221 posts
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Post by Peter on Jul 29, 2021 19:47:03 GMT
One exception to that is the London Aspects (though it bombed on Broadway, London had a respectable run and turned a profit). But that was before Biddy Hayward, who ran a tight ship at RUG, got the unceremonious (and ungrateful) boot from ALW. ALW after Sunset blamed everything on not having enough time to do everything because he was also the co-producer, but then that didn't stop him doing that time and time again (and he used exactly the same excuse with LND). Some of his stories/explanations are, unsurprisingly, wildly inconsistent. He says on the one hand that Sunset was too expensively produced and that it was lunacy to budget it at 85% capacity. But he knew that it was expensive and didn't care. When Billy Wilder saw the original version at the Adelphi, he said to ALW that they needed to have the Isotta Fraschini in the return to Paramount scene. So ALW then goes to his production team and says we need the car and asked the production supervisor to sort it out. The car cost $150,000 and appeared only very briefly! Didn't ALW blame his cancer diagnosis on why Love Never Dies didn't work out? Did Bombay Dreams ever turn a profit or recouped? Yes, it recouped and made a profit in London. As did Whistle Down The Wind (just). I assume The Beautiful Game and The Woman in White did not. Never quite worked out how By Jeeves did.. |
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4,988 posts
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Post by Someone in a tree on Jul 29, 2021 20:03:18 GMT
Didn't ALW blame his cancer diagnosis on why Love Never Dies didn't work out? Did Bombay Dreams ever turn a profit or recouped? Yes, it recouped and made a profit in London. As did Whistle Down The Wind (just). I assume The Beautiful Game and The Woman in White did not. Never quite worked out how By Jeeves did.. By Jeeves was very cheaply produced. I quite enjoyed it in the theatre but I can't really stomach the cast recording. Perhaps if ALW spent less on the sets and more on the creativity his shows may last a bit longer? Today, his shows sell on his name and few hit songs in his back catalogue but the recent shows don't really surrive. |
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Post by scarpia on Jul 29, 2021 21:03:30 GMT
Didn't ALW blame his cancer diagnosis on why Love Never Dies didn't work out? He did, but he also in another interview said that he couldn't concentrate on getting the show right (never mind the fact that with a plot like that, it was irremediable) because he was the producer as well as the composer. And this is after supposedly learning the lesson from Sunset... |
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7,183 posts
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Post by Jon on Jul 30, 2021 0:32:48 GMT
Perhaps if ALW spent less on the sets and more on the creativity his shows may last a bit longer? Today, his shows sell on his name and few hit songs in his back catalogue but the recent shows don't really surrive. School of Rock ran for 3 years both here and Broadway and more importantly, it made a profit. I noticed he's no longer sole producer on his most recent shows like SOR, Cinderella and even things like Joseph. |
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5,060 posts
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Post by Phantom of London on Jul 30, 2021 0:44:12 GMT
Talking of ALW poor producing,;
Aspects of Love went from 007 to biggest Broadway flop of all time, those Broadway loses would have wiped out any profit it made in London.
Whistle Down the Wind - As pointed out it just made a profit at the Aldwych, that profit would have been sunk by the Washington DC try out and the non transfer to Broadway. The Bill Kenwright’s Palace Theatre production would have made a loss.
Bombay Dreams - Any profit made in Victoria, would have been wiped by the Broadway production.
Sunset Boulevard - Well documented great musical/well documented disaster in producing.
Beautiful Game - A disaster
The Woman in White - Another disaster
Stephen Ward - Yet another disaster.
