As Biography.com suggests:

His father was the director of the London College of Music, his mother was a piano teacher and his younger brother, Julian, is a renowned cellist, so one might say that he was born with musical blood running through his veins. A true prodigy, early in life Lloyd Webber played the piano, the violin (at age 3) and the French horn, and began writing his own music (at age 6). (2014)

As Biography.com suggests, Andrew Lloyd Webber harbored a dream since childhood of becoming England’s chief inspector of ancient monuments, and began pursuing this dream in 1965 by attending Westminster School as a Queen’s Scholar and began a course in history at Magdalen College, Oxford. (2014)

Andrew Lloyd Webber did not complete his course however, as he felt that music was his true calling, so he dropped out in the winter of 1965 and began studying at the Royal College of Music instead. His focus was on Musical Theatre, as this was s genre that particularly interested him. (Biography.com 2014)

This was the beginning of a 12 year partnership between them. Their first musical The Likes of Us (1965) was not a success initially, however their second musical, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolored Dreamcoat (1968) was an enormous success and one of the longest running musicals in the West End.

As Telegraph.co.uk states:

The pair met when Lord Lloyd-Webber was studying history at Magdalen College, Oxford aged just 16. He dropped out to pursue a musical career with Sir Tim and they worked together for 12 years. Their first collaboration, The Likes of Us, was not immediately successful and was not performed until 2005. However, their second attempt was Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, one of the longest-running musicals in the West End. (2018)

As Andrew Lloyd Webber states in Telegraph.co.uk:

I got known as the school swot, which wasn’t me at all,” he explains. “And I vividly remember there was a day when I thought, 'I can’t do this anymore.’ I was about 10 and I was supposed to be playing the piano at the school concert and I got up in front of the whole school and said, 'I’m sorry I’m changing the agenda. I want to play some songs I’ve written.’ Each was dedicated to one of the masters. By the end the whole school was clapping along. That was the moment the real me broke through. So the idea that the kids in that school are released through rock music hit the rawest possible nerve. I decided I would slightly rebel through music and frankly I would do it through rock. (2016)

As Britannica.com suggests: 

Lloyd Webber’s best musicals were flashy spectacles that featured vivid melodies and forceful and dramatic staging. He was able to blend such disparate genres as rock and roll, English music-hall song, and operatic forms into music that had a wide popular appeal. (2018)

Fairly early on in our initial planning stage, we began discussing a classroom setting with students and a teacher. It was then suggested that we could perform it in the style of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s most recent hit musical ‘School of Rock’. This genre would allow big characters and dramatic musical numbers in the style of Andrew Lloyd Webber, and also underpinned a rebellious streak which Andrew Lloyd Webber felt himself while producing the musical School of Rock. 

We agreed that the piece would need large characters to enable us to put forward our understanding of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s use of real life experiences, and that it would need to be a dramatic piece with characters that could represent various character traits and genres in a fairly simple environment.

The majority of the rehearsals went well, however space to rehearse caused a number of problems for us. During rehearsals we fell into our natural roles and I did tend to be the driving force in making decisions and getting things moving, however this was no problem to me as due to my experience it is something I do regularly. 

On reflection, the song ‘Pharaoh’s Story’ lead by myself, should have remained as a solo and not involved the rest of the group. Performing this song did not play to everybody’ strengths, so we should have come up with an alternative performance for the group members who were not confident singers.   

When asked to choose a theatre practitioner to research and present using their styles and influences, for myself, Andrew Lloyd Webber was the obvious choice. He has influenced me throughout my theatre career and my life, and his music speaks to me and moves me in a way that only his music can. His compositions are full of emotion, power, passion and strength, which is truly an inspiration. 

I thoroughly enjoyed this project, and even though at times there were problems we had to overcome, on the whole it went well and we achieved most of what we set out to. This project has taught me a lot about myself and my strengths and weaknesses, and how I can improve as a team player. It has also reignited my passion for performing on stage myself, as I spend a lot of my time directing. I enjoyed being on stage and playing a big character that I could really engage with. This performance did illuminate my lack of confidence with learning lines, as I felt much more comfortable with a script in my hand. 

If I were to do this performance presentation again, I would consider putting more research content into the piece, separate the group up a little more to play to each person's individual strengths, and look at using a non-musical song and perform it in the flashy and dramatic style of Andrew Lloyd Webber. I would also encourage all the members of the group to bring forward more ideas and involve themselves fully in the rehearsals and work to move the piece forward, rather than just a few of us.

Roberts, L. (2018) Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice working together for first time in 34 years. The Telegraph. [Online] Theatre News. 27^th December. Available from: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/theatre-news/7897225/Andrew-Lloyd-Webber-and-Tim-Rice-working-together-for-first-time-in-34-years.html. [Accessed: 29^th December 2018].

Britannica.com (2018) Andrew Lloyd Webber British Composer. [Online] Available from: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Andrew-Lloyd-Webber-Baron-Lloyd-Webber-of-Sydmonton. [Accessed: 29^th December 2018]