Andrew Lloyd Webber: His Life and Works

by Michael Walsh

Michael Walsh examines Lloyd Webber's personal motivations and professional methods and recounts his enduring influence on the development of the popular musical. Walsh covers the famous shows as well as Lloyd Webber's lesser-known works, such as \"Requiem\" and \"Jeeves,\" his only outright flop, which, nevertheless, in 1996 was revived successfully both in England and the United States as \"By Jeeves.\" This updated and enlarged version of the book takes the reader to the opening of \"Sunset Boulevard,\" through the long-running negotiations for the movie version of \"Evita,\" and right up to Lloyd Webber's latest musical, \"Whistle Down the Wind.\" Going behind the scenes, Walsh tells of a middle-class boy who dropped out of Oxford and became an international superstar. He also relates Lloyd Webber's mercurial relationships with the press, his colleagues, and his collaborators, including lyricist Tim Rice, directors Trevor Nunn and Hal Prince, and leading ladies Elaine Paige, Sarah Brightman (his second wife), and Glenn Close. Finally, he charts Lloyd Weber's latest milestones - including a third marriage and a lordship - and his transition from composer to impresario to international business entrepreneur. The 130 illustrations include candid photos of Lloyd Webber going up and in rehearsal, performance shots of all the shows by world renowned theater photographers, and sketches for costume design and sets, providing a rich overview of Lloyd Webber's unique theatrical world.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography

239 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1989

About the author

Michael Walsh was for 16 years the classical music critic for Time Magazine and has also worked for the San Francisco Examiner and the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle. He is the author of eleven books, including five works of non-fiction as well as the novels Exchange Alley, As Time Goes By (the authorized sequel to the movie Casablanca), and And All the Saints, a winner of the 2004 American Book Awards for fiction. His novel, Hostile Intent, was published in September by Pinnacle Books and hit the New York Times bestseller lists and shot to No. 1 on Kindle. The sequel, Early Warning, was published in Sept., 2010. With Gail Parent, he is the co-writer of the hit Disney Channel 2002 Original Movie, Cadet Kelly, at the time the highest-rated show in the history of the network.

Reviews

[E.A. Bucchianeri · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a must-have for Lloyd Webber fans; it truly is an in-depth account of his life and work. Packed full of information and many photographs, it was an interesting read. It has been claimed that Walsh concentrates too much on the chapter featuring "Phantom of the Opera", but I for one cannot blame him! Walsh has reason to, as he states "Phantom" was the first musical where Lloyd Webber developed his more mature style and a strong sense of key association than in his previous musicals. (He also admits it was after viewing "Phantom" he had the notion to write the book in the first place.)

The only reason why I would not give this book the full five stars is the fact it may be somewhat frustrating to read for musicologists and music students who wish to study Lloyd Webber's style in depth. Walsh tantalizes the reader with only brief excursions into analysis of the music; e.g. very brief descriptions of the keys and rhythms the songs are in, with no printed musical examples on how Lloyd Webber constructs the fabric of his scores.

However, in all, I would certainly recommend this book.

E.A. Bucchianeri, author of "A Compendium of Essays: Purcell, Hogarth and Handel, Beethoven, Liszt, Debussy, and Andrew Lloyd Webber" and "Handel's Path to Covent Garden: A Rocky Journey"

[Carly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was pretty nice as a reference and does a pretty comprehensive look at Andrew Lloyd Webber's life and career. However, the author inserts a lot of his own opinions about Lloyd Webber's works which seem overly critical for a book that's supposedly for fans of Lloyd Webber. Take it with a grain of salt I guess.