School of Rock - BIG HIT
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Post by Deleted on Jul 30, 2021 2:46:24 GMT
we'd certainly not have got that lush orchestra at the ENO a few years ago. We'd have got this staircase for the 21st century instead of John Napier's creaky, outdated set: You think the original Sunset stage set design is creaky and outdated? Am I reading that right?? |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 30, 2021 2:54:55 GMT
Didn't ALW blame his cancer diagnosis on why Love Never Dies didn't work out? Don't know about LND, but he blamed Stephen Ward on his pain medication, from his ongoing back problems. To be fair, Act 2 of Stephen Ward was painful for everyone. Court cases and police interrogations do not make for a tuneful musical. |
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4,988 posts
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Post by Someone in a tree on Jul 30, 2021 6:10:07 GMT
we'd certainly not have got that lush orchestra at the ENO a few years ago. We'd have got this staircase for the 21st century instead of John Napier's creaky, outdated set: You think the original Sunset stage set design is creaky and outdated? Am I reading that right?? I found Sunset at the Adelphi to be ridiculously over designed as at the end of the day it is a small intimate story. |
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70 posts
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Post by TheOneOnTheLeft on Jul 30, 2021 7:08:59 GMT
Court cases and police interrogations do not make for a tuneful musical. I suppose you haven’t seen “The Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee Takes Oral Evidence on Whitehall’s Relationship with Kids Company” at the Donmar then? Talk about tuneful.  Seriously, though: Kander & Ebb have pulled it off. Twice. |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 30, 2021 9:23:31 GMT
Thankfully i missed it at the Donmar. |
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Post by scarpia on Jul 30, 2021 11:05:14 GMT
we'd certainly not have got that lush orchestra at the ENO a few years ago. We'd have got this staircase for the 21st century instead of John Napier's creaky, outdated set: You think the original Sunset stage set design is creaky and outdated? Am I reading that right?? No, merely rephrasing Mr Mackintosh's spin. |
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Post by scarpia on Jul 30, 2021 11:07:01 GMT
Perhaps if ALW spent less on the sets and more on the creativity his shows may last a bit longer? Today, his shows sell on his name and few hit songs in his back catalogue but the recent shows don't really surrive. School of Rock ran for 3 years both here and Broadway and more importantly, it made a profit. I noticed he's no longer sole producer on his most recent shows like SOR, Cinderella and even things like Joseph. RUG has nothing to do with the most recent Joseph. They just licensed the rights. |
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7,183 posts
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Post by Jon on Jul 30, 2021 15:56:25 GMT
RUG has nothing to do with the most recent Joseph. They just licensed the rights. Isn't it telling that shows where ALW is not involved in a producer capacity tend to be very good. |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 30, 2021 17:23:44 GMT
Probably not the place to ask, but ALW has been through more lyricist's than most, and not all of them successfully. Yet Charles Hart has only done 2, Phantom and Aspects, which i think has some of the best lyrics in any ALW show. Can Charles Hart only write romantic/dramatic stuff, and how does ALW decide what lyricist is most suitable for the project??
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7,183 posts
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Post by Jon on Jul 30, 2021 18:14:58 GMT
Probably not the place to ask, but ALW has been through more lyricist's than most, and not all of them successfully. Yet Charles Hart has only done 2, Phantom and Aspects, which i think has some of the best lyrics in any ALW show. Can Charles Hart only write romantic/dramatic stuff, and how does ALW decide what lyricist is most suitable for the project?? If we include The Likes of Us, Cricket and perhaps The Wizard of Oz then he’s worked with Tim Rice five times. Don Black is second with three musicals |
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1,483 posts
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Post by steve10086 on Jul 30, 2021 18:16:00 GMT
Probably not the place to ask, but ALW has been through more lyricist's than most, and not all of them successfully. Yet Charles Hart has only done 2, Phantom and Aspects, which i think has some of the best lyrics in any ALW show. Can Charles Hart only write romantic/dramatic stuff, and how does ALW decide what lyricist is most suitable for the project?? These days? Whoever doesn’t answer back |
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5,060 posts
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Post by Phantom of London on Jul 31, 2021 0:30:34 GMT
Didn't ALW blame his cancer diagnosis on why Love Never Dies didn't work out? Don't know about LND, but he blamed Stephen Ward on his pain medication, from his ongoing back problems. To be fair, Act 2 of Stephen Ward was painful for everyone. Court cases and police interrogations do not make for a tuneful musical. He should have called Stephen Ward he could fix his lower back. |
