Andrew Lloyd Webber Broadway’s beloved composer Andrew Lloyd Webber was born on March 22, 1948, in South Kensington, London, England. Andrew grew up in a household of musical influence – his father was a director at the London College of Music; his mother, a piano teacher. A trainee of the Royal Academy of Music, Andrew was a Queen's Scholar of Westminster School and studied history for a period at Magdalen College, Oxford, eventually leaving to pursue musical theater. Soon after leaving Oxford, Andrew teamed up with lyricist Tim Rice to create a musical based on the Bible’s story of Joseph and his multi-colored coat. Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat was born, and soon followed up by a musical based on the life of Jesus from the perspective of Judas. Jesus Christ Superstar sold millions of copies worldwide, and was preceded by a stage adaptation. After Jesus Christ Superstar, Andrew and Tim parted ways professionally for a brief period, in which Andrew turned his attention to writing film scores and working on the musical Jeeves with playwright Alan Ayckbourn. After Jeeves flopped at the box-office, Tim returned with the idea of making a musical based on the life of Argentina’s Eva Peron. Evita (1976) had a hit soundtrack followed by a successful theater run.
After Evita, Andrew wrote a musical based on T.S. Eliot's poetry about cats. Like Jesus Christ Superstar, Cats (1981) the musical debuted before the album, and hasn’t stopped running since. By this time, Andrew had also formed his company, The Really Useful Group. Today, The Really Useful Group is one of the largest theater operators in London. In 1988, Andrew scored another hit with his musical adaptation of The Phantom of the Opera. His next piece, Aspects of Love in 1989 was not as well-received. In 1996, Alan Parker adapted Evita to the silver screen, starring Madonna in the lead. Andrew and Tim contributed a new song to the production, You Must Love Me, which was recognized with a 1997 Academy Award for Best Original Song award. In 1972, Andrew married first wife, Sarah Hugill. The couple had two children together, Imogen in 1977; and Nicholas in 1979. The couple divorced in 1983, and the following year Andrew married singer and dancer Sarah Brightman. They parted ways in 1990 and the following year Andrew married present wife, Madeleine Gurdon. The couple had three children together, Alastair, born in 1992; William, born in 1993; and Isabella, born in 1996. Plans are currently underway to reopen the musical The Sound of Music under Andrew’s production in London's West End. Scarlett Johansson was originally considered for the role of Maria; however the plans did not materialize, and a casting call for her character was transformed into a reality TV show deemed How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria? As a judge on the show, Andrew did not have the final say in the casting, which was instead left up to the public. After more than two million votes were cast, Belfast-born Connie Fisher was chosen for the lead. The show began its run in November of 2006.
In 1992, Andrew was knighted. In 2006, he was ranked the eighty-seventh wealthiest Brit in the Sunday Times Rich List with an estimated fortune of £700m. An avid art collector, Andrew presented his collection at the Royal Academy in 2003 as “Pre-Raphaelite and Other Masters—The Andrew Lloyd Webber Collection.” YUDDY |
