He is lauded as one of the greatest composers of all time, world-renowned for his work on some of the most successful and timeless productions in history, including The Phantom of the Opera, Sunset Boulevard and Jesus Christ Superstar, among many others. The Knight Companion of the Order of the Garter has become a household name for his many credits, and his work will likely be playing for years across the world, with his shows playing continuously on Broadway for 44 years and in the West End for 50. But for all the praise, accolades and celebration, is his work actually worthy of everything showered upon him, or is it about time we accepted that Andrew Lloyd Webber’s work isn’t as praise-worthy as the world seems to have decided?
We must first acknowledge that Andrew Lloyd Webber has an incredible career behind him, composing music for a wide range of theatrical sensations that have become staples of the theatre world. Many of them have enjoyed huge success, won awards on all corners of the globe and in some cases, have been adapted into films, including Evita in 1996 and Cats in 2019. But especially in recent years, this is part of the problem.
You will likely remember the infamy that was 2019’s Cats, a star-studded Hollywood film that was set to leave the community like the cat who got the cream. In reality, it was more similar to the cat which got run over by the neighbour. It was a car-crash of a film that was almost universally disliked, sitting with an audience score of 53% and a critics score of an abysmal 19% on Rotten Tomatoes. Even starring Idris Elba, Judi Dench and James Corden wasn’t enough to offer it a saving grace (although the latter was more likely always going to be contribution rather than an aid).
And that’s not the only flop Lloyd Webber has contributed to in recent years. Following a delay due to the Covid-19 pandemic, his adaptation of Cinderella survived only 12 months in London’s West End, with its unexpected closure announcement also receiving backlash, with some cast members not being told until it was publicly announced. This was followed even further by Lloyd Webber himself calling the show a “costly mistake”, seemingly dismissing the hard work of the cast and crew in creating the production, for which he was heavily criticised.
It was no doubt an even more costly mistake to open the show on Broadway, now called Bad Cinderella, and living perfectly up to its new name, receiving no Tony Award nominations and closing after only three and a half months. It was this closure that drew his 44-year continuous playing on Broadway to a close. We should also consider Aspects of Love, which had its West End revival in 2023, starring Michael Ball. Like Cats and (Bad) Cinderella, Aspects of Love struggled at the box office, announcing a closure three months ahead of planned and less than two months after opening in London.
It’s clear that, in recent years at least, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s ventures have been struggling, whichever medium or side of the Atlantic they seem to try. So should this be the unequivocal proof that his works aren’t worth the time and money they ask for and it’s time for him to make way for new talent? Well, kind of.
We must bear in mind that despite the recent struggles, Lloyd Webber’s shows have been dominant across the world for half a century. Whilst the closure of Bad Cinderella put it to an end, at least one of the composer’s shows had been running on Broadway for 44 years and in the West End for 50, where it is still counting. And we must also remember that so many of his works, and he himself, are world renowned and have been for many years, with him beginning his career with Tim Rice in the mid-1960s. His talent is not for questioning, but his reputation and irreverence after all this time? I think it might be.
I have a great level of respect for Andrew Lloyd Webber and his career, but I can’t disguise the fact that I’m not particularly enamoured by many of the works he’s penned. I enjoyed Phantom of the Opera with the music being alright overall, and the music of his adaptation of School of Rock is definitely entertaining, but that’s about it. I struggled to enjoy any of the content and music of Jesus Christ Superstar, and didn’t enjoy listening to Cats, Evita, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat or, controversially, Sunset Boulevard.
There also remains the question of whether I actually want to go and see one of Lloyd Webber’s shows. London in particular has such a vast variety of available productions to visit, and his are often some of the easiest to rule out. The influx of new works, particularly modern musicals, so often crowd out other productions which, for me at least, so often tend to be Lloyd Webber musicals. They don’t have the same draw and are often much less exciting to sit through.
So is Andrew Lloyd Webber overrated? It may surprise you to know that I don’t believe he is. Whilst his shows may not be to my tastes, they’re very clearly to the tastes of many, many others, his status is unavoidable, and he’s had such an illustrious career in his time. I don’t believe he is overrated, but I do think that he will be a composer of his own time. His shows have defined an era and paved the way for the composers and musical directors of the future, but I think his era of dominance is beginning to come to an end.
I’d love to see him spend the rest of his career working with rising talent on their own ideas, rather than more of the Lloyd Webber classics, and allow the talent of tomorrow to learn from one of theatre’s biggest superstars (no pun intended). His dominance has been exceptional, but as the rise of the modern musical continues, I believe it’s coming time for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s works to begin to come to an end and make space for the future.
