Lloyd Webber Says He's "Unsure of Why Phantom is Successful" to Times Online

Times Online writer Ginny Dougary recently sat down with famed composer Andrew Lloyd Webber to discuss his life and his work. Dougary was able to speak to Webber regarding the success of his most famous and long-running work, The Phantom of the Opera, and his expectations for the upcoming sequel, Love Never Dies.

Dougary questioned Webber on what he believes were the reasons for his success with Phantom. "I've often tried to put my finger on what it is. We know that people have been to see the show hundreds of times - insane in my view - and changed their names to Christine Daaé.

"I don't know what it is. If you sat down and analysed the story of the original Phantom, it's the biggest load of hokum that's ever been written ... but it's a piece of really great popular theatre entertainment and, in all modesty, it's got some good tunes."

Webber also commented on his feelings about the history of musical theatre and what Golden Age composers he admires. "I do often think how marvellous it would have been to have worked in the Fifties when you had Rogers and Hammerstein, Lerner and Loewe, the last days of Irving Berlin, and Cole Porter still going just about, Leonard Bernstein - can you imagine? All those great musicals going on."

To read the full article from the Times Online, click here.

Andrew Lloyd Webber is the composer of The Likes of Us, Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar, By Jeeves, Evita, Variations and Tell Me on a Sunday combined as Song & Dance, Cats, Starlight Express, The Phantom of The Opera, Aspects of Love, Sunset Boulevard, Whistle Down The Wind, The Beautiful Game and The Woman in White. He composed The film scores of Gumshoe and The Odessa File, and Requiem, a setting of The Latin Requiem Mass, for which he won a Grammy for Best Contemporary Composition. He has also produced in The West End and on Broadway, not only his own work, but The Olivier Award-winning plays La Bête and Daisy Pulls It Off. In 2004 he produced The film version of The Phantom of The Opera. In 2006 he oversaw a new London production of Evita, Phantom - The Las Vegas Spectacular and pioneered television casting for musical Theater with The hit BBC series "How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?" which won an International Emmy. He followed this with The equally successful series "Any Dream Will Do." His awards include seven Tonys®, three Grammys, six Oliviers, a Golden Globe, an Oscar, an International Emmy, The Praemium Imperiale and The Richard Rodgers Award for Excellence in Musical Theatre. He was knighted in 1992 and created an honorary life peer in 1997. He's a 2006 Kennedy Center Honoree.

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 World Premiere of "LOVE NEVER DIES" will take place in London on 9 March 2010 at the Adelphi Theatre. Previews begin on 20 February. The show will subsequently open in New York on 11 November 2010 and then in Australia in 2011.

Test and expand your Broadway knowledge with our new game - The Broadway Match-Up! How well do you know your Broadway casting trivia?	Play the Daily Game, explore current shows, and delve into past decades like the 2000s, 80s, and the Golden Age. Challenge your friends and see where you rank!
How well do you know your Tony Awards history? Take our never-ending quiz of nominations and winner history and challenge your friends.	Can you beat your friends? Play today’s daily Broadway word game, featuring a new theatrically inspired word or phrase every day!