"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: writings 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
megahit, 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, Plácido 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.
