I understand why you are using the Cinderella situation as a segway into this retrospective, but I do think it's important to note that Patti LuPone walked away with enough money to build a pool... Most of the Cinderella crew would be on £30k per year, not per week, and many of the cast were recent graduates. This cancellation will jeapordise their basic living costs. Of course public embarrassment is hard, but I know which story is more concerning to me!
agree with you, and deeply sadden by all that has been happening not just to West End performers, but the arts in general in the UK, plus the brutal effects of Brexit ..... and the state of the world in general... :(
Someone else has already made this point, but I think it bears repeating: if the production managers on Cinderella had enough time to make a decision, draft a press release, decide which publication was going to get that release, and negotiate an embargo on printing until their say-so.... they had enough time to make sure every member of cast and crew was informed of the decision before it went public. Incredibly, incredibly poor taste to let it go down the way it did.
Yes but in today's climate you're can't count on that information staying privet. Companies want to control how information like an early show closing come out ... and telling the cast almost guarantees that all the time to make a decision, draft a press release, decide which publication was going to get that release, and negotiate an embargo on printing until their say-so .... would end up being completely WASTED. Because the cast members would announce it on twitter and all the reporting would follow from there. Blame Tom Holland, the cast CANNOT be trusted with key information early. Before the internet it was possible, it isn't now.
Oooooooo the Andrew Lloyd Webber Memorial Pool is even more of a sick burn considering how Sunset BLVD starts and ends with the main character floating dead in a pool….
ALW closing cinderella without telling the cast beforehand is ridiculous, especially since Carrie Hope Fletcher was one of their biggest selling points when marketing cinderella. she didn't work that day, so she only found out via a text from her cast mates.
I was really surprised that this video didn’t also bring up the Phantom Orchestra disaster that happened in London where ALW tried to downplay and cover up the damage.
Claire Balding in one of the interviews at the start of this video: “Are you a generous person? I think you are” Me: “This man literally took a private jet from New York to London just to vote to increase taxes on the poor”
He took his private jet from New York to London to vote in the House of lords for devastating benefit cuts for the disabled. He was literally in England a matter of a few hours for that one intention before he got back on his jet & flew back to NYC the same day. Callous
Evita is basically a musical hagiography of a woman who directly profited from the Holocaust and who was very plausibly personal friends with Joseph Mengele so I’m not surprised
ALW had a similar problem with the Broadway makeup designer for Cats, Candace Carell, who copyrighted her designs but was never paid royalties by him/RUG for their use (they also tried and failed to stop her from filing the copyright). Her name also ~mysteriously~ stopped showing up in the show's credits in 1995. Webber absolutely has a history of this, and I hope the Cinderella cast are successful in getting their dues from him.
I’ll have to read more into this. I’d be surprised if someone was able to copyright their own designs. Usually in contracts for design work you are contracted to design the show on behalf of the production company and your designs are the IP of the show rather than your own
I was a member of that London cast. As Patti has said, when this happened with her, we all suffered consequences. And beyond that we were treated pretty shabbily by Really Useful every step of the way. Individually, all the management people were nice enough, but as workplace culture, it was always tense. It was a shame because that cast was a really great bunch of people, and I guess a positive was that the more disrespectfully we were treated by RUG, the closer we got. Working for Lloyd-Webber again would be a definite NO.
I'm indignant. Not only did Weber-Rice destroy the Broadway musical, create the "revolving lyric", and are lauded as geniuses, but they're also enormous a$$holes. My grandfather, and godfather, Kings of the Golden Age of Broadway, would be spinning in their graves if they hadn't been cremated.
I had to stop the video for five minutes because I just couldn't stop laughing over Patti LuPone naming the pool purchased with ALW's money "The Andrew Lloyd Webber Memorial Pool". That woman is a living legend, I love her.
I had tickets to Cinderella in the UK in August, I am going from Toronto, it was a big trip, and I was pretty disheartened it just chose to close, probably so he could recast and put it in Broadway. I seriously think they went "Welp, we didn't win any Olivier's, lets shut it down and try again somewhere else." Gross.
That does seems to be the case, given the timing 😣 If you're still coming over I'd recommend seeing Back to the Future (which did win loads of Oliviers). It's mind-blowingly good and fun.
If you're still making the trip, I highly recommend going to see &Juliet instead. It may be a jukebox show, but it's so much more entertaining/funny/feminist than Cinderella and the cast seem really happy and well looked after!
The current Cinderella cast and crew who were doing the show the day the announcement was made of the closure, were told in person at the theatre while in the building to perform, right before the public announcement. Current cast and crew not in the building found out from those at the building. The future cast had emails send to their agents, but it was a bank holiday weekend (meaning most businesses are shut in the UK an extra day at the weekend) that agents were contacted, so they did log into their work to see that the new cast were being fired, so did not inform them. So yes, most the cast and crew associated with the show found out they were fired via social media. The lead star, Carrie Hope Fletcher, wasn’t even told in person.
In 2015 ALW flew first class from New York to London so he could vote in the House of Lords to reduce Tax Credits for the lowest paid workers in the UK. It was the first time he’d voted in two years.
Life as an actor is hard enough without ALW flipping the chessboard over. I'd never mess with Patti LuPone, she is a theatrical treasure and I wouldn't want to be on her bad side, lol.
Absolutely. It's just that where most people are afraid to speak out against the theater gods for fear of hurting there career . She just refuses to take sh*t from anyone
Steve Harley was all signed to play phantom in the phantom of the opera and even took his girlfriend to opening night but then discovered that rug had hired Micheal Crawford. Harley never got an explanation as to why he was fired. But he conceded that Crawford was perfect.
'he throws it on to some one else' the multiple reports of verbally abusing the cinderella cast for 'not fulfilling [his] vision' and blaming every covid related reason for cinderella's closing regardless of their relevance (low ticket sales i'd be willing to say 'yeah tourism isnt what it was', but i dont think you can blame covid restrictions for negative reviews particularly as covid restrictions have been non-existant for a couple of months now in the uk) he may be talented but everyone has a flop, he hasnt learnt what its like to not be perfect so cant handle them
I saw some ads for it (what they were doing showing ads in California for a show in London, I'll never know) and it seemed really dated and like it's trying to hard to be edgy. Like I genuinely thought, when I read the plot on wikipedia and heard more of the soundtrack (because morbid curiosity), that this show had originally come out in the early 2000s instead of in the 2020s. It feels like it would be more at home with the Girlfriend-era Avril Lavigne and the orange haired Paramour with costumes that look straight out of the Call Me When You're Sober Evanescence music video than it ever would alongside shows like &Juliet and Six. The sad thing is it also felt like it was directly mocking the very artists it was taking inspiration from by making Cinderella a moody, rebellious troublemaker with enough cynicism to drown a giraffe. ALW is out of touch and it is really starting to show.
