Andrew Lloyd Webber announces his next musical The Illusionist

It seems that Jamie Lloyd is his new collaborator after Lawrence Connor and Trevor Nunn. 

Fine. I'll say it...

I gues Andrew couldn't get the rights to "The Prestige"

Who's the lyricist?

It says Bruno Major is attached so I assume he's doing lyrics?  

Interesting that ALW is going back to a more operatic style, I'm personally partial to his rock scores.

Ugh, not Chris Terrio. Anyone but Chris Terrio. The epitome of failing up. He wrote one good movie and then followed it up with such illustrious films as Batman vs. Superman, Justice League, and Rise of Skywalker. 

I am very happy to be in ALW's Jaime Lloyd era. I'll take him over another bland Lawrence Connor production any day of the week. I do think Lloyd is at a bit of an inflection point where he has to make sure this distinct style he's developed is a style and not a cliche. Even going back a few years, you can easily tell that production photos from shows like The Seagull, Betrayal, and Evita are from different shows despite still containing many of his hallmarks. Production photos for Sunset and Romeo and Juliet look IDENTICAL and The Effect really is not that far off (just missing the screen). He can use his minimalism and monochrome. But, he needs to be careful of doing too much copy and paste from show to show. 

jkcohen626 said: "Ugh, not Chris Terrio. Anyone but Chris Terrio. The epitome of failing up. He wrote one good movie and then followed it up with such illustrious films as Batman vs. Superman, Justice League, and Rise of Skywalker."

I have no comment on the quality of this work, but to say he isn't talented because huge franchise films weren't works of prose and poetry is a bit wild. A (fat) paycheck is a (fat) paycheck.

Lot666 said: "This news both concerns and delights me.

I'm concerned (if not exactly surprised) that ALW has chosen Jamie Lloyd to direct this. It's one thing to have Lloyd "reimagine" an existing (and, IMHO, classic) property as a revival for the kids, but it's entirely another for Lloyd to give that sort of treatment to an all-new period piece as described in the article (of course, we don't know that Lloyd is going to do it this way, but does anyone think he won't?). I'm excited to see his Sunset Blvd in November, but the idea of The Illusionist in this style does not appeal to me. Based on the manner in which ALW describes it, I think this material would be best-served by the Prince/Bjornson Phantom approach, the prospect of which is thrilling to me.

I'm delighted to hear that:

• "It will have an 'operatic' score."

• "The musical is not going to be a straight rehash of the film. 'We are not hugely based on the movie...I think what we’ve done is taken the idea of it and developed it into another area completely.'” (ALW and Richard Stilgoe took this approach with Phantom, versus the original Leroux novel.)

• “'I Only Came to Say Goodbye,' a sweeping love song with a haunting melody...'just in case everybody thought that I’d gone back irrevocably to rock and roll, I have tried to do something a little bit more in my older mold.'”

• "'Always Everything to Me'...took me back to an early evening meeting with Lloyd Webber nearly four decades ago when he sat at his grand piano and played me 'Music of the Night'...I felt the same emotional jolt"

• "Having Harrison as producer is 'fantastic' says Lloyd Webber 'because I can just be a creator again.'”

Take my money, but please do this right. "