Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber, is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 21 musicals, a song cycle, a set of variations, two film scores, and a Latin Requiem Mass.
Starlight Express is a 1984 British musical, with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Richard Stilgoe. It tells the story of a young but obsolete steam engine, Rusty, who races in a championship against modern engines in the hope of impressing a first-class observation car, Pearl. Famously, the actors perform on roller skates.
The Really Useful Group Ltd. (RUG) is an international company set up in 1977 by Andrew Lloyd Webber. It is involved in theatre, film, television, video and concert productions, merchandising, magazine publishing, records and music publishing. The name is inspired by a phrase from the children's book series The Railway Series in which Thomas the Tank Engine and other locomotives are referred to as "Really Useful Engines".
"Memory" is a show tune composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, with lyrics by Trevor Nunn based on poems by T. S. Eliot. It was written for the 1981 musical Cats, where it is sung primarily by the character Grizabella as a melancholic remembrance of her glamorous past and as a plea for acceptance. "Memory" is the climax of the musical and by far its best-known song, having achieved mainstream success outside of the musical. According to musicologist Jessica Sternfeld, writing in 2006, it is "by some estimations the most successful song ever from a musical."
A show tune is a song originally written as part of the score of a work of musical theatre or musical film, especially if the piece in question has become a standard, more or less detached in most people's minds from the original context.
Frances Ruffelle is an English musical theatre actress and singer. She won a Tony Award in 1987, and represented the United Kingdom in the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Lonely Symphony ", finishing 10th. The song became a UK Top 30 hit.
The Premiere Collection Encore is a 1992 compilation album by Andrew Lloyd Webber. The album acted as a follow-up to The Premiere Collection: The Best of Andrew Lloyd Webber. In the four intervening years, the original London production of Aspects of Love and Lloyd Webber's new production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat had both opened; therefore a number of tracks were included from those shows.
"All I Ask of You" is a song from the 1986 English musical The Phantom of the Opera, between characters Christine Daaé and Raoul, originally played on stage by Sarah Brightman and Steve Barton, respectively. It was written by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Charles Hart and Richard Stilgoe, and solely produced by Lloyd Webber. An operatic pop piece, its lyrics serve as dialogue between the two characters and discuss themes such as commitment and romance. Like Lloyd Webber's song "The Music of the Night", "All I Ask of You" was compared to the music found in Giacomo Puccini's 1910 opera La fanciulla del West.
Lloyd Webber Plays Lloyd Webber is a 1989 album by British cellist Julian Lloyd Webber interpreting songs written by his older brother, the popular musical theatre composer Andrew Lloyd Webber. The album was recorded with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Barry Wordsworth. The album primarily featured classical musicians with the notable exception of Rod Argent of The Zombies.
Encore is the title of a solo album released in 1995 by Elaine Paige. The album peaked at number 20 on the UK Albums Chart in July 1995.
The Sydmonton Festival is a summer arts festival presented in a deconsecrated 16th century chapel on the grounds of Sydmonton Court, the country estate of Andrew Lloyd Webber. It is in Hampshire, located approximately 85 kilometres southwest of London, and was established in September 1975. Its purpose is to introduce new works to a private audience of individuals connected with theatre, television, and film in order to determine their future potential and viable commercialism.
On Reflection: The Very Best of Elaine Paige is a compilation album by Elaine Paige, released in 1998.
Essential Musicals is an album by Elaine Paige, released in 2006. The album was produced by Mike Moran, vocals were recorded at Air-Edel Studios in London, and the orchestra backing recorded at The Hungarian State Radio Studios, Budapest. The album peaked at #46 in the UK Albums Chart.
Four Decades of Song is a three-CD compilation from Shirley Bassey issued in 1996. This set features 54 songs recorded between 1959 and 1993. In 2008 EMI repackaged and retitled this boxset as Shirley Bassey The Collection; the new version had six extra tracks.
Love Is No Game is a single released by Shirley Bassey in 1988. Composed by Pino Marchese, Charles McLoughlin who later worked together on the film soundtrack of the French movie Parole de Flic. The same team had previously provided the 1983 European hit "Thought I'd Ring You", which charted at #13 in the Dutch charts. The song is a remix of a song that was previously released in 1984, then known as "That's Right". The single was released in the wake of the recent hit single "The Rhythm Divine" a collaboration with the electro-pop group Yello, which revived Bassey's career and chart success in otherwise a rather barren period in her recording career and introduced her to a whole new generation. The song has never been included on a Shirley Bassey album or compilation. The 7" single release features. on the b-side, the original Shirley Bassey recording of "Memory", 'from the musical Cats recorded in 1984. She went on to re-record the song in 1993 for the album Sings the Songs of Andrew Lloyd Webber. Shirley Bassey did not promote this single and no video was released. The single was only released in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany where it failed to chart.
The Premiere Collection: The Best of Andrew Lloyd Webber is a 1988 compilation album, bringing together some of composer Andrew Lloyd Webber's best known compositions at the time of release. It includes songs from the musicals The Phantom of the Opera, Tell Me on a Sunday, Evita, Cats, Jesus Christ Superstar, Starlight Express and Requiem. Co-writers of the songs include Tim Rice, Don Black, Richard Stilgoe, Charles Hart and Trevor Nunn.
Performance is a 1989 studio album by Marti Webb with the Philharmonia Orchestra. Although originally released in 1989 on LP it has subsequently been released in 1993, 1994 and 1996 on CD.
Centre Stage: The Very Best of Elaine Paige is a compilation album by Elaine Paige, released on 4 October 2004.
Aspects of Andrew Lloyd Webber is the second studio album by Australian singer Marina Prior featuring Melbourne Symphony Orchestra conducted by Brian Stacey. It was released in November 1992 and peaked at number 22 on the ARIA Albums Chart. The album was certified gold for shipment of 35000 copies.
Andrew Lloyd Webber: Now & Forever is a 2001 box set compilation album of the music of composer Andrew Lloyd Webber.