@@KassMcCormack as someone that went to watch it (to form my own opinion and cause i was able to get a very cheap seat) my review would be 'rejected 2000's disney channel original movie' the plot is weak and can be summarised as edgy=bad but wait dont judge people and the songs were lazy and half arsed. it has some incredible lighting, stage/set, and sound design but the weak plot, lazy songs and some cheap looking costumes bring those down to the point i wish you could see the same staging in a better show. i admire everyone that worked on it and its a shame it closing (particularly the way it is) but it was only a matter of time. i said when i watched it 'this feels like the carrie show' like its main reason for existing was to have carrie hope fletcher sing for a couple of hours and the plot was only there so it could be called a musical and not a concert, which to me made the show feel doomed once her run was going to be over (although i'm as shocked as anyone else that they didnt even try with the new cast) they'll need another big name if they want a hope in hell of succeeding in the us and even then i think its a long shot that it will. again i do not want to bring down the efforts of anyone that worked on this show, the cast did an incredible job with what they were given and seemed like a very busy show for crew just from what could be deduced as an audience member, regardless of if my issues with the show had been with them (which its not) they did not deserve to be treated with even a fraction of the disrespect they've been shown
Also blaming Covid restrictions for Cinderella's problems is a bit rich considering He was the one demanding the show to be open first when the last lockdown was easing.
The problem with ALW is that he has failed to move on since Phantom. Every time I see a different musical it seems it is plagued by the horror stories of him blaming it on everybody else but him. Again, the reason that many people did not want to carry on in their contracts for Cinderella was because there was an American critic that wrote a review and said that the show "needed some work before it transferred to Broadway" and because of that, he blamed this on the cast by phone and many cast members (including the lead) threatened to leave the show because of the way they had been treated by him and how they felt as a result of being cast aside. Yes there might be things that might be true in the theatre critic's review and they might have alerted the cast, crew, and production team (as well as the FOH and any staff members at the Gillian Lynne Theatre where Cinderella is playing) but to be told literally 30 minutes before the announcement went out (some of which were not even alerted at all) is just shocking. As many people have noted over this period of Cinderella if a show closes on Broadway then it is the responsibility of the producer to alert the cast in an 8-week period so they can prepare for closure and actually seek new work. With people at Cinderella not only were there new cast members who had wig fittings on Thursday before the announcement was made but there were people who had signed contracts to leave the show so they could seamlessly start on new projects. Now the issue is people might be 4 weeks poor with no income because of the cast's mistreatment. I will always love his musicals as from an early age I fell in love with his music from the likes of shows like "Evita" (which I have just finished doing as a show), "Jesus Christ Superstar", "Phantom of the Opera" and most recently "Whistle Down the Wind" and "Sunset Boulevard". However, what I will never support is the maltreatment of the cast and anyone feeling hurt because of the way his company is run and how his treatment of cast members is.
couldn't have put it better...his talent is gone, we were at the West End first run of Love Never Dies..... they were handing questionnaires at the way out, he changed things twice and even so, nothing of value went on stage.... You are more than right, stuck on Phantom, but also meaner and meaner to actors ....so sad.
@@TheLatinMrsPeel - Andrew Lloyd Webber should have retired after “The Phantom of the Opera”. He was never going to replicate its success, especially without Harold Prince as director.
And now I'm having flashbacks to when ALW blamed the Phantom of the Opera phan base for Love Never Dies under-performing and getting bad reviews after it first opened. Pretty sure I remember him calling us "angry losers" or something to that affect and blamed us of sabotage or something. Dude's a prick who will throw everyone under the bus if it means he doesn't have to admit he screwed up.
ALW has a long history of firing, re-casting, closing, remounting. He has no soul. He has limited, small talent and a MASSIVE EGO. He blames everybody except himself.
Man had ONE stroke of genius that was followed up by a trail of mediocrity. It's kind of fascinating to see a musical creator to die artistically so brutally by choking on his own ego.
He apparently told the Cinderella cast that they are in the service industry (another way of saying how disposable they are) and that “no one had a right to be on stage”. It’s no wonder so many of the cast chose not to renew their contracts - they were being treated like trash 🤨
lloyd webber was given a seat in the house of lords (made a senator) in Britain. He's voted once, to cut welfare for the poorest and most vulnerable in British society. He flew in from New York to do it, he flew back to New York immediately afterward.
I saw Glenn Close as Norma Desmond in LA. The critics were right: she was magnificent. However, that doesn't mean that ONLY ONE person can ever be great in that part----or any part. Different performers bring different qualities and nuances to a role. It is hard to imagine that a great musical star like Patti LuPone---who made "Evita"
Yes replacing one actress with another who was better with better review by buying out her contract actually seems like a reasonable business decision. Close is FABLUOUS, and is a HUGE name both in theater and outside it. I could see why he would want her. Sure he has to pay the contract out, that's they way contracts work, but LuPone is NOT OWED A PART. Honestly I'm not sure that playing all those clips really help her cause much. She strikes me as a bitch, Close would probably have been easier to work it too.
I saw her too! She did great. Man, I would have loved to see Patti do it though. You are right, everyone has their own special energy they can bring to a role.
I heard the person was wearing a mask but below the nose. I think it's fine to ask that person to adjust their mask. I'm not sure why she would want to scream that at them using profanity. And for the record it Patti LaPone wasn't wearing a mask.....
@@johnrandolph6121 while it would not be my reaction, I was immediately fully on Patti’s side when the person pulled a “I pay your checks” reasoning as a way to defend themselves. Bringing a mask with a lousy fit to a mask required audience situation that you agreed to is silly imo Also all the performers on stage were maskless from what I could tell, but it makes sense to me when they can be traced & have their health monitored more than if one or several unknown audience members decide to pull the same stunt.
he was going to be losing 85% of the cinderella cast after 1 year and i think that says a lot on how he treats his cast and crew before we get on to how the new cast found out about the closure and the fact his leading lady wansnt told again
I cannot BELIEVE they didn't tell Carrie. I've been to the west end a few times but don't keep up with theatre; Carrie's the only reason I even knew there was a new Cinderella on. I feel so bad for the incoming cast in particular - imagine turning work down for this? Graduating from drama school and getting a leading role in the west end, and then it just disappears
I don’t know about you, but Andrew Lloyd Webber scares me. It doesn’t seem human any more. He seems like a theatre god who no longer has a physical presence. I don’t think anyone has actually seen the man for years. He is no longer human. Thank you for coming to my Ted talk
Look at his behaviour during covid. He openly chastised the audiences during the socially distanced previews as if it was their fault. He saw the pandemic as an inconvenience that prevented him from making more money 🤨
You make the best commentary videos about musicals and stories surrounding these sort of controversies that I’ve seen on this website. As far as I can tell you’re the only one who does it with this much effort and you’ve filled a void for theatre fans of having videos of this quality about stories we love to hear and gossip about. This is not the only time there’s been suspicious or shady casting shenanigans in an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical. “The Phantom of the Opera” has a few specifically from the first couple years of the shows run in both London and New York regarding two actors-Martin Smith in London who was only the third actor cast in the part in 1989, and Timothy Nolen who succeeded Michael Crawford in New York in 1988. Both were out from the show before their contracts were up. I’d actually really love to see you make a video about these, especially in regards to the situation with Martin as it’s become one of the most mysterious and unexplained events in Phantom casting history. I’m a bit of a Martin Smith and Phantom historian and can give you all the info needed to speak about the event…maybe we could connect and I can explain and see if you think it would make a good video. Either way, great work! Was always curious to know more about this situation and your video did not at all disappoint.
@@justinm2697 I mean, we can sure look at a pattern between several of his shows and when it comes to Cinderella *how many* of their cast spoke out about ALW's abuse... There's smoke to that fire.
ALW has always given me a self-centered vibe just by looking at the Cinderella cast recording. If you look it up on steaming services, his name is all over the thing! Every track has ALW listed as the artist, as if he needed to remind us this is HIS Cinderella. It might not have been his choice, but also what other cast recording does that? And watching interviews of him with the cast (i.e. talking over the cast) just made me think he doesn't care about them at all. The way the cast was all unceremoniously dumped from the show only reinforced that.