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5,060 posts
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Post by Phantom of London on Jul 31, 2021 0:33:40 GMT
Probably not the place to ask, but ALW has been through more lyricist's than most, and not all of them successfully. Yet Charles Hart has only done 2, Phantom and Aspects, which i think has some of the best lyrics in any ALW show. Can Charles Hart only write romantic/dramatic stuff, and how does ALW decide what lyricist is most suitable for the project?? These days? Whoever doesn’t answer back Apparently Don Black has collaborated with ALW the most, I actually read some where once. |
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Post by ThereWillBeSun on Jul 31, 2021 1:25:52 GMT
Don't know about LND, but he blamed Stephen Ward on his pain medication, from his ongoing back problems. To be fair, Act 2 of Stephen Ward was painful for everyone. Court cases and police interrogations do not make for a tuneful musical. He should have called Stephen Ward he could fix his lower back. 😂🤣😂😅 |
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7,183 posts
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Post by Jon on Jul 31, 2021 1:38:35 GMT
Here's the list of lyricists who have worked with ALW and the shows they've done:
Tim Rice: The Likes of Us, Joseph, Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, Cricket
Alan Ayckbourn: Jeeves/By Jeeves
Don Black: Tell Me on a Sunday/Song and Dance, Aspects of Love, Sunset Boulevard, Stephen Ward
TS Eliot: Cats
Trevor Nunn: Cats
Richard Stilgoe: Cats, Starlight Express, Phantom of the Opera
Charles Hart: Phantom of the Opera, Aspects of Love
Christopher Hampton: Sunset Boulevard, Stephen Ward
Jim Steinman: Whistle Down the Wind
Ben Elton: The Beautiful Game
David Zippel: The Woman in White, Cinderella
Glenn Slater: Love Never Dies, School of Rock
I wasn't sure whether to include The Wizard of Oz since it was only four songs by ALW and Tim Rice or songs added to various shows from Don Black like Whistle Down the Wind and Starlight Express. Indeed, Starlight has had new or rewritten lyrics by many lyricists such as David Yazbeck.
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Post by sukhavati on Jul 31, 2021 1:40:37 GMT
Think the race horses is more to do with his wife Madeline and is her passion. Andrew is all about money, it is his prime driving factor. Good example of this is: If you go to the Tate National Gallery on the Milbank and to be more precise go into room 3 at the back there is a fine painting by Canaletto which is called ‘London: the New Horse Guards from St James’s Park C. 1752-53. In the bottom corner of the description of the painting says it is on long term loan from Andrew Lloyd Webber. On the face of it, it seems a terrific act of altruism, giving a fine painting by one of Italy’s finest Venetian artist, to be viewed by the public for no charge, surely how very selfless and generous. But wait this painting is no more than part of a investment portfolio, storing this painting on his own property would attract hefty insurance, which would then not make it a shrewd investment. There are many painting in both the Tate and National on Long Term Loan for this very reason. He's been well known in art circles as a collector of Pre-Raphaelite art, etc. I used a catalog of an exhibition of some of his artwork as a source for my thesis. Having said that, I can remember magazine interviews with him in the late 80s where they quoted him telling the writer not to mention the specific artworks in his home because he didn't want to attract burglers. Security concerns wrapped in attention seeking and the pretense of refinement... I love some of his music, but as a human being, he's not a favorite even if he is an art lover.
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Post by sukhavati on Jul 31, 2021 1:45:49 GMT
Probably not the place to ask, but ALW has been through more lyricist's than most, and not all of them successfully. Yet Charles Hart has only done 2, Phantom and Aspects, which i think has some of the best lyrics in any ALW show. Can Charles Hart only write romantic/dramatic stuff, and how does ALW decide what lyricist is most suitable for the project?? These days? Whoever doesn’t answer back Such a shame he didn't work again with Christopher Hampton a lot more, because Sunset was the best book/libretto hands down since Evita. As much as I adore Phantom with specific people in the leading roles, the lyrics don't reach the wit or edge of what he wrote with Tim Rice, let alone, the Sunset score. I was really disappointed with Glenn Slater and Ben Elton's work on Love Never Dies, because I had so much love for "Blackadder" and other television series Ben wrote. Not that I expect LND to be a laugh a minute farce, but there was some pointed observation in some of his scripts. The only thing that saved Love Never Dies for me was the leading actors in Australia. |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 31, 2021 13:48:27 GMT
Such a shame he didn't work again with Christopher Hampton a lot more, because Sunset was the best book/libretto hands down since Evita. Given that the book followed the original film and dialogue very closely, i think his work was probably easier than someone who was doing an original story. |
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