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| re: NJC: Andrew Lloyd Webber Talks of Wizard of Oz etc. | |
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rockfenris2005 04:04 pm UTC 03/05/11 |
| In reply to: | re: NJC: Andrew Lloyd Webber Talks of Wizard of Oz etc. - steven_stuart 11:30 pm UTC 03/03/11 |
> Thanks for posting all that Ryan. I always find ALW to be > interesting, even though he is no Sondheim and he will > never be a Steinman. It's something about his attitude. > > I actually think that he is quite charasmatic. Comedians > have joked about him being ugly but they can get stuffed. > He is not ugly. He is just very unusual looking. > > I saw his brother Julian playing something that their > father wrote on cello the other day. Apparently the father > (is it William?) was a professor of composition. Yes, William. Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Requiem" was partly dedicated to him. He must have been very proud of his two sons but I think he was haunted by the fact that he should have been a successful composer, but he wasn't. Still, I like to think that he did very well. I would be thrilled if my son composed the most financially successful musical of all time. When ALW > told his father that he wanted to study composition for > university, his father told him not to study composition > if he wanted to become a composer. Yes, I've heard that too. And also, when Andrew composed the music for "Memory" (This was before "Cats") he showed it to his father, because he was worried that he might have plagiarised it, and he said, "What does this sound like?" He replied, "It sounds like a million dollars!" I wonder where Jim gets his musical talent. > > How strange that the people posting fake horrible reviews > about Love Never Dies were diehard Phantom fans. They were > actually ALW nuts. Although I guess it makes sense, now > that I think about it. This is a complicated matter. A lot of fans were offended when the media started saying that they were all eagerly anticipating the sequel. Many of them weren't. Many of them were dreading it. That's why the organization "Love Should Die" was established. It's a group of fans of the original musical and the novel by Gaston Leroux who are against the idea of there ever being a sequel (The Phantom actually dies in the original novel.) They're pretty famous now, and instead of ignoring them and not acknowledging their existence at all, Andrew Lloyd Webber has been biting, and making silly remarks that are going to cause trouble. "Love Should Die" were also offended when he said that the original "Phantom", his most successful musical ever, was nothing but a load of hokum...which I think is an embarrassing awful thing to say. I think the score for "Love Never Dies" is magnificent, terrific, but the story and the lyrics are ridiculous and I don't buy it. The Phantom wouldn't live among the freaks at Coney Island. That's exactly what he was running away from. He wouldn't have lured Christine back into his life. He let her go with Raoul. He showed that he truly loved her by letting her go. Madame Giry wouldn't have gone with the Phantom and Meg Giry wouldn't have turned into a prostitute and tried to drown her best friend's child. And Raoul wouldn't have turned into a gambling dipsomaniac (I happen to think that he's the most sympathetic character.) > > It's interesting that ALW said Love Never Dies would have > worked in the West End if Bill Kenwright had been on board > from the start. He must have a lot of respect for Bill (as > you know, Bill is producing Wizard with him). I always > thought as Bill as someone who made a lot of money from > touring low budget shows. But perhaps that was in the > past. I didn't like how Bill's production of "Whistle" removed "Annie Christmas" and "Charlie Christmas", arguably some of the best songs from that score. And I didn't like the new opening he came up with for "Love Never Dies". I thought it was almost incoherent. And injecting more of the original themes into the new score seemed silly to me also. Andrew should have worked with Harold Prince and Cameron Mackintosh, and a decent writer and not Ben Elton. That sequel would have been better, I'm sure. > > I read in The Express that ALW asked Tim Rice to do the > lyrics for Love Never Dies but Tim refused. How many songs > has Tim written for Wizard? I think it is four. I hope > they fit in with the classic songs. I know from an earlier > post you made that you are worried about the new songs. I was very worried. I heard one of the songs though and I must admit I didn't mind it. > > Gosh. I can't believe that the makers of the 1939 film > almost cut Somewhere Over The Rainbow out because of > running time. > Oh, I know. How awful would that have been. > The Express gave Wizard five stars. Paul Callan praised > all the actors, including Toto and Michael Crawford. He > didn't mind the new songs. He seemed to be most impressed > by the special effects. Like the Flying Monkeys and > Dorothy's house in the tornado. > > Although apparently the Mail was not nearly so > enthusiastic. I guess it depends on individual taste and > also what mood the critic is in when he sees the show. > | |
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