@@sagemarie3383 not to be an ALW defender but I don't think recording credits on Spotify/streaming services are controlled by the artist. Also some of his other cast recordings have credited the cast, like JCS, POTO, and even Cats (at least I just checked)
ALW did a series of TV shows to cast west end roles, and I loved them as much as I hated him. But the thing that creeped me out was that he always gravitated towards younger performers. It was clear he did not like grown adults who knew their own mind.
I love Patti. I got to see her as Norma the month she was canned. She was amazing but played it very dark with little humor. I met her after. She was so kind with photos and autographs but you could tell she wasn't happy. Loved her performance...best trip I ever took...just to witness this history.
I feel honored to know that I first saw Patti in Life Goes On, and was pleasantly surprised to find out what a freaking powerhouse she was in musicals. Has Webber written anything worthwhile since the 90's? I will never stop laughing at the idea that he wrote Love Never Dies as a way to 'rectify' the way his marriage fell apart with the first Broadway Christine, lol. Even if it did give us Ramin and Sierra.
I never understood why Patti went to work on Sunset Blvd. She has never been shy about how much she hated every minute of Evita. You'd think she'd say no to working with him again. Great video by the way. I still remember when this shitshow actually happened. It was such a mess. You, as usual, summed up the whole messy affair very well.
I dunno. $30,000 a week seems like a pretty good reason. Being able to spend your million dollar payout on a spite pool seems like a pretty good reason.
@@DrexelGregory I mean you can hate something even if doing it really benefited you. My guess is the working conditions might not have been that great or there were conflicts behind the scene that made it stressful for her.
The funniest thing about all of this to me is that... its not even a good musical? OK, I guess that is opinion based, but other than the title song of "Sunset Boulevard" there nothing really memorable about this musical except Glen Close looking iconic in the decadent costumes. Also, shout out to my gal Betty Buckley, who squeezed in after all the drama and performed in London and New York. She is the real winner here.
I personally enjoy "With One Look" and "As If We Never Said Goodbye". But yeah, I don't think I've ever listened to the cast album all the way through.
I love Sunset Boulevard. I saw Betty Buckley as Norma in 1996 (I think), but Glenn Close just kills the role. The music is divine. I respect those that aren't fans, but I find so many parts of this show memorable. Amazing cast numbers, grand sets, George Hearn as Max.
I don't personally love it, but it is generally a very popular show (made top 10 BBC musicals) and critics have praised other, more recent stagings of the show, including the music, so I'm not sure. It probably is opinion based.
@@brxzbze Oh! That actually surprises me! Maybe it has to do with location? As in, its a lot more popular in Britain than America? I'm specifically the midwest, and in my years in the region and industry I've never know a major company to do a production of it, and have never heard of anyone speak fondly of it either. I'm by no means an all-seeing-expert, I've just never been given the impression its a well-liked show.
@@hannahg5479 It probably is a location thing -- I'm UK/international based so I've always considered it a pretty well known show? In all fairness, though, I don't know anybody who's a diehard fan of it or anything. I've heard nice things about the 2016-17 Lonny Price- directed production though -- it was on Broadway for a limited run at some point.
This is the first time I'm hearing about her and I absolutely adore her now. She is legendary, iconic, outstanding, she IS the moment. Patti LuPone is awesome.
Let’s be clear, ALW isn’t the reason for Phantom’s success. It was Hal Prince and Maria Bjornson who made the show what it is (or WAS in London. Thanks CamMac)
Hard agree, but I also think Gillian Lynne and Charles Hart deserve credit as well. All you have to do is look between the stage production and the 2004 movie to realize the original crew were what took the show from a grain of sand to a lustrous pearl.
@@LordRezo Not an ALW fan either, but you're probably right, although I maintain that out of all his shows Phantom's probably one of his strongest in terms of musical storytelling, so idk. the whole 'humming the scenery' critique is a bit patronising towards audiences though
this was really phenomenal! amazing content timing and honestly been on a hotstreak with learning about these…habits thanks to you and MickeyJoTheatre! 💕
I am sure one day down the road, what went wrong Cinderella will happen but need to let the so called Broadway transfer happen (or not) to get the full story.
As soon as they made the closure announcement I thought it was a WITW documentary waiting to happen! It wasn't doing so badly in terms of ticket sales from what I understand, it just wasn't getting any awards or glowing reviews. 😣
Oh my god i feel so bad for every Cinderella cast member, like the Lupone story is iconic and I'm so glad to have learned it but every one of them deserves their own ALW memorial swimming pool
Even Glenn Close didn't escape the constant fracas around SUNSET: at one point she took a two-week vacation from the show, and Lloyd Webber's company decided to fiddle with the grosses to make it look like the box office didn't go down when she left. Because they didn't want the show to be seen as dependent on Close, you see. She... wasn't happy, let's say, that's a nice way to put it. So yeah, they pissed off *everyone*.
How could anyone fire Patti Lupone?! _What was he thinking?_ And now he just did it to the entire Cinderella cast. God, Weber is such an oily little creep.
The way I remember it was LaPone played the part in London. She was told, during the run of the show, she would not play it on Broadway. She missed three performances. Also at sometime Faye Dunaway was rehearsing the part in L.A. She said, one day she was told she was doing great and the next she was fired.
The sad thing is that either way its the artists and actors that suffer. Its a sick industry, it really is. Things will probably never change too, because if you know youve booked a job, and the run is expected to be 9 months to a year, youre not going to go to other auditions and youre not really allowed to either. But if its the other way round and you dont get notice when a show closes early it means you could go another few months or a year depending on how much experience you have and partially luck before you get another job.
I do think it is crazy Lupone tryed to play all three locations but I get why she was mad about everything that went down. Being in this suspected battle over a role she already got, who knows if Meryl was even in talks the whole timed it was rumored. Being told you would get something and then being lied to that when you didn’t get it it wasn’t the person in charge’s decision 🤨. Like if your gonna do it at least be honest and to her face 😒. The loss of income could have hit hard too if she had plans to do something and suddenly didn’t have the money to pay people which would have been difficult situation. Also the damage to her reputation and treating her like a circus attraction to be tossed aside at will 😔. SMH.
I’ve never much cared for ALW. None of his shows ever hit for me but I thought I’d give him a chance and go see Cinderella in London with my flatmate since she had gotten cheap tickets. I think in the future I’ll just listen to my gut.
Ooooooo, boy... Here's some tea from inside sources of his production of Sound of Music in 2006 in London: He fired the entire cast after a drunken rage, and the following day (when no one was at the theater for rehearsals) he asked the directors where everyone was? They had to remind him he had told everyone to go home and never come back. He didn't remember a thing. Now here's the nutty part - he was "supposedly" sober. Yet every visit to the set he was inebriated. But no one saw a drink ever come near him. Until... a stage hand had gone into one of his dressing rooms backstage, where every day Lloyd Webber would have a fruit basket waiting for him. The stage hand stole an orange only to find out it tasted like pure vodka. HE WAS SYRINGING BOOZE INTO FRUIT TO GET DRUNK! And that's just a smidgen of what production told me during that time.
That's so crazy. I'm choosing to believe it's true because the mental image of ALW tearing into booze injected fruit like a substance addicted ape is too good to not give credence to.
While I don't know much about theater drama, I feel like ALW got lucky with people enjoying Phantom. But one successful show doesn't make a career, and his attitude and behavior is unacceptable.
