Letter from #AndrewLloydWeber to the Editor of the #DailyTelegraph: Tim Walker (Comment February 27) suggests that if there had been people of equal stature to myself around me, I would never have written about such an uncommercial subject as #StephenWard. Ignoring that the shows director is Sir #RichardEyre, the former head of the National Theatre, the producer is Robert Fox and the writers are both #OscarWinners, Mr Walker suggests that Jeffrey Archer (who, incidentally, proposed to me no fewer than 14 titles for the show) might have questioned the commerciality of the subject matter. The difference between success and failure in musical theatre is a horrifyingly fine line. However, I believe that if you choose a subject purely because it appears commercial, catastrophe looms. If money was the only goal, would I have embarked on a musical (strangely not mentioned by Mr. Walker) that was inspired by an anthology of poems by a dead poet (and not lyrics by #TimRice) was directed by an untried director from the Royal Shakespeare Company, was presented by a young producer who had no major West End hit which featured dance heavily at the time when it was perceived that West End dancers had two left feet and certainly couldnt sing and dance at the same time, was opening in a graveyard theatre in which even Grease, starring Richard Gere, had flopped, was to open with most of its investment missing - causing me to take out a second mortgage on my house - and worse still, featured human beings dressed as cats? We are all immensely proud of StephenWard. But what makes a hit musical? Fools give you reasons. Wise men never try. Andrew Lloyd-Weber
Posted on: Sat, 01 Mar 2014 22:15:28 +0000