{"id":1959333,"date":"2025-08-14T03:39:24","date_gmt":"2025-08-14T03:39:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=1959333"},"modified":"2025-08-14T03:39:24","modified_gmt":"2025-08-14T03:39:24","slug":"how-evita-and-sunset-blvd-made-andrew-lloyd-webber-hot-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/how-evita-and-sunset-blvd-made-andrew-lloyd-webber-hot-again\/","title":{"rendered":"How ‘Evita’ and ‘Sunset Blvd.’ Made Andrew Lloyd Webber Hot Again"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n\t\u201cWe couldn\u2019t allow things to just trundle along,\u201d Andrew Lloyd Webber<\/a> says. \u201cWe had to make a big change.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHe\u2019s drumming his fingers on the dining room table of his Upper West Side apartment as he recounts the cascade of catastrophes that recently reshaped his life and career.<\/p>\n

\n\tFor so long Lloyd Webber, one of the most successful composers in history, had minted money, with his blockbuster musicals like \u201cThe Phantom of the Opera\u201d and \u201cCats\u201d playing for decades on Broadway and in the West End. But COVID changed that, shuttering theaters, including the six London venues that Lloyd Webber owns and operates. In an instant, the live entertainment juggernaut that he had built meticulously over five decades was struggling to survive.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI became very aware that there was no alternative source of income in any other areas than live theater,\u201d Lloyd Webber says.<\/p>\n

\n\tOnce the worst of the pandemic was over, things didn\u2019t get much better. Audiences returned, but in fits and starts. Citing declining ticket sales, the owners of the Majestic Theatre announced in 2022 that they were closing \u201cThe Phantom of the Opera,\u201d ending its 35-year run in New York, despite Lloyd Webber\u2019s objections. Then \u201cBad Cinderella,\u201d the Broadway transfer of his West End musical, opened in March 2023. In contrast to London, where it was warmly received, reviews here were scathing, with one critic warning, \u201cBring earplugs.\u201d It closed just three months later. Much of this happened as Lloyd Webber was grieving an unimaginable loss. His son Nicholas had died at the age of 43 from gastric cancer two days after \u201cBad Cinderella\u201d opened.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cOur family situation was absolutely horrendous,\u201d says Madeleine Lloyd Webber, the composer\u2019s wife and the group president of his companies. \u201cWe should have just drawn a line and said, \u2018Right, we\u2019re opting out of everything for a year.\u2019 But we didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tRather than breaking Lloyd Webber, this emotional gauntlet inspired him to overhaul the way he approached his business and his art, sparking a remarkable comeback that has made him the toast of the theater world again. Over the past two years, he\u2019s partnered with a brilliant crop of iconoclastic directors who have reimagined many of his signature shows in radical ways. Last June, \u201cSunset Blvd.<\/a>,\u201d Jamie Lloyd\u2019s stripped-down version of the classic story of Hollywood excess, won the Tony for best revival, the first time in 30 years that a Lloyd Webber show has received the top prize. In July, a Lloyd directed revival of \u201cEvita<\/a>,\u201d which staged the life of Eva Per\u00f3n as a pop concert worthy of Beyonc\u00e9, became the hottest ticket of the summer in London. And this month, Diane Paulus will debut \u201cMasquerade,\u201d an immersive production of \u201cThe Phantom of the Opera\u201d that she says will give Broadway audiences a \u201cmore intimate\u201d experience of the famous love story.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cAndrew has been incredibly open to all of this,\u201d says Michael Harrison, the producer of \u201cSunset Blvd.\u201d and \u201cEvita.\u201d \u201cHe wants this to be people\u2019s interpretation of his work. He\u2019s perfectly happy for them to approach these shows almost as a blank page.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBen Wiseman<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tTwo years removed from the closures of \u201cPhantom\u201d and \u201cBad Cinderella,\u201d Lloyd Webber, who is in town to watch rehearsals of \u201cMasquerade\u201d before flying to Los Angeles to see Cynthia Erivo and Adam Lambert in his rock opera \u201cJesus Christ Superstar\u201d at the Hollywood Bowl, has never been busier or more relevant. And next year \u201cCats: The Jellicle Ball,\u201d which trades dancing kitties for the club kids and drag artists who defined \u201980s ballroom culture, will transfer to Broadway after an extended run downtown at Perelman Performing Arts Center.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe show hit a nerve,\u201d Lloyd Webber says of \u201cThe Jellicle Ball.\u201d \u201cI didn\u2019t understand it until I saw it, but it works very well. My contribution has been to let the work go and hand it over to these artists.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tAt the same time that he started enlisting new collaborators, Lloyd Webber decided to overhaul The Really Useful Group, the licensing and production company that controls the rights to his music and shows. In 2023, he hired James McKnight, a veteran executive who had helped J.K. Rowling grow her Harry Potter empire beyond books, to transform his business as its CEO. (Lloyd Webber calls him \u201cquite a catch.\u201d) The goal is to evolve The Really Useful Group from a sleepy theater company into an entertainment powerhouse with a hand in everything from gaming to movies to consumer products.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cAndrew set up this company 50 years ago to manage his work, but the world has changed so much over those decades,\u201d McKnight says. \u201cIt\u2019s time for a new vision. We see it as setting us up for the next 50 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe new era will start with a different name \u2014 The Really Useful Group has been rechristened LW Entertainment, which more explicitly reflects the company\u2019s focus on different types of media.<\/p>\n