Saw Glenn Close in Sunset Blvd here in L.A. when I took my grandmother as a birthday gift. I didn’t know about this controversy. Very interesting, and thank you for the nice reminder of that evening with my grandmother.
I have a few facts about this musical. First, the musical adaptation of Sunset Boulevard was one of only two new musicals to open on Broadway during the 1994-1995 season with the other being Smokey Joe's Cafe, and those were the only shows to be nominated for Best Musical at the 1995 Tony Awards (that season was sort of an off year, unlike the infamous 1988-1989 season that saw bombs like Carrie and Legs Diamond and saw only three shows get nominated). In fact, Sunset Boulevard was the only nominee in that year's award for Best Director of a Musical and Best Book of a Musical (the only time it has happen until last year when Aaron Tveit was the sole nominee for Best Lead Actor in a Musical). Second, Close did win the Tony for Best Lead Actress in a Musical that year which was a missed opertunity for Lupone had she reprised the role. Lastly, the musical is concidered a "Flop-Hit", meaning despite running for over two years, it failed to make back it's money.
Just came across your channel. Wow. Editing, narration, all that is great. But the message of your video--- that we need compassion in the world... so happy to see that. It's funny because I've been thinking a lot about us humans too and just what you say, greed seems to matter more etc. Not every human has to be super sweet, but we could at least all be civil. It's very sad that humans haven't really evolved. There are good people, but there seems to be a ton of bad ones too.
It happened with Sunset Boulebard, it happened with Cinderella, it happened with Love Never Dies back when it was opened in London, drama happened during POTO between him and Sarah Brightman which eventually led to their divorce... I wonder if we only got the tip of the iceberg.
It's funny that you're comparing LuPone to Norma Desmond, since Gloria Swanson- the actress who played Norma in the original film- lived an eerily similar life to that of the character. Like Norma, Gloria was a silent film star who appeared in several films directed by Cecil B. De Mille, but her career dried up when the industry switched to talkies (an unfortunately common occurrence among silent film actors; many of them just couldn't make the transition for one reason or another). In the 30's and 40's, she appeared in a few stage productions and hosted one of the first live TV programs, but it was Sunset Boulevard that put her back in the limelight. Unfortunately, also like Norma, it would prove to be short-lived. Gloria hoped that the role would revitalize her career, but while she did get a few offers from directors, she rejected most of them as they were apparently just asking her to play Norma Desmond again. Funnily enough, there's a scene in the film (I haven't seen the musical so I don't know if it was adapted) where Norma is showing Joe one of her old films; and the clip they used is from one of Gloria's old films. Despite all this, the role was not specifically written with Gloria in mind, and Gloria was reportedly very different from Norma in terms of personality. I just find it kind of a neat coincidence. Also, Sunset Boulevard is one of my favorite films, and I feel like it gets overshadowed by the musical.
Brilliant research, and compelling as always. Thanks for these wonderful insights. I love theatre, but don't always love the business, and this story is an example of why.
This story is hilarious in the context of the actual story of Sunset Boulevard, Norma Desmond being a fading star who demands her recognition despite the industry turning her down, shrinking back into her ego and delusions.
We all know the Phantom of the Opera was a complete cosmic lightning strike. Seeing how the rest of ALW's career played out before and after, I feel more like he was used like a channel for some timeless being to put his story on paper, than it being his actual brain child. Also considering Cameron Mackintosh being at the financial helm. I think Maria and Hal were the two workhorses pulling that catastrophe to finish, with some help from above.
Man had ONE stroke of genius that was then followed by the most vindictive, bitter, self-centered trail of mediocrity. It's kind of bizarrely fascinating to witness a musical creator dying such a brutal artistic death choking on his own ego.
@@pryingpandoraproductions Thank you. ALW's problem is not the lack of natural talent, for there are plenty of great artists who are not naturally talented but are great due to their need for self improvement and work ethics. ALW can't see out of his own ass to improve.
I've noticed too that whenever any of Lloyd Webber's shows are mentioned, his lyricists are hardly ever mentioned. it's always "Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera", "Andrew Lloyd Webber's Evita", "Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cinderella", etc. I saw an article on line about Jesus Christ Superstar the other day that read "Andrew Lloyd Webber's Jesus Christ Superstar". No matter that Tim Rice had conceived the show and wrote all of the lyrics, yet, along with all other ALW lyricists, is getting airbrushed out. How often do we read of "Andrew Lloyd Webber and Charles Hart's Phantom of the Opera"? Never. The impression is always as if Lloyd Webber wrote everything, music, book and lyrics. .
I was wondering why ALW choose Lin-Manuel Miranda to collaborate for the queen's jubilee. I love LMM but he is not English and has no emotional connection to the Queen. I think ALW needs a popular American person to win over the Broadway audience. He does not have the fan base anymore.
Ultimately ALW gets to hire whomever he wants. I read that he changed the music for Glenn Close so she would not have to sing the difficult range Patti Lupone did. Just one question though? Did Ms Lupone pay for the damages to the dressing room and all?
I think my favorite ALW story is about a planned American tour of Phantom. A bunch of the theatres the show was supposed to play in were too old and rickety to support the chandelier rig, so ALW paid to renovate them. Whereupon the tour was canceled and those theatres had just gotten free upgrades 😂
I left a note for PL at the stage door of "Company" in NY back in May hoping it would get to her and that she would sign a particular personal item of mine and mail it back to me with the provided envelope. She signed it and put it in the mail almost immediately. I like to think the the snarky (but true) comment I made about Glenn Close in the note had something to do with that. Of course maybe PL would have signed and returned it anyway. She's a professional, after all.
Broadway should reconsider whether they want to work with him. He doesn’t deal from the top of the deck. What a mean, duplicitous man. This video also made me realize what an amazing individual Lin-Manuel Miranda is. They seem diametrically opposed personality-wise.
Excellent documentary. TBH, Andrew Lloyd-Webber doesn't really come across as an honourable person in many aspects of his life... I feel really sorry for the cinderella crew. This close after total unemployment due to the pandemic, this couldn't be a bigger kick in the teeth. Do Equity negotiate any kind of redundancy settlement for when this kind of thing happens?
I understand why you are using the Cinderella situation as a segway into this retrospective, but I do think it's important to note that Patti LuPone walked away with enough money to build a pool... Most of the Cinderella crew would be on £30k per year, not per week, and many of the cast were recent graduates. This cancellation will jeapordise their basic living costs. Of course public embarrassment is hard, but I know which story is more concerning to me!
**segue 😉
agree with you, and deeply sadden by all that has been happening not just to West End performers, but the arts in general in the UK, plus the brutal effects of Brexit ..... and the state of the world in general... :(
@@AirglamGuru Well, aren’t you a hero 🙄
@@caittails that's it, be PROUD of your ignorance. It's fashionable these days...
@@AirglamGuru And I thought I wouldn't see arrogance and theatricality more over the top than ALW himself but now were here.
Someone else has already made this point, but I think it bears repeating: if the production managers on Cinderella had enough time to make a decision, draft a press release, decide which publication was going to get that release, and negotiate an embargo on printing until their say-so.... they had enough time to make sure every member of cast and crew was informed of the decision before it went public. Incredibly, incredibly poor taste to let it go down the way it did.
