Andrew Lloyd Webber Discusses SCHOOL OF ROCK: 'It's Great to Have a Hit Again'

In a recent interview with The Telegraph, Andrew Lloyd Webber opened up about the ups and down in his career since PHANTOM OF THE OPERA and how it feels to have another hit on his hands with School of Rock.

Webber's success spans numerous generations, but Webber said three years ago, he thought about throwing in the towel. He tells The Telegraph, "I thought things were finished," he recalls now. "I was pretty much thinking I wouldn't work again."

Around this time, Webber recalls this really bad time in his life saying, "After I had prostate cancer, I had something which was misdiagnosed which led to a load of back operations." He continues saying, "When you go through all that pain, you don't think there's going to be a future."

Now, Webber is looking to the future. In the interview he says he feels "re-energized" with his new hit musical School of Rock. He speaks to the musicals success saying, "It's great to have a hit again... I'd slightly forgotten what it felt like. Since School of Rock opened, for the first time in my career, ever, really, I've had a lot of projects offered to me. It's extraordinary. Normally, I've initiated them all myself."

What really spoke to Webber in School of Rock is he identifies with the children. He says, "What really resonated was that I could have been one of those children in the film."

Webber also reflects on the commercial success of his musicals. He says, "If you look at my career... I couldn't possibly have chosen those subjects if I was thinking, 'That's a great commercial idea.' I'm not aware of a great musical where someone has done that. Nothing will ever be as big as The Phantom of the Opera for me."

To read the full interview with Andrew Lloyd Webber in The Telegraph click here