Andrew Lloyd Webber on Screen

Throughout his theatrical writing career, Andrew Lloyd Webber has become a household name.  He is known for his extremely popular hit musicals worldwide, but I wanted to take a look at the film adaptations over the years.

Jesus Christ Superstar (1973)

The Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice musical started life as rock opera album before turning into a hit on Broadway and in London.  For the film, several Broadway cast members returned along with all the original songs with the new song, "Then We Are Decided".  The film was nominated at the Oscars for Best Original Song Score and/or Adaptation (Andrew Lloyd Webber, André Previn and Herbert W. Spencer)   

Evita (1996)

After years of stalled adaptations, Lloyd Webber and Rice's 1978 London/1979 Broadway hit finally made it to the big screen with Madonna in the lead role.  Most of the original songs carried over, and also included "The Lady's Got Potential" from the 1976 concept album.  With a rewrite of the last half, director Alan Parker reunited ALW and Rice after years of falling out.  The song became "You Must Love Me", which won Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice the Oscar and has since been added to subsequent live productions.

The Phantom of the Opera (2004)

After taking London by storm in 1986 and Broadway in 1988 and years of development, Phantom arrived in the movie theater.  The film added more backstory and pathos, but was generally disliked by critics.  The Phantom was given a new ballad, titled "No One Would Listen".  After the song was cut, the melody was used for the end credits song "Learn to be Lonely" with new lyrics by Charles Hart.  The song was nominated for Best Song at the Oscars.

Cats (2019)

It's hard to sum up what director Tom Hooper did with this London and Broadway hit.  The musical numbers are generally untouched.  The film elaborated on Victoria, and she is given a new ballad "Beautiful Ghosts", written by ALW and Taylor Swift.  (Swift appears as Bombalurina and sings the end credits version).  Lloyd Webber has since disowned the critical and box office bomb.  However, the new song was nominated for the Golden Globe and Grammy awards. 

One of the more successful ventures for Lloyd Webber were the direct-to-video and television versions.  They vary in quality, but are faithful versions of the original theatrical shows.  Soon after the London closure, Song and Dance was filmed live for television in 1984.  In a streak, we've gotten Cats (1998), Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (1999), Jesus Christ Superstar (2000), By Jeeves (2001).  The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall celebrated the show's 25th anniversary with a staged production shown in theaters and home video in 2011.  The Phantom sequel, Love Never Dies was filmed live in Australia also 2011 for home video.  In 2018, NBC aired Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert.  It won Outstanding Variety Special (Live) at the Emmys, giving Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice EGOT status.   

For his non-theatrical work, Lloyd Webber has written two film scores.

Gumshoe (1971)

A noir-like black comedy follows Albert Finney getting himself in too deep while wishing he was a 1940's private eye.  There isn't much original music, but one melody became the title song in Sunset Boulevard decades later.  He also wrote the source song "Baby, You're Good for Me" with Tim Rice.  There has been no official soundtrack release.

The Odessa File (1974)

This thriller has Jon Voight tracking down neo-Nazis in 1960s Germany.  Again, music is sparse, except for some electronic suspense and chase music and Miller's theme which eventually was reused in Evita as "Art of the Possible".  ALW and Rice also wrote the song "Christmas Dream" sung by Perry Como as source music and used other times in the score.