Andrew Lloyd Webber Sells Picasso Painting for £34.7M; £32M Goes to Arts

According to Whatsonstage.com, Andrew Lloyd Webber, who sold Picasso's The Absinthe Drinker (Angel Fernandez de Soto) last year, has donated £32M (about $52M) to the arts.

This isn't the first time the painting's made news: Webber purchased The Absinthe Drinker in 1995 for $28.8 million and donated it to his educational charity. However, German banking heir Julius H. Schoeps initiated a legal bid for the work, claiming that his ancestor was forced to sell it while fleeing from the Nazis in the 1930s.

As the legal battle ensued, the painting had been banned from sale or display. An agreement was reached and the bans on the work had subsequently been lifted.

Andrew Lloyd Webber's long awaited new show Love Never Dies had its World Premiere in London at the Adelphi Theatre on Tuesday 9 March 2010, followed by the reimagined Australian production this month.

Love Never Dies continues the story of ‘The Phantom', who has moved from his lair in the Paris Opera House to haunt the fairgrounds of Coney Island, far across the Atlantic. Set ten years after the mysterious disappearance of ‘The Phantom' from Paris, this show is a rollercoaster ride of obsession and intrigue...in which music and memory can play cruel tricks...and ‘The Phantom' sets out to prove that, indeed, "LOVE NEVER DIES".

"The Phantom of the Opera", based on the French novel by Gaston Leroux, has proved a huge success the world over and has been seen by over 100 million people, making it the single most successful entertainment entity in history. The show has been translated into 15 languages and has played in over 25 different countries, including China, Brazil, Poland and Korea. "The Phantom of the Opera" opened at Her Majesty's Theatre in London on 9 October 1986 starring Sarah Brightman and Michael Crawford and celebrated its 23rd London birthday on 9 October 2009. "The Phantom of the Opera" has won a staggering 50 awards worldwide, whilst global album sales currently stand at over 40 million copies.

Performances in London at the Adelphi Theatre are Mondays - Saturdays at 7.30pm, with Wednesday and Saturday matinees at 2.30pm. Tickets, priced from £25.00 - £67.50 (to include 75p theatre restoration levy and inclusive of booking fees), are available from the Adelphi Theatre Box Office on 0844 412 4651 or online from www.loveneverdies.com.

 

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