http://www.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.61208&rws=%2Fandrew-lloyd-webber%2Fmusic-videos.rssAndrew Lloyd Webber helped usher in the age of the Broadway Blockbuster, creating a whole new global audience for musical theater in the process. The composer, who has had a long collaboration with lyricist Tim Rice, had his first major success in 1971 with <I>Jesus Christ Superstar</I>. The duo originally couldn't raise enough financing to mount a show, so they released a <I>J.C. Superstar</I> soundtrack album first and saw it instantly take off, and they were able to turn it into a stage musical. After that breakthrough success, Webber and Rice didn't have any problems finding money to put their shows together, and experienced even greater triumphs with <I>Evita</I> (which stands up as their greatest work) and <I>Cats</I> (which became one of the longest running shows in theater history). After these successes, it didn't seem as if Webber could get any bigger. But then he composed a light rock adaptation of <I>The Phantom of the Opera</I> using his then-wife Sarah Brightman as his muse. <i>Phantom</i> turned an even bigger number of young people raised on TV and the movies into theatergoers, and Webber has kept going from there. - Nick DedinaMusicalsen720Mon, 23 Nov 2009 10:24:45 -0800 http://static.realone.com/rotw/images/logo_rhapsody_113x22.gif http://www.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.61208&rws=%2Fandrew-lloyd-webber%2Fmusic-videos.rss Andrew Lloyd Webber helped usher in the age of the Broadway Blockbuster, creating a whole new global audience for musical theater in the process. The composer, who has had a long collaboration with lyricist Tim Rice, had his first major success in 1971 with <I>Jesus Christ Superstar</I>. The duo originally couldn't raise enough financing to mount a show, so they released a <I>J.C. Superstar</I> soundtrack album first and saw it instantly take off, and they were able to turn it into a stage musical. After that breakthrough success, Webber and Rice didn't have any problems finding money to put their shows together, and experienced even greater triumphs with <I>Evita</I> (which stands up as their greatest work) and <I>Cats</I> (which became one of the longest running shows in theater history). After these successes, it didn't seem as if Webber could get any bigger. But then he composed a light rock adaptation of <I>The Phantom of the Opera</I> using his then-wife Sarah Brightman as his muse. <i>Phantom</i> turned an even bigger number of young people raised on TV and the movies into theatergoers, and Webber has kept going from there. - Nick Dedina