Andrew Lloyd Webber was born in London, on March 22nd, 1948. He was born into a very musical family. His brother Julian played the cello, whilst his dad was a director for the London College of Music and his mum taught piano. Naturally, Andrew followed in his mother’s footsteps and played the piano, violin and the French Horn at the age of 3 years old. By the time he was 6 years old, he had written a piece of music. As his childhood played out, he progressed to the Royal college of Music, where he discovered his love for musical theatre (Biography.com 2018).  

 

Musical theatre is a style of performance where the performers illustrate a story by combining acting, dancing and singing. Many ways of bringing this to the forefront is by using techniques such as thought tracking, freeze frames, physical theatre and using various props. Although his very first solo musical was known as Cinderella Up the Beanstalk and Most Everywhere Else (Classic Fm, 2018). Some of his other productions that have implemented the theories of musical theatre are Starlight Express, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, Cats, The Lion King, School of Rock and many more extravagant phenomenon’s. Some of these musicals were performed in Broadway, New York City but was also very popular in the London's West End Theatres such as Her Majesty's Theatre, Lyceum Theatre, London Palladium, New London Theatre, to name a few.

 

 In 1965, Andrew introduced himself formerly to Tim Rice, who was a lyricist at the time, after receiving a very poignant letter from Tim. From this letter, became a partnership which allowed them both produce phenomenal musicals. Whilst Andrew was still studying music seriously, Tim Rice studied Law very briefly, but swiftly changed his career path and was employed by EMI Records. Despite it never reaching the stage as a publicised musical, their first musical piece together was ‘The likes of us’. However, ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat’, was officially their very first collaborative piece that was to be performed on stage. (Horner. 2018 In 1986, Andrew Lloyd Webber's (1948) most famous musical, Phantom of The Opera, showcased at the London's Her Majesty's Theatre. Approximately, 2 years later, in 1988, it became a global epitome across New York City's prestigious Broadway Theatres. 

 

Bunbury (2018) implies that some of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s (1948) musicals, have exposed his love for heavy metal, or more appropriately the musicality and theatrical aspects of the genre. One of the known musicals that really portrays this, is Jesus Christ Superstar. This particular musical displays some classic heavy metal associations, such as chord smashing with a guitar amongst other flashy aspects. Another great extract is from School of Rock, which is a form of the rock genre. The children in this musical really express the rock ethos through their talents on a live stage, and necessary props.

 

 

Bunbury, (2018) suggests that Madeleine, the wife of Andrew Lloyd Webber (1948) who determined that the “School of Rock”, would have substantial potential if it were to be produced as a musical. This would reiterate his love for the music; similarly, to his admiration for nurturing children into the musical education notably enhanced via his foundation which gives charitable assistance. Through the Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation, the ethos is to build on the talents of young artists and encourage them to use their talents on stage. Furthermore, the artists prove this when they perform live on stage using their own instruments. In addition to this, some of the artists may never have picked up an instrument before and have only learned to use them for this particular audition. That’s what makes this production spectacular. 

      It's actually fundamentally about the empowering force of music," he says. "It's about the fact that the music, albeit rock music, sets the children free and how the children making music, their music, actually changes the lead character. What I like about it is there isn't any single person in the story whose life isn't altered by music (Bunbury, 2018 N.P.). 

 

Andrew Lloyd Webber embarked on setting up his own theatre company, in 1977, which was called ‘The Really Useful Theatre Group’. This oversaw many theatrical displays, whether it is in the publishing and merchandise department or to the theatre, television and concerts. However, due to the unnecessary confusion and the expansion of the business industry, the company decided, in 2018, to change its name to the LW theatres (Hetrick, 2018). It was not just young people he had a flare for engaging with but for some adults too. It was another theatre successor, David Ian, who was trying a different tactic to find a superb actress. During 2006, when reality television was being shown all over the country, such as America’s Got Talent, The X Factor, So, you think you can dance? American Idol, (App Spring Inc. 2019).  Between David and Andrew, they announced the start of the reality television show “How do you solve a problem like Maria?”, which was being aired on a Saturday night. This show was to assist the pair in discovering the new star to play Maria in the London West End theatre musical “The Sound of Music. The auditionees would be expected to go through hard and intensive work, after getting through the auditions itself, if they succeed, they would go through to the live shows, which would incorporate the viewers at home to put forward their favourites using text, phone calls or website. The hopefuls would then go head to head and then it would be up to the judges to make the final decision to see who would become the leading star (Harnett 2006/2007).

To conclude, Andrew Lloyd Webber, (1948) is notoriously one of the best composers in history, holding 45 awards which include seven Oliviers, seven Tony Awards, four Grammys, two Emmys, one Oscar, one Golden Globe and one BRIT and astonishingly 14 Ivor Novellos! These are through his musicals and their scores. Due to his hard work and perseverance, in 1992, Andrew Lloyd Webber (1948) was commended a ‘Baron’ knighthood, after being named on the New Year Honours list (Classic FM 2018).

At the beginning, we split into groups. My group consisted of Ben, Jessica, Jodie, Helen and me. After doing extensive research on different Musicals by Andrew Lloyd Webber, we thought that as Helen and Jodie have already got a dance to Matilda’s Revolting Children from their own dance school, the group thought it would be more appropriate to use that, giving the timeframe we had.

