Andrew Lloyd Webber Talks OZ, New JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR & More

Celebrated theatre composer Andrew Lloyd Webber recently spoke with The Telegraph about THE WIZARD OF OZ, JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR, and life after his battle with cancer.

After getting the green light from the OZ rights-holders, Lloyd Webber decided to pay his former collaborator Tim Rice a visit and ask him to write lyrics for the new songs. “It really wasn’t as if I’d been looking for an opportunity for us to work together again," said Lloyd Webber. "I just thought it was the sort of thing Tim might like, and which he’d do very well."

When asked if it was difficult to write with his collaborator after a 25-year separation, the composer was quick to set the record straight. “People have got this odd idea about Tim and myself – they think we had this terrible falling-out and didn’t talk for ages. In fact, we’ve always got on well. We’ve always kept up with one another and we have in fact written some bits and pieces over the years – we did a new song for the movie of Evita. In a way it was a little bit like turning the clock back, but pretty quickly it was as if the clock had never stopped in the first place.”

And although Lloyd Webber is keen to stress that this was a collaboration, he knew exactly what he was looking for from the beginning. “Tim made some suggestions, of course, but essentially I went to him and said: 'Can you do these particular bits because there’s nothing there at the moment?’ ”

Lloyd Webber is clearly very excited about the upcoming touring revival of JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR. However, it’s quite possible, he shares, that he won’t write any more musicals – that 16 and a quarter might be his lot. “I really don’t know. I put a hell of a lot of myself into Love Never Dies and I felt quite drained afterwards. Certainly at the moment I haven’t found a subject I want to do. But you can never tell… one day the phone may ring, or someone may make a suggestion, and then, almost before I know it, off I’ll go again.”

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Developed from the ever-popular 1939 MGM screenplay, The Wizard of Oz is an enchanting adaptation of the all-time classic, totally reconceived for the stage by the award-winning creative team who delighted audiences of all ages with their recent London Palladium revival of The Sound of Music. Audiences will be captivated as The London Palladium is transformed into the mythical Emerald City with breathtaking special effects and scenery to bring to life the real story of Oz.

The London Palladium, arguably the world's most famous theatre and this year celebrating its 100th birthday, is a great favourite with performers and audiences alike and has a very rich entertainment history presenting variety, pantomime and spectacular family musicals. Just one aspect of the elaborate stage design for The Wizard of Oz will be a restoration of the legendary revolving stage which everyone remembers from the finale of Television's Sunday Night at the London Palladium.

The Wizard of Oz by L Frank Baum is directed by Jeremy Sams, choreographed by Arlene Phillips, music and lyrics by Harold Arlen and E Y Harburg, with additional music and lyrics by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice with the set and costumes designed by Robert Jones. produced byAndrew Lloyd Webber and Bill Kenwright.

Tickets are available from The London Palladium Box Office on 0844 412 2957 or online from
www.wizardofozthemusical.com.