\n\tMcKnight, an ebullient personality with a slight Scottish brogue, believes \u201cThe Phantom of the Opera,\u201d which has earned more than $6 billion globally, should serve as the fulcrum of the new enterprise. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s the most globally produced show in the world, but I still feel like it could be so much more,\u201d McKnight says. \u201cThere\u2019s more to do in fashion, in gaming, in interactive, in consumer products. There\u2019s lots of opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tMcKnight sees great potential for Lloyd Webber\u2019s work in the publishing world and in Hollywood. LW Entertainment has signed a multibook deal with Penguin Random House, which will kick off with \u201cOur Strange Duet,\u201d a YA novel based on \u201cPhantom\u201d that will be written by bestselling author Erin A. Craig. And it has enlisted Justin Leach, an executive producer on \u201cStar Wars: Visions,\u201d to create an anime series based on the Phantom\u2019s obsession with Christine. The company is also talking to studios about making films adapted from some of Lloyd Webber\u2019s most-loved shows. Joel Schumacher\u2019s \u201cThe Phantom of the Opera\u201d was a box office hit, but Lloyd Webber felt that Gerard Butler was miscast as the Phantom in the 2004 film. \u201cIt\u2019s an open secret that I wanted Antonio Banderas,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\n\tHe and McKnight are trying to mount a new movie adaptation, one that will have the Phantom played by an actor who is much older than the actress playing Christine. \u201cThe whole point of the story is the confusion Christine feels about whether the Phantom is a romantic interest or a father figure,\u201d Lloyd Webber says. \u201cThe first film cast the Phantom too young.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tMcKnight also mentions \u201cJesus Christ Superstar,\u201d which was adapted by Norman Jewison into a 1973 film, as ripe for a fresh cinematic take. And Nicole Scherzinger, who drew raves and won a Tony playing Norma Desmond, hopes that \u201cSunset Blvd.\u201d can lead to a movie.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI\u2019m trying to manifest it,\u201d she says. \u201cI keep putting it out there in the universe. There are only so many people who could see it in the theater, so making a film would let us share it with the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Lloyd Webber family credits McKnight with launching the composer\u2019s official fan community, The Box Five Club (a reference to the Phantom\u2019s seat of choice), which provides subscribers with early access to ticketing, as well as behind-the-scenes footage and interviews. The company expects the fan service, which debuted in October, to have a million signups by the end of the year.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cJames grew this from absolutely zero,\u201d Madeline Lloyd Webber says. \u201cJames understood that we have fans all over the world. They\u2019re fragmented and we need to bring them together in one place.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tAll this activity is dramatically shifting the focus of Lloyd Webber\u2019s company, treating the legendary composer and his work as a brand like Star Wars, Marvel, Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter. It\u2019s an interesting moment to enact such sweeping changes, because Lloyd Webber is 77, an age when many of his contemporaries, from Bob Dylan to Sting, have sold their catalogs for hundreds of millions of dollars. The Lloyd Webbers say that the composer\u2019s four surviving children all play a central role in the family business and want to grow it instead of cashing in.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cAll these people who sell their copyrights are idiots,\u201d Lloyd Webber says. \u201cThey\u2019re waving goodbye to one\u2019s birthright. They just get passed along the line by private equity, and they exploit them without any engagement with the creators. It\u2019s ridiculous.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMarc Hom for Variety<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tLloyd Webber isn\u2019t done creating new shows either. He spent much of the summer working on \u201cThe Illusionist,\u201d an adaptation of the 2006 Edward Norton film about a magician in Vienna at the turn of the 20th century, that he hopes will open in London in 2027.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThese changes at the company have left me able to get on and do the new work,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019m pretty much finished with \u2018The Illusionist,\u2019 and I have a plan in place for what I\u2019d like to do next. This is what I enjoy doing and what I\u2019m best at doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tTo that end, Lloyd Webber decided to step back from producing his own work. Instead, he formed a joint venture with Harrison, who now handles both his new productions and the revivals of his older shows. It was Harrison who introduced Lloyd Webber a new generation of directors.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cMichael is much more in touch with what\u2019s going on,\u201d Lloyd Webber says. \u201cHistorically, my collaborators have all been older than me. This is the first time I am working with younger people.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThese young directors have helped make Lloyd Webber cool to the TikTok generation, attracting stars like Rachel Zegler (\u201cEvita\u201d) and Scherzinger to their revivals and restaging shows that were once seen as lumbering and fusty as something sleeker and sexier. But they\u2019ve also revealed something that\u2019s often overlooked: Much of Lloyd Webber\u2019s early work was subversive when it premiered. He created a concept album of \u201cJesus Christ Superstar\u201d to prove that it could function as a stage show; he pioneered cutting-edge special effects with \u201cPhantom\u201d and he found unlikely subjects for the musicals he wrote.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cHe has always had a huge theatrical imagination,\u201d says Paulus. \u201cHe made musicals about Jesus Christ and Eva Per\u00f3n and T.S. Eliot\u2019s poems. He\u2019s always been interested in breaking boundaries.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tMany of the directors who have embraced Lloyd Webber\u2019s musicals were kids when he dominated the theater scene in the 1980s and early \u201990s, marrying a sense of spectacle (crashing chandeliers, ornate Hollywood mansions) with ravishing melodies. \u201cMemory,\u201d \u201cThe Music of the Night\u201d and \u201cDon\u2019t Cry for Me Argentina\u201d formed the soundtrack of their young lives and inspired them as artists.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201c\u2018Jesus Christ Superstar\u2019 came out in the 1970s, but the second you hear that first guitar lick, you feel excited,\u201d says Zhailon Levingston, co-director of \u201cThe Jellicle Ball.\u201d \u201cAnd the same is true about the opening chords of \u2018Memory\u2019 or \u2018Don\u2019t Cry for Me Argentina.\u2019 They may have been written long ago, but they still hold up.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tLloyd Webber\u2019s collaborators can strip away elaborate sets and costumes \u2014 even change the setting of his shows \u2014 but the composer requires them to remain true to his scores. The Really Useful Group, for instance, nixed one idea for \u201cThe Jellicle Ball\u201d that would have had Lloyd Webber\u2019s original music overlaid with ballroom beats. But he has been willing to cut songs, permitting Lloyd to lose two numbers from \u201cSunset Blvd.\u201d that he deemed \u201cold-fashioned.\u201d Lloyd Webber also composed new music for the new production and hours of additional material for \u201cMasquerade\u201d that will play as audiences move from one setup to another.<\/p>\n

