle now because we never had a big reserve. “Unfortunately,” he says, “the Government regards theater as a nice thing to have rather than a necessity.”

Last week, Lloyd Webber told the Daily Mail he would “have to consider” taking legal action against the government if a reopening was delayed. On his lifelong love for the arts, Lloyd Webber added: “I don’t know when or where or how I began to love musicals, but I can’t remember a time when I didn’t.

“I think of music all the time. I must have 30 to 40 melodies in my head that haven’t found a home yet.”

Thursday, April 15, 2021

West End’s Phantom of the Opera slices orchestra in half ...

... leaving musicians without a job

Phantom of the Opera orchestra halved when show returns to West End. Picture: Getty

By Maddy Shaw Roberts, ClassicFM London

Phantom of the Opera was celebrated for having the largest orchestra in the West End. Now, it’s being sliced in half.

Despite promises the original production would return after coronavirus restrictions are lifted, The Phantom of the Opera’s orchestra will be cut in half when it returns to the West End.

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s hit musical, once celebrated for having the largest orchestra in the West End, has reduced its players from 27 to just 14.

All 27 members were released from their contracts while Her Majesty’s Theatre was undergoing refurbishment, with hopes they might be rehired. Now, while 14 musicians can re-audition for the show’s return on 21 July, 13 of the jobs no longer exist.

Instruments including the oboe, harp, percussion, trumpets and horns have been cut, and there will be a trimmed-down violin section.

The production will replace traditional instrument sounds with keyboard effects. A statement says the “modern instrumentation… will give this timeless score the freshness of a new musical”.

The West End show has been closed since March 2020. Picture: Getty

Phantom producer Cameron Mackintosh, and the Really Useful Group, say this reduced orchestration, which is used for the UK touring production, has also already been “created for the international productions of the show”.

“These orchestrations are just as thrilling and rich as the original but would not have been possible with the technology available in 1986,” they added.

There are great concerns the move will leave musicians high and dry in what has already been a disastrous year for the arts.

Matt Dickinson, the percussionist for Phantom, was devastated to find out his job had been cut. “I sacrificed so much, willingly, to be a part of this wonderful show and yet I will leave with nothing more than the shirt on my back: no severance to speak of and my livelihood and that of my family in absolute tatters,” Dickinson tweeted.

“I don’t even have the opportunity to re-audition for my job and am unclear what the future holds.”

Horace Trubridge, general secretary of The Musicians’ Union, said the organisation was “sad and disappointed” by the move.

Phantom's producer, Cameron Mackintosh, and composer, Andrew Lloyd Webber. Picture: Getty

The Phantom of the Opera, London’s second-longest-running musical, closed its curtains on 16 March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Last year, it was promised that “the brilliant original” production would return.

In August 2020, Lloyd Webber said: “Phantom will be back up there and even better than before. We’re going to have the original production and it will be fantastic.”

The composer and orchestra have historically enjoyed a close relationship. In April last year, the entire orchestra recorded a virtual ‘All I Ask of You’ to “show their support and respect for Andrew”. Lloyd Webber said he was “incredibly touched” by their creation.

The move to cut the orchestra in half has been widely criticised by industry figures, including British composer Thomas Hewitt Jones, who tweeted: “This has been a rumour in our industry for a while, but here it is confirmed in plain sight. It is incredibly disappointing that theater mega-producers set this kind of example.”

Meanwhile on Broadway, Phantom’s producers have committed to return with a full pit and have condemned the “downsizing of musicians” in the West End.

Adam Krauthamer, president of the New York City musicians’ union, told Playbill: “Producers who take advantage of a worldwide pandemic in order to cut live music are cheapening their productions and robbing the audience of the full experience of musical theater.”

Thursday, February 7, 2019

Andrew Lloyd Webber: His Music and His Life

Everything you need to know including his musicals, wife and net worth

By ClassicFM London

Andrew Lloyd Webber at the 2016 Broadway revival of CATS. Picture: Getty

Andrew Lloyd Webber is the King of memorable tunes and catchy choruses, and has a whopping 20 musicals and 45 awards to his name. Here are 20 amazing facts about the 70-year-old composer, including his musicals, songs and net worth.

When is Andrew Lloyd Webber's birthday?

Born on 22 March 1948, Andrew first picked up the violin and piano aged three, before taking up the French horn and starting to write his own music at the age of six. He also appeared on Nursery World magazine with a violin aged five. Aww.

Nursery World Magazine, 1953. Picture: Nursery World Magazine
Andrew Lloyd Webber's net worth

The 70-year-old composer's net worth is estimated at a huge £800 million. He came second in The Sunday Times Rich List in 2017 for UK musicians, behind Sir Paul McCartney.

Sir Paul McCartney at MetLife Stadium on August 7, 2016. Picture: Getty
Andrew Lloyd Webber's 70th birthday

Andrew Lloyd Webber: A Musical Celebration will take place on Sunday 17 June 2018, in celebration of the composer's 70th birthday earlier this year.

The event, as part of Live at Chelsea, will feature a line-up from the cast of Andrew's West End musicals, including Tyrone Huntley from Jesus Christ Superstar, and Joe McElderry with the cast of School of Rock – The Musical and The Phantom of the Opera. Tickets and more information here.

Joe McElderry will perform at Andrew Lloyd Webber's 70th birthday concert.Picture: Getty
The Lloyd Webber family

Andrew's brother, Julian Lloyd Webber, is a former concert cellist and Andrew's late father William was director of the London College of Music. His mother, Jean, was a piano teacher.

