Andrew Lloyd Webber said...

"I've had so many sweet letters saying they didn't know I didn't take myself too seriously. I don't.. That's what irritates people about me, because I can't be put into a box. "

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Big Fish in a Dead Pond

Andrew Lloyd Webber is an english composer of musical theater. He is famous for the musicals Jesus Christ Superstar, Cats, Phantom of the Opera, and is known for his unusual and eclectic style.

Webber was born to composer William Lloyd Webber and piano teacher Jean Johnstone Lloyd Webber. He has a younger brother Julian Lloyed Webber, a cellist. Distinguished as a Queen's scholar of Westminster School he studied for a bit at Oxford before dropping out to pursue his interest in musical theater.

Webber collaborated with lyricist Tim Rice for his first musical The Likes of Us. The musical, about an irish philanthropist, was not performed until 2005 at Andrew Lloyd Webber's Sydmonton Festival.

In 1968 came their next musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. A light-hearted version of the biblical story of Joseph with a comical application of Calypso and Country and Western music.

It was 1970 when their third musical, Jesus Christ Superstar was performed. The musical identified as "Rock Opera" was darker in tone, depicting the last days of Jesus Christ.

Following Jesus Christ Superstar, the duo wrote the musical Evita (1976), about the Argentine Eva Peron.Evita ran for ten years at London's West End, transferring to Broadway in 1979. This was the last collaboration between Webber and Rice until 1996.

Inspired by an article about Cambodian orphans, Webber wrote a Requiem Mass and dedicated it to his father, William Lloyd Webber. The Mass premiered in New York on February 25, 1985. His father died in 1982. It was Requiem that Webber won a Grammy Award for best classical composition.

Other Webber productions include a low-profile musicals Song and Dance (1979), Starlight Express (1987), similar to Cats but featuring dancers in costume with a disco and pop flavor; Aspects of Love (1990) akin to chamber music; Sunset Boulevard (1993), the first premiere starred Glen Close; Whistle Down the Wind (1996), Song and Dance (1979); The Beautiful Game (2002), based on the soccer star, Pele's description of the game; and The Woman in White (2005). He also produced Bombay Dreams (2002).

In 1986, his then wife, Sarah Brightman played the role of Christine, a part he had written especially for her, in his musical Phantom of the Opera, based on the 1911 Gaston Leroux novel. In 2006 Phantom of the Opera became the longest running musical on Broadway and is still running.

Webber composed the song "Amigos Para Siempre-Friends for Life" for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. That same year he released a Eurodance single called Tetris after the computer game.

Webber and lyricist Tim Rice wrote many one-time pop hits as singles for record labels. A selection of the singles have been re-released on a 5-CD compilation Andrew Lloyd Webber:Now And Forever (2003).

Webber is a producer for and owner of the Really Useful Company of which owns many theaters in London's West End. He was producer of a Webber version of The Sound of Music(2006) and appeared on the reality TV show How do you solve a problem like Maria?. He was a judge on the show and the unknown lead Maria was replaced by 23 year old Connie Fisher.

In December of 2006 Webber was honored with the Kennedy Center Honors for his contribution to American performing arts. In addition to the Grammy mentioned, Webber has been awarded two additional Grammys, a Golden Globe and an Oscar.

In 1992 he was knighted. In 1997 he was named Lord Lloyed-Webber of Sydmonton.

Webber was first married to Sarah Hugill in 1972. They had two children, Imogen Lloyd Webber (1977) and Nicholas Lloyd Webber (1979). The couple divorced in 1983. He then married singer/actress Sarah Brightman in 1984, divorcing in 1990. He married Madeleine Gurdon in 1991 and added three more children to the Lloyd Webber legacy, Alastair (1992), William (1993), and Isabella (1996).