\n\tOf course, Lloyd Webber, who likens the \u201cCats\u201d film to a \u201chorror movie,\u201d isn\u2019t shy about voicing his opinions and disagreements. He praises the London production of \u201cEvita\u201d \u2014 particularly Zegler\u2019s handling of the famously difficult central role, calling her \u201cextraordinary.\u201d However, he felt the show was initially \u201ctoo loud,\u201d and he pushed Lloyd to lower the volume. He also has clearly absorbed some of the criticism of that production as favoring style over substance.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe feedback that I am getting is that the young are absolutely loving it,\u201d Lloyd Webber says, \u201cbut they like the overall feel of the evening \u2014 they don\u2019t really follow the story.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIf \u201cEvita\u201d transfers to Broadway, does Lloyd Webber want the production to make the story of Per\u00f3n\u2019s dramatic rise to power clearer? \u201cJamie Lloyd is Jamie Lloyd,\u201d he answers with a flicker of annoyance.<\/p>\n

\n\tLloyd was originally announced as the director of \u201cThe Illusionist.\u201d However, Lloyd Webber now says that \u201cit\u2019s much too early\u201d to decide who will direct the show. \u201cWith a new work, it needs to be someone I\u2019m comfortable with,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\n\tTheir close collaboration seems to have become strained, at least temporarily. Still, Lloyd\u2019s version of \u201cEvita\u201d was such a smash that the original plan was to bring it to Broadway in 2027, and there was also talk of taking \u201cThe Illusionist\u201d to New York after it debuts in London. That may no longer be possible, Lloyd Webber says, because of the high cost of mounting Broadway musicals. Audiences, especially tourists, aren\u2019t always open to checking out shows that aren\u2019t based on popular movies. Moreover, news broke recently that a tax credit program that helped Broadway come back from COVID by providing shows with millions of dollars in subsidies is running out of funding. Lloyd Webber now thinks transferring productions to Broadway may be untenable.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThese aren\u2019t cheap shows to do, and I think the tax credit might be the straw that breaks the camel\u2019s back for quite a lot of people,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019ve been worried about Broadway for a very long time, because people are not really able to get their money back and most of these shows have limited runs. It\u2019s a brave person who brings something to Broadway now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tLloyd Webber pauses and seems to reconsider, clearly concerned that he\u2019s been too dismissive of an art form he\u2019s devoted his life to popularizing.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI\u2019m not gloating about it,\u201d he says, his voice softening. \u201cBecause I love it, you know, I love Broadway.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source variety.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cWe couldn\u2019t allow things to just trundle along,\u201d Andrew Lloyd Webber says. \u201cWe had to make a big change.\u201d He\u2019s drumming his fingers on the dining room table of his Upper West Side apartment as he recounts the cascade of catastrophes that recently reshaped his life and career. For so long Lloyd Webber, one of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1959334,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[324114,344483,344484],"class_list":["post-1959333","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-andrew-lloyd-webber","tag-evita","tag-sunset-blvd"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/How-Evita-and-Sunset-Blvd-Made-Andrew-Lloyd-Webber-Hot.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1959333","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1959333"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1959333\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1959334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1959333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1959333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1959333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}