Composer guide

Andrew Lloyd Webber

Andrew Lloyd Webber is the British composer behind Cats, Evita, and The Phantom of the Opera, the longest-running show in Broadway history. Across more than five decades he has written more than 20 stage musicals, most of them sung-through and built around big, sweeping melodies.

Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals in our library

Jesus Christ Superstar (1971)
His Broadway debut with Tim Rice, a rock opera that started life as a 1970 concept album before it was ever staged.
Evita (1979)
His third musical with Tim Rice, which began as a 1976 concept album and won him his first Tony for Best Original Score.
Cats (1982)
His biggest gamble: T.S. Eliot's cat poems set to music, which ran 18 years on Broadway and was once its longest-running show.
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (1982)
His first success with Tim Rice, written in 1968 as a short piece for a London school and expanded into a full family musical.
The Phantom of the Opera (1988)
His best-known work and the longest-running show in Broadway history, playing 13,981 performances from 1988 to 2023.
Sunset Boulevard (1994)
His 1990s adaptation of the Billy Wilder film, which won seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Original Score.
School of Rock: The Musical (2015)
A late-career hit with lyricist Glenn Slater that opened on Broadway before London and puts a child band playing live onstage.

Who is Andrew Lloyd Webber?

Andrew Lloyd Webber was born in London on March 22, 1948. As a young man he teamed up with lyricist Tim Rice, and together they wrote Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar, and Evita. Cats set T.S. Eliot's poems, with extra lyrics by Trevor Nunn and Richard Stilgoe. Later partners included Charles Hart on The Phantom of the Opera, Don Black and Christopher Hampton on Sunset Boulevard, and Glenn Slater on School of Rock.

His style mixes rock and pop with operetta and classical writing. Many of his shows are sung-through, with little or no spoken dialogue, and they lean on melodies that return again and again until the audience is humming them on the way out. Songs like Memory, Don't Cry for Me Argentina, and The Music of the Night have become standards well beyond the theatre.

Andrew Lloyd Webber's Broadway shows in order

Most of his musicals opened in London first and crossed the Atlantic later. On Broadway the list runs: Jesus Christ Superstar (1971), Evita (1979), Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (1982), Cats (1982), Song and Dance (1985), Starlight Express (1987), The Phantom of the Opera (1988), Aspects of Love (1990), Sunset Boulevard (1994), By Jeeves (2001), The Woman in White (2005), School of Rock (2015), and Bad Cinderella (2023).

Several of his London shows, including Whistle Down the Wind and the Phantom sequel Love Never Dies, have never had a Broadway run. Cats held the title of Broadway's longest-running show until Phantom passed it, and Phantom finally closed in April 2023 after 13,981 performances.

Legacy, awards, and where to start

Lloyd Webber was knighted in 1992 and made a life peer in 1997. He won the Tony for Best Original Score for Evita, Cats, and Sunset Boulevard, all three of which also won Best Musical, as did The Phantom of the Opera. In 2018 he received a special Tony for lifetime achievement. His Oscar came for You Must Love Me, written with Tim Rice for the 1996 film of Evita, and an Emmy in 2018 for producing Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert made him an EGOT winner. In 2017 he had four musicals running on Broadway at once.

Newcomers can start with Joseph, a bright and funny family show, then move on to The Phantom of the Opera for the full romantic spectacle. Rock fans should try Jesus Christ Superstar, and anyone who loves a meaty star role should hear Evita and Sunset Boulevard.

Andrew Lloyd Webber: frequently asked questions

How many musicals has Andrew Lloyd Webber written?

More than 20 stage musicals, from The Likes of Us, written with Tim Rice in 1965, to Cinderella, which opened in London in 2021 and played Broadway as Bad Cinderella in 2023. Thirteen of them have played Broadway.

What is Andrew Lloyd Webber's longest-running musical?

The Phantom of the Opera. It ran on Broadway from January 1988 to April 2023, a record 13,981 performances, and it opened in London in 1986, where it is still running.

Is Andrew Lloyd Webber an EGOT winner?

Yes. He completed the set in 2018, when he won an Emmy as a producer of Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert, adding to his Tony, Grammy, and Oscar wins.

Who wrote the lyrics for Andrew Lloyd Webber's musicals?

He works with lyricists. Tim Rice wrote Joseph, Jesus Christ Superstar, and Evita; Charles Hart wrote Phantom, with additional lyrics by Richard Stilgoe; Don Black and Christopher Hampton wrote Sunset Boulevard; and Glenn Slater wrote School of Rock.

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