 We discussed what we would do for the setting and so as we wrote down many of his musicals, it became apparent that we wanted to do something quirky. So, it was suggested by me to incorporate the School of Rock musical, especially as both musicals are set in a school environment, by using that specific setting for our performance. We then discussed the possibility of another musical, Jesus Christ Superstar, as part of the opening scene.  I looked at the intro and liked the sound of it, but we agreed that it wouldn’t flow properly. Ben suggested a song which he wanted to do solo to as the school teacher, while the students were entering the school. We looked at who would fit the roles of the school characters and what their character profile would be. I really wanted to challenge myself and be the enthusiastic rocker, as that would really bring me out of my comfort zone. I made it my mission to watch the musical on DVD and sought a school of rock t-shirt to go as part of my costume. 

 

Once the   characters were delegated, we started to produce a script and looked at the light and sound for the musical theatre piece. Our group was resourceful when we had other relevant classes, as we used our Technical theatre lesson to build up our sound script and try various sound effects and music for.  Due to unforeseen circumstances there were quite a few sessions where we were not always available to get together, so we arranged to meet up externally when everyone was available for some extra rehearsals. We were able to write a lighting script and a sound script which I was constructed into an easy to read separate script for the technicians. I collaborated them together and printed them off and handed them to the relevant people. We were able to use the theatre and set our staging during our extra rehearsals. 

 

During one lesson we invited our tutor to watch our performance as part of our formative assessment. I did forget to bring in some drumsticks for my character, so I quickly went to the theatre to see Nena the lighting and costume technician to see if there was anything that could be used as drumsticks. I managed to find some sticks in the theatre, so was able to use them for the sake of the formative. We performed our piece with little usage of the script, although it was still accessible for us. 

 

Overall, I believe the formative went well although the instrumental for the song “Revolting Children” went on for quite some time. The feedback for this section was that the music needed to be shortened and so then afterwards we utilised that feedback to go into our technical theatre lesson to cut the music. It was discussed that for the “homework” discussion, there should be more reference to how his productions were displayed and how the characters behaviour was reflected within each scene. Additionally, the feedback I got within my formative was that there would be an element of surprise if we were to use a song that was not a musical but put it into Andrew Lloyd Webber’s style. So I thought about as the song is reflecting on education, why not play the song “Another brick in the wall” by Pink Floyd, this sounded like a good idea to me so I proposed this to the rest of the group and despite that they liked the idea, there was no actual way of us being able to fit it into the performance without it looking completely odd. It was then suggested after researching many other musicals how we can interpret parts of Andrew Lloyd Webbers techniques and methods. Subsequently, the mention of Starlight Express was very exciting as it really showed the flashy, dramatic elements of the production. However, given health and safety and the need for risk assessments, I did not think it was appropriate conducting a production on roller skates, but everyone in the group liked the idea of incorporating parts of Starlight Express. It was agreed that we would use the official YouTube trailer of Starlight Express (Starlight Express, 2015) to project the intensity of the projection and also to reiterate what research was spoken within the performance. As some of us still struggled with learning the lines, we embraced the genius idea of getting some folders and using our scripts as our portfolio and homework so that we still had something to refer back to should we need it at any time. 

 

 

To conclude, the performance of the Composer Baron Andrew Lloyd Webber and mash ups of a multitude of musicals in which we explored have served the purpose of the practical assessment. However, I believe that the props could have been more prominent and used more within the performance. Furthermore, we could have made better use of our time to perfect the piece by practicing without the script. 

 

Funding for all (2017). Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation Arts & Culture Heritage [Online]. Available at: http://www.fundingforall.org.uk/funds/andrew-lloyd-webber-foundation/ Accessed on 20/12/2018

 

 

Harnett, A. (2006). ‘Solving many problems like Maria (cover story)’, Manager: British Journal of Administrative Management, (56), pp. 10–13. Available at: http://web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=5&sid=f5956e4b-c6ac-4170-81bb-c910b506ac8b%40sessionmgr102Accessed on 03/01/2019

Horner, L (2018) About the playwrights: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat [Online] Available at: https://www.bard.org/study-guides/about-the-playwrights-joseph-and-the-amazing-technicolor-dreamcoat Accessed on 17/12/2018


Imdb (2018). America’s Got Talent Full cast and crew [Online]. Available at: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0759364/fullcredits Accessed on 28/12/2018


Listchallenges.com (2018). 100 Reality TV Shows [Online]. Available at: https://www.listchallenges.com/100-reality-tv-shows Accessed on 28/12/2018

 

Listchallenges.com (2018). 100 Reality TV Shows [Online]. Available at: https://www.listchallenges.com/100-reality-tv-shows/checklist/3 Accessed on 28/12/2018

LondonTheatre.co.uk (2018). London Musicals, Plays, Drama and Fringe Theatre [Online]. Available at: https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/index Accessed on 17/12/2018 

 

ReallyUsefulGroupLtd (2018).  The World of Andrew Lloyd Webber. [Online]. Available at: https://www.andrewlloydwebber.com/about/ Accessed on 17/12/2018


Starlight Express (2015).  Promo – Bochum| Starlight Express [Online]. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSmx7SJTQuA Accessed on 20/12/2018