Yes but in today's climate you're can't count on that information staying privet. Companies want to control how information like an early show closing come out ... and telling the cast almost guarantees that all the time to make a decision, draft a press release, decide which publication was going to get that release, and negotiate an embargo on printing until their say-so .... would end up being completely WASTED. Because the cast members would announce it on twitter and all the reporting would follow from there. Blame Tom Holland, the cast CANNOT be trusted with key information early. Before the internet it was possible, it isn't now.
This is why Patti is one of my favourite Broadway diva. Naming a swimming pool “the ALW memorial” is one of the most iconic things I’ve ever heard
What a queen
Oooooooo the Andrew Lloyd Webber Memorial Pool is even more of a sick burn considering how Sunset BLVD starts and ends with the main character floating dead in a pool….
i would not put it past her to buy a pool to deliberately send that message out 😂
ALW closing cinderella without telling the cast beforehand is ridiculous, especially since Carrie Hope Fletcher was one of their biggest selling points when marketing cinderella. she didn't work that day, so she only found out via a text from her cast mates.
That’s beyond ridiculous, disrespectful, and unprofessional
This is immediately what I thought of, too.
He's done similar crap multiple times.
He's a real POS
I was really surprised that this video didn’t also bring up the Phantom Orchestra disaster that happened in London where ALW tried to downplay and cover up the damage.
@@devinblackwood5885 What's the Orchestra disaster? Now I'm really curious! XD
Claire Balding in one of the interviews at the start of this video: “Are you a generous person? I think you are”
Me: “This man literally took a private jet from New York to London just to vote to increase taxes on the poor”
Truly a very typical rich man..
Let's not forget that ALW is a Tory..... Which already makes me dislike him a lot, despite his musical talent
He took his private jet from New York to London to vote in the House of lords for devastating benefit cuts for the disabled. He was literally in England a matter of a few hours for that one intention before he got back on his jet & flew back to NYC the same day. Callous
Evita is basically a musical hagiography of a woman who directly profited from the Holocaust and who was very plausibly personal friends with Joseph Mengele so I’m not surprised
@@markburrows2858 This makes me even more glad the 2019 version of Cats was shat on so mercilessly.
ALW had a similar problem with the Broadway makeup designer for Cats, Candace Carell, who copyrighted her designs but was never paid royalties by him/RUG for their use (they also tried and failed to stop her from filing the copyright). Her name also ~mysteriously~ stopped showing up in the show's credits in 1995. Webber absolutely has a history of this, and I hope the Cinderella cast are successful in getting their dues from him.
I’ll have to read more into this. I’d be surprised if someone was able to copyright their own designs. Usually in contracts for design work you are contracted to design the show on behalf of the production company and your designs are the IP of the show rather than your own
This is a very interesting tidbit, thank you for this.
horrible !!!
I was a member of that London cast. As Patti has said, when this happened with her, we all suffered consequences. And beyond that we were treated pretty shabbily by Really Useful every step of the way. Individually, all the management people were nice enough, but as workplace culture, it was always tense. It was a shame because that cast was a really great bunch of people, and I guess a positive was that the more disrespectfully we were treated by RUG, the closer we got. Working for Lloyd-Webber again would be a definite NO.
I remember seeing that production when my family took a trip to London.
You were all amazing, and you deserved way better!
You all worked your butts off and killed it every single night. You didn’t deserve this treatment. Hope you are doing well now!
I'm indignant. Not only did Weber-Rice destroy the Broadway musical, create the "revolving lyric", and are lauded as geniuses, but they're also enormous a$$holes.
My grandfather, and godfather, Kings of the Golden Age of Broadway, would be spinning in their graves if they hadn't been cremated.
@@black_sheep_nation how did they destroy the Broadway musical?
@@black_sheep_nation Who were the Kings of the Golden Age of Broadway? Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II or Lerner and Loewe?
I had to stop the video for five minutes because I just couldn't stop laughing over Patti LuPone naming the pool purchased with ALW's money "The Andrew Lloyd Webber Memorial Pool". That woman is a living legend, I love her.
Really? You laughed for 5 minutes straight over a “joke” that has been around since 1994? Ok.
@@MondoMiamiI didn't know that people were so invested into musical theatre in jokes that they would have heard about it at all
@@notapplicable6985 And thus they laugh for 5 minutes straight over a middle-school-caliber "joke?"
@@MondoMiami Some peoplw find different stuff funny to different degrees.
Who knew?
@@notapplicable6985 Well, in the future they need to run that past me
I had tickets to Cinderella in the UK in August, I am going from Toronto, it was a big trip, and I was pretty disheartened it just chose to close, probably so he could recast and put it in Broadway. I seriously think they went "Welp, we didn't win any Olivier's, lets shut it down and try again somewhere else." Gross.
That does seems to be the case, given the timing 😣 If you're still coming over I'd recommend seeing Back to the Future (which did win loads of Oliviers). It's mind-blowingly good and fun.
If you're still making the trip, I highly recommend going to see &Juliet instead. It may be a jukebox show, but it's so much more entertaining/funny/feminist than Cinderella and the cast seem really happy and well looked after!
@@nebulacoffee I was gonna see BTTF and then Cinderella in the same day, but now I'm doing BTTF and Play That Goes Wrong a second time LOL
It would serve ALW right if someone decided to do a revival of the Roger and Hammerstein Cinderella at the same time he brought his to Broadway.
@@christinesinclair6938 the touring version from 2012 is opening in Australia fairly soon.
The current Cinderella cast and crew who were doing the show the day the announcement was made of the closure, were told in person at the theatre while in the building to perform, right before the public announcement.
Current cast and crew not in the building found out from those at the building.
The future cast had emails send to their agents, but it was a bank holiday weekend (meaning most businesses are shut in the UK an extra day at the weekend) that agents were contacted, so they did log into their work to see that the new cast were being fired, so did not inform them.
So yes, most the cast and crew associated with the show found out they were fired via social media. The lead star, Carrie Hope Fletcher, wasn’t even told in person.
Not gonna lie, when I saw the title my first thought was “Did ALW invest in crypto?”
In 2015 ALW flew first class from New York to London so he could vote in the House of Lords to reduce Tax Credits for the lowest paid workers in the UK. It was the first time he’d voted in two years.
Wait, someone here said it was his own private jet. At least get your stories straight....
Life as an actor is hard enough without ALW flipping the chessboard over. I'd never mess with Patti LuPone, she is a theatrical treasure and I wouldn't want to be on her bad side, lol.
I think most people like Patti. Overall, she seems pretty cool
Absolutely.
It's just that where most people are afraid to speak out against the theater gods for fear of hurting there career .
She just refuses to take sh*t from anyone
Steve Harley was all signed to play phantom in the phantom of the opera and even took his girlfriend to opening night but then discovered that rug had hired Micheal Crawford. Harley never got an explanation as to why he was fired. But he conceded that Crawford was perfect.
You don't mess with Yellow Diamond
I just wanted to let you know I read that as "flipping the cheeseboard" and it was a delightful visial
'he throws it on to some one else'
the multiple reports of verbally abusing the cinderella cast for 'not fulfilling [his] vision' and blaming every covid related reason for cinderella's closing regardless of their relevance (low ticket sales i'd be willing to say 'yeah tourism isnt what it was', but i dont think you can blame covid restrictions for negative reviews particularly as covid restrictions have been non-existant for a couple of months now in the uk) he may be talented but everyone has a flop, he hasnt learnt what its like to not be perfect so cant handle them
And it’s funny because Cinderella isn’t his only “flop” … pride goeth before the fall…
I saw some ads for it (what they were doing showing ads in California for a show in London, I'll never know) and it seemed really dated and like it's trying to hard to be edgy. Like I genuinely thought, when I read the plot on wikipedia and heard more of the soundtrack (because morbid curiosity), that this show had originally come out in the early 2000s instead of in the 2020s. It feels like it would be more at home with the Girlfriend-era Avril Lavigne and the orange haired Paramour with costumes that look straight out of the Call Me When You're Sober Evanescence music video than it ever would alongside shows like &Juliet and Six. The sad thing is it also felt like it was directly mocking the very artists it was taking inspiration from by making Cinderella a moody, rebellious troublemaker with enough cynicism to drown a giraffe. ALW is out of touch and it is really starting to show.