Julian Lloyd Webber at Classic FM Live in Wales, 2012. Picture: Classic FM
Andrew Lloyd Webber's wife

In 1991, Andrew married the former equestrian sportswoman Madeleine Gurdon, and the couple have been happily married ever since.

Andrew was married to his first wife, Sarah Hugill, from 1971 to 1983, before he married second wife Sarah Brightman in 1984. He met Brightman when she joined the cast of Cats in 1981. In 1986, he wrote the role of Christine Daaé in The Phantom of the Opera for her.

Andrew Lloyd Webber and Madeleine Gurdon at The Old Vic Theatre on November 13, 2016. Picture: Getty
Andrew Lloyd Webber's children

Andrew had two children – Imogen and Nicholas Lloyd Webber – with his first wife, Sarah, and three with his wife Madeleine Gurdon – Alastair, William and Isabella Lloyd Webber. Imogen is a four-time Emmy nominee who has worked for MSNBC and Fox News, while Nicholas has followed in his father's footsteps, writing The Little Prince in 2011 and the recent Fat Friends The Musical.
Andrew Lloyd Webber's first musical

The musical was called Cinderella Up The Beanstalk And Most Everywhere Else. Aged 19, Andrew wrote his first staged musical with Tim Rice: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat. The following year, the pair wrote Jesus Christ Superstar.
Andrew Lloyd Webber's musicals

His stage musical credits include (deep breath)... Jesus Christ Superstar, Phantom of the Opera, Evita, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, Cats, Starlight Express, School of Rock – The Musical, Sunset Boulevard, and The Women In White.

He also composed the music for Love Never Dies, The Likes Of Us, Jeeves, Tell Me On A Sunday, Song And Dance, Cricket, Aspects Of Love, Whistle Down The Wind, The Beautiful Game, Stephen Ward The Musical, and a musical version of The Wizard Of Oz.

Judy Garland as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz (1939). Picture: Rex
The Phantom of the Opera

Widely considered to be one of his best musicals, The Phantom of the Opera brought in an unprecedented $16 million (£12 million) in advance ticket sales. It’s now the second highest grossing musical ever, bringing in £4.2 billion globally – second only to The Lion King, which has made £5.6 billion.
Cats the musical

Since its opening on Broadway in 1982, Cats has been translated into over 20 languages and performed all around the world, and it is now the fourth-longest-running show in Broadway history.
Andrew Lloyd Webber's film and TV credits

Lloyd Webber has earned a huge number of on-screen credits, following film adaptations of The Phantom Of The Opera, Evita (famously starring Madonna), Jesus Christ Superstar, Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Love Never Dies and Cats, plus anniversary performances of The Phantom Of The Opera and Jesus Christ Superstar.

He has also dabbled in film composing, writing the score for Gumshoe and The Odessa File. His music has appeared in a total of 210 films and TV shows.
In the 1960s, he produced a psychedelic band

The British band was called Tales of Justine, and he produced them with Tim Rice.
Andrew Lloyd Webber was a one-hit-wonder

Andrew once tried his luck as a soloist, under the pseudonym Doctor Spin. In 1992, he released the single ‘Tetris’ – a Eurodance remix of the theme from the well-known video game – which reached No. 6 in the UK charts. It’s... different?!
The first music he ever heard was by Tchaikovsky and... Elvis

Apparently, the first two records Andrew remembers hearing are Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker and Elvis Presley's 'Jailhouse Rock'.
Andrew Lloyd Webber's awards

Over his lifetime, Andrew has won 45 awards, including seven Oliviers, seven Tony Awards, four Grammys, two Emmys, one Oscar, one Golden Globe, one BRIT and 14 Ivor Novellos. Yeesh.

Andrew Lloyd Webber at the GRAMMY Awards on January 28, 2018. Picture: Getty
Baron Lloyd Webber

After being awarded a knighthood in 1992, Lloyd Webber was also made a life peer in the New Year Honours list in 1997, making him a Baron.

Andrew Lloyd Webber meeting the Queen at Buckingham Palace Concert on 4 June, 2012. Picture: Getty
He shares a birthday with Stephen Sondheim

Lloyd Webber celebrated his 70th birthday on 22 March this year. Composer Stephen Sondheim was also born on 22 March in 1930, making him 18 years Andrew's senior.

Stephen Sondheim on 28 August 1962. Picture: Getty
Andrew Lloyd Webber's theatre company

The Really Useful Theatre Group owns a number of successful West End and London theatres, including The Adelphi Theatre, Cambridge Theatre, London Palladium, New London Theatre, Her Majesty’s Theatre, Theatre Royal Drury Lane and The Other Palace in London.

Lee Mead in Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, at the Adelphi Theatre. Picture: Getty
Andrew Lloyd Webber's charity work

Since founding The Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation in 1992 to promote arts and culture, Lloyd Webber has – according to his website – awarded over £17.5 million to “projects that focus on the enhancement of arts education and participation, improving access and increasing diversity across the arts, culture and heritage sector.”

Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber performs during The British Consulate Honors. Picture: Getty
Andrew Lloyd Webber at the Classic BRITs

At the Royal Albert Hall on 13 June 2018, Lloyd Webber will be honoured with a special award at the Classic BRIT Awards ceremony for his services to musical theatre and arts education.

Andrew Lloyd Webber at the Classic BRIT Awards 2012. Picture: Getty