"You have the luck of Croesus on stilts (as my Auntie Vi would have
said) if you've had the sort of career, ups and downs, warts and
all that I have in that wondrous little corner of show business
called musical theatre." One of the most successful and
distinguished artists of our time, Andrew Lloyd Webber has reigned
over the musical theatre world for nearly five decades. The winner
of numerous awards, including multiple Tonys and an Oscar, Lloyd
Webber has enchanted millions worldwide with his music and numerous
hit shows, including Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, Cats, The
Phantom of the Opera-Broadway's longest running show-and most
recently, School of Rock. In Unmasked, written in his own
inimitable, quirky voice, the revered, award-winning composer takes
stock of his achievements, the twists of fate and circumstance
which brought him both success and disappointment, and the passions
that inspire and sustain him. The son of a music professor and a
piano teacher, Lloyd Webber reveals his artistic influences, from
his idols Rodgers and Hammerstein and the perfection of South
Pacific's 'Some Enchanted Evening,' to the pop and rock music of
the 1960s and Puccini's Tosca, to P. G. Wodehouse and T. S. Eliot.
Lloyd Webber recalls his bohemian London youth, reminiscing about
the happiest place of his childhood, his homemade Harrington
Pavilion-a make-believe world of musical theatre in which he
created his earliest entertainments. A record of several exciting
and turbulent decades of British and American musical theatre and
the transformation of popular music itself, Unmasked is ultimately
a chronicle of artistic creation. Lloyd Webber looks back at the
development of some of his most famous works and illuminates his
collaborations with luminaries such as Tim Rice, Robert Stigwood,
Harold Prince, Cameron Mackintosh, and Trevor Nunn. Taking us
behind the scenes of his productions, Lloyd Webber reveals
fascinating details about each show, including the rich cast of
characters involved with making them, and the creative and
logistical challenges and artistic political battles that ensued.
Lloyd Webber shares his recollections of the works that have become
cultural touchstones for generations of fans: writing songs for a
school production that would become his first hit, Joseph and the
Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat; finding the coterie of performers
for his classic rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar; developing his
first mega-hit, Evita, which would win seven Tonys Awards,
including Best Musical; staking his reputation and fortune on the
groundbreaking Cats; and making history with the dazzling The
Phantom of the Opera. Reflecting a life that included many passions
(from architecture to Turkish Swimming Cats), full of witty and
revealing anecdotes, and featuring cameo appearances by numerous
celebrities-Elaine Paige, Sarah Brightman, David Frost, Julie
Covington, Judi Dench, Richard Branson, A.R. Rahman, Mandy
Patinkin, Patti LuPone, Richard Rodgers, Norman Jewison, Milos
Forman, Placido Domingo, Barbra Streisand, Michael Crawford,
Gillian Lynne, Betty Buckley, and more-Unmasked at last reveals the
true face of the extraordinary man beneath the storied legend.
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