Phantom 2 Kitten-Caused Score Damage Called 'Insignficant'

According to Bloomberg.com, feline aficionado Andrew Lloyd Webber's kitten reportedly destroyed a little - but by no means all - of the composer's in-progress score to his The Phantom of the Opera follow-up.

Initial reports of the Phantom 2 score's destruction circulated after Webber told the BBC that Otto the kitten leaped onto his digital piano in his Hampshire, U.K. home. Webber said: "I was trying to write some new music, he got into the grand piano, jumped onto the computer and destroyed the entire score for the new `Phantom' in one fell swoop."  He repeated the anecdote on a video blog, as well.

However, Peter Brown - Webber's New York-based spokesperson - recently stated that the damage was "nothing significant" and that the remarks were "said in jest."

Webber recently announced that he will collaborate with David Zippel (The Woman in White, City of Angels) on his follow-up to The Phantom of the Opera. The new Phantom musical will follow ideas developed with Frederick Forsyth, who released a follow-up to the show in novel form with The Phantom of Manhattan in 1999.

Webber, whose many other hits as a composer include Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, Cats and Sunset Boulevard, will soon produce a West End revival of his and Tim Rice's Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.  The revival is being cast through the UK reality talent search "Any Dream Will Do." With David Ian, he previously produced "How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria."  The latter program resulted in the casting of Connie Fisher as Maria in The Sound of Music, his West End revival of the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic.

The Phantom of the Opera features music by Webber and lyrics by Charles Hart, with additional lyrics by Charles Stilgoe.  One of the most successful musicals of all time, Phantom - which is based on the novel by Gaston Leroux - plays in numerous productions around the world and last year, became Broadway's longest-running musical.  It concerns the masked composer of the title, who haunts the Paris Opera House and longs for lovely young soprano Christine.

Visit www.andrewlloydwebber.com for more information.