Ode to ALW

In New York this evening, friends, family and pretty much everyone who's everyone in the Broadway community are celebrating Andrew Lloyd Webber's work in Arts education and his 70th birthday (a little late). That's just another of the 3,362 reasons I wished that I lived in New York, but that's an entirely different story. I've written a lot about my love for ALW's work. I have this theory that if you're a musical theatre lover, you're either in the Sondheim camp or the Lloyd Webber camp. I'm planted soundly in the ALW camp.

No offense to Stephen Sondheim, but ALW is the number one reason I'm a theatre-lover today. His work was the first I saw and the first I fell in love with. In elementary school - thanks to the best music teacher ever! - I was introduced to Jesus Christ Superstar. I was in awe of it all. The music is unbelievably good. The original cast is ridiculously talented. And the way it was filmed is just so before its time. I fell hard and fast. Luckily, I have a dad that also loves this masterpiece, so not only do we listen to the music constantly, but we have also shared many different versions of the piece, whether in the theatre, or filmed for television. 

Thanks to ALW's stunning work on Superstar, I became obsessed with his other works as well. Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is so very different from Superstar, but still so fantastic. I listened to both albums on repeat for years and I can still sing them pretty much word for word. While I never was a Cats fan, I can understand why it's iconic and so popular.

Then of course there's Phantom of the Opera, another first for me, because Phantom was the first show I saw on Broadway. Thanks to some super amazing and understanding parents, we sat in the 3rd row of the Majestic and took in every last gorgeous moment of that show. Just as I was thrilled by Superstar, I was completely enthralled by the sheer beauty of Phantom. Between that score, those lyrics and the opulence of the costumes and set, it's perfect in my book. 

Perfection is what I see when I revisit these shows. They still hold the same appeal and place in my musical-loving heart as they did when I saw them for the first time. Lucky for me and millions of other theatre fans that ALW came into our lives. And even luckier still, for me that I had amazing people in my life that shared his brilliance with me!

Happy Birthday Lord Lloyd Webber! I'm eternally grateful that you were born!