@@KassMcCormack as someone that went to watch it (to form my own opinion and cause i was able to get a very cheap seat) my review would be 'rejected 2000's disney channel original movie' the plot is weak and can be summarised as edgy=bad but wait dont judge people and the songs were lazy and half arsed. it has some incredible lighting, stage/set, and sound design but the weak plot, lazy songs and some cheap looking costumes bring those down to the point i wish you could see the same staging in a better show. i admire everyone that worked on it and its a shame it closing (particularly the way it is) but it was only a matter of time. i said when i watched it 'this feels like the carrie show' like its main reason for existing was to have carrie hope fletcher sing for a couple of hours and the plot was only there so it could be called a musical and not a concert, which to me made the show feel doomed once her run was going to be over (although i'm as shocked as anyone else that they didnt even try with the new cast) they'll need another big name if they want a hope in hell of succeeding in the us and even then i think its a long shot that it will.
again i do not want to bring down the efforts of anyone that worked on this show, the cast did an incredible job with what they were given and seemed like a very busy show for crew just from what could be deduced as an audience member, regardless of if my issues with the show had been with them (which its not) they did not deserve to be treated with even a fraction of the disrespect they've been shown
Also blaming Covid restrictions for Cinderella's problems is a bit rich considering He was the one demanding the show to be open first when the last lockdown was easing.
And here we all thought Patti/Andrew would be the slap we'd see at an awards ceremony.
I would pay good money to see that.
It needs to happen.
The problem with ALW is that he has failed to move on since Phantom. Every time I see a different musical it seems it is plagued by the horror stories of him blaming it on everybody else but him. Again, the reason that many people did not want to carry on in their contracts for Cinderella was because there was an American critic that wrote a review and said that the show "needed some work before it transferred to Broadway" and because of that, he blamed this on the cast by phone and many cast members (including the lead) threatened to leave the show because of the way they had been treated by him and how they felt as a result of being cast aside.
Yes there might be things that might be true in the theatre critic's review and they might have alerted the cast, crew, and production team (as well as the FOH and any staff members at the Gillian Lynne Theatre where Cinderella is playing) but to be told literally 30 minutes before the announcement went out (some of which were not even alerted at all) is just shocking. As many people have noted over this period of Cinderella if a show closes on Broadway then it is the responsibility of the producer to alert the cast in an 8-week period so they can prepare for closure and actually seek new work. With people at Cinderella not only were there new cast members who had wig fittings on Thursday before the announcement was made but there were people who had signed contracts to leave the show so they could seamlessly start on new projects. Now the issue is people might be 4 weeks poor with no income because of the cast's mistreatment.
I will always love his musicals as from an early age I fell in love with his music from the likes of shows like "Evita" (which I have just finished doing as a show), "Jesus Christ Superstar", "Phantom of the Opera" and most recently "Whistle Down the Wind" and "Sunset Boulevard". However, what I will never support is the maltreatment of the cast and anyone feeling hurt because of the way his company is run and how his treatment of cast members is.
Hatsune Miku wrote Phantom
couldn't have put it better...his talent is gone, we were at the West End first run of Love Never Dies..... they were handing questionnaires at the way out, he changed things twice and even so, nothing of value went on stage.... You are more than right, stuck on Phantom, but also meaner and meaner to actors ....so sad.
@@morganalabeille5004fr ✊
@@TheLatinMrsPeel - Andrew Lloyd Webber should have retired after “The Phantom of the Opera”. He was never going to replicate its success, especially without Harold Prince as director.
@@ChienaAvtzon I think you are right !!!!!!!
And now I'm having flashbacks to when ALW blamed the Phantom of the Opera phan base for Love Never Dies under-performing and getting bad reviews after it first opened. Pretty sure I remember him calling us "angry losers" or something to that affect and blamed us of sabotage or something. Dude's a prick who will throw everyone under the bus if it means he doesn't have to admit he screwed up.
The ONLY reason he made a sequel to POTO was $$$$$$$
Given what I know and have seen of Love Never Dies, I can't blame any phan for not wanting to spend money to see that dumpster fire.
ALW has a long history of firing, re-casting, closing, remounting. He has no soul. He has limited, small talent and a MASSIVE EGO. He blames everybody except himself.
Small talent ? 🤣
Man had ONE stroke of genius that was followed up by a trail of mediocrity. It's kind of fascinating to see a musical creator to die artistically so brutally by choking on his own ego.
@@kennethhwang3425 I mean, I get it if Cats isn't your thing, but the soundtrack 100% slaps
He apparently told the Cinderella cast that they are in the service industry (another way of saying how disposable they are) and that “no one had a right to be on stage”. It’s no wonder so many of the cast chose not to renew their contracts - they were being treated like trash 🤨
Yup
Love how she spent the money on a pool and named it, “ the Andrew Lloyd Webber Memorial pool.” 😂😂
😂😂😂😂
A sense of humor well spent! She's amazing.😍
That's the best thing ever.
lloyd webber was given a seat in the house of lords (made a senator) in Britain. He's voted once, to cut welfare for the poorest and most vulnerable in British society. He flew in from New York to do it, he flew back to New York immediately afterward.
I saw Glenn Close as Norma Desmond in LA. The critics were right: she was magnificent. However, that doesn't mean that ONLY ONE person can ever be great in that part----or any part. Different performers bring different qualities and nuances to a role. It is hard to imagine that a great musical star like Patti LuPone---who made "Evita"
Yes replacing one actress with another who was better with better review by buying out her contract actually seems like a reasonable business decision. Close is FABLUOUS, and is a HUGE name both in theater and outside it. I could see why he would want her. Sure he has to pay the contract out, that's they way contracts work, but LuPone is NOT OWED A PART. Honestly I'm not sure that playing all those clips really help her cause much. She strikes me as a bitch, Close would probably have been easier to work it too.
the LA show was sooo different from the nyc show dont u think? i saw them both.
I saw her too! She did great. Man, I would have loved to see Patti do it though. You are right, everyone has their own special energy they can bring to a role.
Anyone else genuinely terrified when Patti was yelling during that Company performance clip?
Yes, I had to forward this video.
very good timing for this video considering Patti's latest great role, screaming who do you think you are at an antimasker at a Company talkback
Not to mention the Cinderella closing debacle
Funny thing about it...? He had this video in production before EITHER of those things happened.
Everyone should still wear COVID masks (audience in live theatre).
I heard the person was wearing a mask but below the nose. I think it's fine to ask that person to adjust their mask. I'm not sure why she would want to scream that at them using profanity. And for the record it Patti LaPone wasn't wearing a mask.....
@@johnrandolph6121 while it would not be my reaction, I was immediately fully on Patti’s side when the person pulled a “I pay your checks” reasoning as a way to defend themselves.
