Andrew Lloyd Webber On STEPHEN WARD's Inspiration & Historical Intrigue

As anticipation builds for the world premiere of Andrew Lloyd Webber, Don Black and Christopher Hampton's new musical STEPHEN WARD, the composer recently held a press preview in which the cast performed a selection of songs and the composer himself discussed his involvement with the piece and new comments have been released from the wide-ranging conversation.

Unusually, Lloyd Webber's own ex-wife Sarah Brightman has a tertiary connection to the places and people surrounding the central scandal of the new musical, he revealed - or, more to the point, her mother, Paula.

"I've got a lot of interesting stories I could tell you about Murray's Club because I discovered that my former mother-in-law worked there, which I'm not really supposed to say, but never mind, sorry Paula Brightman, that's the way it goes!" Lloyd Webber said.

Additionally, Lloyd Webber remarked of his inspiration for musicalizing the story in STEPHEN WARD, "I first got interested in this idea when I started to read books - I think I started with a Ludovic Kennedy book; about the trial of Stephen Ward. To this day you still cannot get a transcript of the trial, which is completely extraordinary."

Lloyd Webber continued, "That led me to think, what was so interesting about this case, which still until 2046 we're still not allowed to see what the Denning Inquiry had. Then Alastair Cook asked a question about it in the House of Lords recently and there was no real reply from the ministers."

As for the famous scandal itself, Lloyd Webber asserts, "I began to get intrigued by who was this character, Stephen Ward. I obviously knew a little about the Profumo Affair, I remember it all going on when I was at school, but I don't really remember anything much more about it."

STEPHEN WARD begins previews in the West End on December 3.

Check out the original article on the matter here.