Posted: 11/10/16 at 2:11pm
What do you think is Andrew Lloyd Webber's best musical?
For Me, it's JC Superstar.
Posted: 11/10/16 at 2:33pm
Aspects of Love is the first musical I saw on Broadway, and that's my answer to the question. Odd, I know, but I was an ALW enthusiast and had listened to the London OCR constantly for months before seeing it at the Broadhurst. I no longer think it's a great masterpiece, in particular due to the sub-par lyrics and unfocused story, but I still think the music is brilliant. It's one show for which I would welcome a revisal, with the emphasis on revision.
I also have some affection for Whistle Down the Wind, but that's a lot spottier for me. Certain numbers are quite thrilling, others entirely forgettable.
Updated On: 11/10/16 at 02:33 PM
Posted: 11/10/16 at 2:36pm
Jesus Christ Superstar, though I really do love the music to Sunset Boulevard.
And I agree with the other poster that the score to Aspects of Love is brilliant, though the story is utterly unengaging (based solely on the cast recording; I've not seen it performed).
Posted: 11/10/16 at 2:38pm
That time he more or less seemed to go away for a long while until very recently. That was good work.
Posted: 11/10/16 at 2:38pm
I'm just pissed off by Aspects of Love. If you like it, cool, but the lyrics sound like greeting card poems and a good chunk of the second act is devoted to the idea of statutory rape/incest.
Posted: 11/10/16 at 2:38pm
some of the melodies are nice, but they are way too overused.
Posted: 11/10/16 at 2:44pm
I think his best score is a toss up between Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita. The best overall production with book, score, direction, costumes and scenery is probably The Phantom of the Opera but in my opinion Hal Prince and Maria Björnson deserve most of the credit for making Phantom as good as it is.
Posted: 11/10/16 at 3:01pm
Alex Kulak2 said: "I'm just pissed off by Aspects of Love. If you like it, cool, but the lyrics sound like greeting card poems and a good chunk of the second act is devoted to the idea of statutory rape/incest."
I feel like we've been through this before. :) A major plot point of the second act involves fifteen-year-old Jenny being infatuated with her much older cousin Alex, who is, perhaps, slightly titillated but always resistant to her pleas. This does not add up to statutory rape: at the pivotal moment in their interactions, she begs him not to bed her but to wait for her: "three years is not a lifetime." Regarding incest, first-cousin marriage is legal in many places in the US and in Europe, though I don't know about France in the 1960s.
Posted: 11/10/16 at 3:21pm
My favorite is Aspects of Love, though I consider his best work to be Jesus Christ Superstar (or Evita, depending on my mood...it's pretty close between the two).
Posted: 11/10/16 at 3:22pm
JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR
Just so good.
Posted: 11/10/16 at 3:22pm
Jesus Christ Superstar, easily.
Posted: 11/10/16 at 3:41pm
For me, it's Evita. (Though I hold JCS in high regard as well). But he's kind of hard because I feel like there are some real gems here or there in some shows that are otherwise trash. I think "All for Laura" is one of his most passionate songs, and Sunset has some really lovely music even though a lot of the lyrics are ...woof.
Posted: 11/10/16 at 3:42pm
Physically, Phantom, but Musically for me anyways it would be Sunset and Evita. But, I do like how in his earlier works the flow is made up of song, song, song, rather than music flowing from one song to another.
Not that it was asked, but my least favourite would be Aspects of Love, his connecting music there is just so bizarre at times. Also I've never listened to Starlight or Jeves
Posted: 11/10/16 at 4:09pm
Personally, it's Sunset...
Objectively, it's Evita...
Posted: 11/10/16 at 4:16pm
I personally like Evita and School of Rock.
Posted: 11/10/16 at 4:21pm
Personally I think one of ALW's main problems is that he is so inconsistent and in-cohesive; he has written some wonderful songs in the past, but to me the good songs are all surrounded by quite a lot of dreck. So I'm choosing to interpret the question as: "which is ALW's most consistently good score?" and to me, it's Phantom. You could also make a case for School of Rock, since it is also pretty consistent, but it's pretty low-brow in what is attempts to achieve theatrically and musically (and I don't mean that as a jab at SoR - it's just that the material is more straightforward.
Posted: 11/10/16 at 4:24pm
Scarywarhol said: "That time he more or less seemed to go away for a long while until very recently. That was good work. "
lol this was my thought too.
i do like Evita though.
Posted: 11/10/16 at 6:09pm
POTO
EVITA
JCS
School of rock is growing on me
all fantastic scores and amazing work by ALW!
People love to trash him,
AND
POTO is still running at 11,974 shows so he is laughing all the way to the bank at critics
He is part of musical theatre immortality at this point that most reasonable people would need to compare his impact and body of work alongside Rodgers & Hammerstein, Sondheim, Lerner & Lowe, Cole Porter, Kander & Ebb, Gershwin, Kern and Berlin...
and thats pretty pretty pretty good company to quote larry david....
I still dont forgive him for Cats!, though......
Posted: 11/10/16 at 6:19pm
just because he's been commercially successful does not mean he should be mentioned in the same breath as greats like Gershwin, Kern, Sondheim, Kander, Berlin, Porter or many others.
Posted: 11/10/16 at 6:29pm
I agree with gypsy. Popularity and impact on musical theatre as an art form are 2 wildly different things. There is also a very big difference between general cultural impact and impact on musical theatre as an art form. As much as I don't like ALW, I'd be willing to admit that he has had a strong cultural impact. Many of his musicals have become iconic over time, and definitely hold a considerable place in popular culture, just as some of the composers you mentioned did.
It's another question entirely, however, to claim that ALW has had a significant impact on the shaping of musical theatre as an art form, in the way that Gershwin, R&H, Sondheim, etc. have. I know it's debatable, but to be honest I think that statement might be stepping over the line from "controversial opinion" to "objectively incorrect."
Updated On: 11/10/16 at 06:29 PM
Posted: 11/10/16 at 7:21pm
Although I will acknowledge that PHANTOM is probably his most theatrical work, my two favorite Lloyd-Webber musicals are ASPECTS OF LOVE and SUNSET BOULEVARD. There have been some negative comments on the book and lyrics for these two musicals. If you check the original source materials for them, Billy Wilder's film noir classic of SUNSET BOULEVARD and the ASPECTS OF LOVE novella by Bloomsbury Group member David Garnett, the two musicals are actually very faithful adaptations of the original material. What Lloyd-Webber has added to enrich them is his great gift for melody!
His JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR ( Bible-inspired) and EVITA ( biopic) are also very noteworthy additions to his rich musical portfolio.
The running theme of his more favored works seem to be that they were mainly adaptations ( including PHANTOM which is based on Gaston Leroux's novel).
Updated On: 11/10/16 at 07:21 PM
Posted: 11/10/16 at 8:41pm
Jesus Christ Superstar, by far. I also like Evita and School of Rock. Don't really like any of his other musicals but there's great music to be found in most of them. Even Cats has "Memory."