Bringing a mask with a lousy fit to a mask required audience situation that you agreed to is silly imo
Also all the performers on stage were maskless from what I could tell, but it makes sense to me when they can be traced & have their health monitored more than if one or several unknown audience members decide to pull the same stunt.
he was going to be losing 85% of the cinderella cast after 1 year and i think that says a lot on how he treats his cast and crew before we get on to how the new cast found out about the closure and the fact his leading lady wansnt told again
I cannot BELIEVE they didn't tell Carrie. I've been to the west end a few times but don't keep up with theatre; Carrie's the only reason I even knew there was a new Cinderella on. I feel so bad for the incoming cast in particular - imagine turning work down for this? Graduating from drama school and getting a leading role in the west end, and then it just disappears
An entire industry has seen him for who he really is now.
I don’t know about you, but Andrew Lloyd Webber scares me. It doesn’t seem human any more. He seems like a theatre god who no longer has a physical presence. I don’t think anyone has actually seen the man for years. He is no longer human.
Thank you for coming to my Ted talk
To be fair makes sense as he was a former House of Lord in Parliament
ALW was never "a human being" to begin with.
Look at his behaviour during covid. He openly chastised the audiences during the socially distanced previews as if it was their fault. He saw the pandemic as an inconvenience that prevented him from making more money 🤨
You make the best commentary videos about musicals and stories surrounding these sort of controversies that I’ve seen on this website. As far as I can tell you’re the only one who does it with this much effort and you’ve filled a void for theatre fans of having videos of this quality about stories we love to hear and gossip about.
This is not the only time there’s been suspicious or shady casting shenanigans in an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical. “The Phantom of the Opera” has a few specifically from the first couple years of the shows run in both London and New York regarding two actors-Martin Smith in London who was only the third actor cast in the part in 1989, and Timothy Nolen who succeeded Michael Crawford in New York in 1988. Both were out from the show before their contracts were up.
I’d actually really love to see you make a video about these, especially in regards to the situation with Martin as it’s become one of the most mysterious and unexplained events in Phantom casting history. I’m a bit of a Martin Smith and Phantom historian and can give you all the info needed to speak about the event…maybe we could connect and I can explain and see if you think it would make a good video.
Either way, great work! Was always curious to know more about this situation and your video did not at all disappoint.
Commenting for engagement. I want this tea spilled
Commenting so he sees this
I may not like Lupones style or demeanour, but the way she was handled by ALW and the comapany was horrid and utterly disgusting.
That's assuming we know the true story. It's very much a he said she said situation.
@@justinm2697 I mean, we can sure look at a pattern between several of his shows and when it comes to Cinderella *how many* of their cast spoke out about ALW's abuse... There's smoke to that fire.
ALW has always given me a self-centered vibe just by looking at the Cinderella cast recording. If you look it up on steaming services, his name is all over the thing! Every track has ALW listed as the artist, as if he needed to remind us this is HIS Cinderella. It might not have been his choice, but also what other cast recording does that? And watching interviews of him with the cast (i.e. talking over the cast) just made me think he doesn't care about them at all. The way the cast was all unceremoniously dumped from the show only reinforced that.
When I watched love never dies, the embodiment of ALW’s toxic personality, the veil had been lifted from my eyes. Nothing surprises me.
Company is listed as by Sondheim for everything, no mention of cast
@@sagemarie3383 not to be an ALW defender but I don't think recording credits on Spotify/streaming services are controlled by the artist.
Also some of his other cast recordings have credited the cast, like JCS, POTO, and even Cats (at least I just checked)
I'm THRILLED that ALW lost a fortune. I despise ALW and his bloated, mega-musical behemoths.
ALW did a series of TV shows to cast west end roles, and I loved them as much as I hated him. But the thing that creeped me out was that he always gravitated towards younger performers. It was clear he did not like grown adults who knew their own mind.
ALW truly took the whole "actors are cattle" thing to heart, huh?
I love Patti. I got to see her as Norma the month she was canned. She was amazing but played it very dark with little humor. I met her after. She was so kind with photos and autographs but you could tell she wasn't happy. Loved her performance...best trip I ever took...just to witness this history.
I feel honored to know that I first saw Patti in Life Goes On, and was pleasantly surprised to find out what a freaking powerhouse she was in musicals. Has Webber written anything worthwhile since the 90's? I will never stop laughing at the idea that he wrote Love Never Dies as a way to 'rectify' the way his marriage fell apart with the first Broadway Christine, lol. Even if it did give us Ramin and Sierra.
The Tea here was SCALDING! I need that pool to relax
I never understood why Patti went to work on Sunset Blvd. She has never been shy about how much she hated every minute of Evita. You'd think she'd say no to working with him again.
Great video by the way. I still remember when this shitshow actually happened. It was such a mess. You, as usual, summed up the whole messy affair very well.
I dunno. $30,000 a week seems like a pretty good reason. Being able to spend your million dollar payout on a spite pool seems like a pretty good reason.
Keeping yourself attached to a famous name for the clout seems like a good reason in this kind of career
Had no idea she hated Evita. Isn’t that the show that put her on the map?
@@DrexelGregory I mean you can hate something even if doing it really benefited you. My guess is the working conditions might not have been that great or there were conflicts behind the scene that made it stressful for her.
@@DrexelGregory Idk when she said it but she said that she thought ALW must hate women when she first saw what she has to sing for evita
The funniest thing about all of this to me is that... its not even a good musical? OK, I guess that is opinion based, but other than the title song of "Sunset Boulevard" there nothing really memorable about this musical except Glen Close looking iconic in the decadent costumes.
Also, shout out to my gal Betty Buckley, who squeezed in after all the drama and performed in London and New York. She is the real winner here.
I personally enjoy "With One Look" and "As If We Never Said Goodbye". But yeah, I don't think I've ever listened to the cast album all the way through.
I love Sunset Boulevard. I saw Betty Buckley as Norma in 1996 (I think), but Glenn Close just kills the role. The music is divine. I respect those that aren't fans, but I find so many parts of this show memorable. Amazing cast numbers, grand sets, George Hearn as Max.
I don't personally love it, but it is generally a very popular show (made top 10 BBC musicals) and critics have praised other, more recent stagings of the show, including the music, so I'm not sure. It probably is opinion based.
@@brxzbze Oh! That actually surprises me! Maybe it has to do with location? As in, its a lot more popular in Britain than America? I'm specifically the midwest, and in my years in the region and industry I've never know a major company to do a production of it, and have never heard of anyone speak fondly of it either. I'm by no means an all-seeing-expert, I've just never been given the impression its a well-liked show.
@@hannahg5479 It probably is a location thing -- I'm UK/international based so I've always considered it a pretty well known show? In all fairness, though, I don't know anybody who's a diehard fan of it or anything. I've heard nice things about the 2016-17 Lonny Price- directed production though -- it was on Broadway for a limited run at some point.
This is the first time I'm hearing about her and I absolutely adore her now. She is legendary, iconic, outstanding, she IS the moment. Patti LuPone is awesome.
The timing of this video with everything happening with Cinderella is IMPECCABLE!!!
Let’s be clear, ALW isn’t the reason for Phantom’s success. It was Hal Prince and Maria Bjornson who made the show what it is (or WAS in London. Thanks CamMac)
Eh, I’m no fan of ALW but to think he wasn’t key in that shows success is a pretty far stretch
Yeeahh.....those 10 million in album sales are nothing to do with the composer
I agree. ALW has written some incredible shows but the staging and costumes of phantom is what elevated it to what it is above his other shows.
