Andrew Lloyd Webber is the most successful composer of musicals in the history of the theatre. He is also an internationally recognized film producer, manager, and director. His musicals have had more than 1,000 productions worldwide and more than 28 million people have seen them on stage, with some seeing up to seven productions. He was born in England in 1946, and moved to New York City in 1963
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As a teenager, Andrew's first love was music; he wrote his first theatrical song for a school play. By age 18 he had written two successful songs for the famous pop singer Sandie Shaw. In 1965 he wrote his first musical (The Likes of Us) which opened Off-Broadway at the Morosco Theatre.
The show was produced by David Merrick, who asked Andrew to join him at The Theater de Lys (Musicals) along with composer Lionel Bart (Oliver!, Evita). Together they created Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, which opened on Broadway in 1968 and ran for more than a year. In 1971 Andrew wrote a musical called Jesus Christ Superstar which was based on a story by Tim Rice.
Jesus Christ Superstar led to a long collaboration with Rice that resulted in The Boy Friend (1972), A Little Night Music (1975), and Cats (1981). Three years later Andrew returned to Jesus Christ Superstar with a new book by Rice and lyricist Elton John, who collaborated with Andrew on many other popular musicals including Evita (1996), Aida (2000), The Woman in White (2005) and Sunset Boulevard (2011).