World-famous composer and leading voice in the UK music industry, Andrew Lloyd Webber, has discussed the challenges for new composers in the current landscape, how he should have put his career on hold, and his vision of the future of theatre, in a new podcast from charity Help Musicians, released today.
Andrew Lloyd Webber spoke to host and Help Musicians ambassador Chris Difford – a founding member of band Squeeze. The discussion took place on the latest episode in a new series of the podcast I Never Thought It Would Happen.
The legendary composer revealed a candid view that his musical Jesus Christ Superstar might not cut through in today’s industry, thanks to listener habits on streaming services. He says: “I’m not sure people would listen to an album the same way people did then… So much now is done through streaming. It makes it very difficult for young independent songwriters to get off the ground with a fair crack at the whip.”
Sharing details on Stephen Ward, his production which closed in less than four months, he laments, “That was a very unfortunate moment for me because I had about four years of my life where I was ill because of a back operation which went wrong. I should have gotten everybody to say drop it for the moment and said I’m not well enough to give my best to it.
Discussing the current state of the theatre landscape, he discloses, “It’s getting very difficult now to make production ends meet unless you’re a huge, huge hit. The lifeblood of musical theatre is getting rather squeezed out”.
He points to regional theatres as the solution to this, claiming that, “The best way to get one’s work out now is to do it through one of the regional theatres. Sometimes they’ve got subsidies and can afford to do things that commercial producers probably can’t now. Later in the episode he declared, “right now I probably couldn’t get the investment for some of the ideas that I’ve had”.
Looking forward to his next career move and the future of the industry, Andrew Lloyd Webber said, “I’m beginning to think the next thing I do may go a different way. I think there is a huge future in immersive theatre” and predicts “there’s going to be a time when it’s not done in all the conventional spaces in the same way”. because unconventional spaces don’t have the “old union restrictions, huge costs that the theatre owners take”.
The revealing podcast series from Help Musicians is presented by the charity’s ambassador, Chris Difford, and has previously featured many big names, from legendary artists like Sting, Robbie Williams, Nile Rodgers and Kelly Jones, through to contemporary superstars like Blossoms, Olivia Dean and Yungblud.
Help Musicians offers a wide range of support for everyone in the industry. Musicians and those working in the music industry can call Music Minds Matter’s helpline for free to speak to an accredited counsellor who can offer emotional support, advice and information. More information can be found at musicmindsmatter.org.uk