Hard agree, but I also think Gillian Lynne and Charles Hart deserve credit as well. All you have to do is look between the stage production and the 2004 movie to realize the original crew were what took the show from a grain of sand to a lustrous pearl.
@@LordRezo Not an ALW fan either, but you're probably right, although I maintain that out of all his shows Phantom's probably one of his strongest in terms of musical storytelling, so idk. the whole 'humming the scenery' critique is a bit patronising towards audiences though
All this happened with Patti and he hasn’t learned a thing case in point what’s gone down with Cinderella. He’s a menace
this was really phenomenal! amazing content timing and honestly been on a hotstreak with learning about these…habits thanks to you and MickeyJoTheatre! 💕
Once again “when someone shows you who they are, believe them.”
Love me some ALW gossip. very excited for the premier 🍷🍷
Any plans for a Cinders video too?
Yesss, would love a video in cinders!
I am sure one day down the road, what went wrong Cinderella will happen but need to let the so called Broadway transfer happen (or not) to get the full story.
As soon as they made the closure announcement I thought it was a WITW documentary waiting to happen! It wasn't doing so badly in terms of ticket sales from what I understand, it just wasn't getting any awards or glowing reviews. 😣
It was really nice to watch some Live BTS on your Patreon channel of this video. The Patreon is def. worth it!
watching, I don't know, the 6th video in 2 days, you man are now one of my favorite youtubers.
You're amazing.
I think Patti LuPone should invite the cast of cinderella to her pool!
This would make a great drama/comedy movie. LuPone destroying her dressing room after finding out she was replaced would be iconic
I absolutely love this story simply because I love Patti! I really think you should do more videos on Broadway drama
This video is SPECTACULAR!!! Very well said and supported!!
Oh my god i feel so bad for every Cinderella cast member, like the Lupone story is iconic and I'm so glad to have learned it but every one of them deserves their own ALW memorial swimming pool
Even Glenn Close didn't escape the constant fracas around SUNSET: at one point she took a two-week vacation from the show, and Lloyd Webber's company decided to fiddle with the grosses to make it look like the box office didn't go down when she left. Because they didn't want the show to be seen as dependent on Close, you see. She... wasn't happy, let's say, that's a nice way to put it.
So yeah, they pissed off *everyone*.
“Humanity being sacrificed for pride and profit” defines business in corporate America. Welcome to my world, theatre.
How could anyone fire Patti Lupone?! _What was he thinking?_ And now he just did it to the entire Cinderella cast. God, Weber is such an oily little creep.
Thanks!
The way I remember it was LaPone played the part in London. She was told, during the run of the show, she would not play it on Broadway. She missed three performances. Also at sometime Faye Dunaway was rehearsing the part in L.A. She said, one day she was told she was doing great and the next she was fired.
The sad thing is that either way its the artists and actors that suffer. Its a sick industry, it really is. Things will probably never change too, because if you know youve booked a job, and the run is expected to be 9 months to a year, youre not going to go to other auditions and youre not really allowed to either. But if its the other way round and you dont get notice when a show closes early it means you could go another few months or a year depending on how much experience you have and partially luck before you get another job.
I do think it is crazy Lupone tryed to play all three locations but I get why she was mad about everything that went down.
Being in this suspected battle over a role she already got, who knows if Meryl was even in talks the whole timed it was rumored.
Being told you would get something and then being lied to that when you didn’t get it it wasn’t the person in charge’s decision 🤨. Like if your gonna do it at least be honest and to her face 😒.
The loss of income could have hit hard too if she had plans to do something and suddenly didn’t have the money to pay people which would have been difficult situation.
Also the damage to her reputation and treating her like a circus attraction to be tossed aside at will 😔. SMH.
The ALW memorial swimming pool I cant lamo this women is to iconic she is legit my soul mate. All hail the queen of theater miss. Lupone.
Sounds like the director in LA worked better with Glenn Close than Patty in London.
Hey guess what the same thing happened to the recent news of phantom closing. The cast and crew found out through social media
This was a nicely polished script, and an interesting story. And you did a fantastic read. Excellent work! I look forward to more videos like this!
I’ve never much cared for ALW. None of his shows ever hit for me but I thought I’d give him a chance and go see Cinderella in London with my flatmate since she had gotten cheap tickets. I think in the future I’ll just listen to my gut.
I do want to add the cast was incredibly talented. I just hated seeing such a talented cast stuck with such a bad show
Ooooooo, boy... Here's some tea from inside sources of his production of Sound of Music in 2006 in London: He fired the entire cast after a drunken rage, and the following day (when no one was at the theater for rehearsals) he asked the directors where everyone was? They had to remind him he had told everyone to go home and never come back. He didn't remember a thing.
Now here's the nutty part - he was "supposedly" sober. Yet every visit to the set he was inebriated. But no one saw a drink ever come near him. Until... a stage hand had gone into one of his dressing rooms backstage, where every day Lloyd Webber would have a fruit basket waiting for him. The stage hand stole an orange only to find out it tasted like pure vodka. HE WAS SYRINGING BOOZE INTO FRUIT TO GET DRUNK!
And that's just a smidgen of what production told me during that time.
That's so crazy. I'm choosing to believe it's true because the mental image of ALW tearing into booze injected fruit like a substance addicted ape is too good to not give credence to.
While I don't know much about theater drama, I feel like ALW got lucky with people enjoying Phantom. But one successful show doesn't make a career, and his attitude and behavior is unacceptable.
being waiting for a video like this for YEARS!
The ending to your video was such a BOOM Mic Drop!! I love it! Well done sir!
So glad I caught this in my recommended!! TH-cam unsubscribed me for somereason.
Saw Glenn Close in Sunset Blvd here in L.A. when I took my grandmother as a birthday gift. I didn’t know about this controversy. Very interesting, and thank you for the nice reminder of that evening with my grandmother.
I have a few facts about this musical. First, the musical adaptation of Sunset Boulevard was one of only two new musicals to open on Broadway during the 1994-1995 season with the other being Smokey Joe's Cafe, and those were the only shows to be nominated for Best Musical at the 1995 Tony Awards (that season was sort of an off year, unlike the infamous 1988-1989 season that saw bombs like Carrie and Legs Diamond and saw only three shows get nominated). In fact, Sunset Boulevard was the only nominee in that year's award for Best Director of a Musical and Best Book of a Musical (the only time it has happen until last year when Aaron Tveit was the sole nominee for Best Lead Actor in a Musical). Second, Close did win the Tony for Best Lead Actress in a Musical that year which was a missed opertunity for Lupone had she reprised the role. Lastly, the musical is concidered a "Flop-Hit", meaning despite running for over two years, it failed to make back it's money.
I saw Betty Buckley as Norma in London and she was just FANTASTIC!
Just came across your channel. Wow. Editing, narration, all that is great. But the message of your video--- that we need compassion in the world... so happy to see that. It's funny because I've been thinking a lot about us humans too and just what you say, greed seems to matter more etc. Not every human has to be super sweet, but we could at least all be civil. It's very sad that humans haven't really evolved. There are good people, but there seems to be a ton of bad ones too.
It happened with Sunset Boulebard, it happened with Cinderella, it happened with Love Never Dies back when it was opened in London, drama happened during POTO between him and Sarah Brightman which eventually led to their divorce... I wonder if we only got the tip of the iceberg.
It's funny that you're comparing LuPone to Norma Desmond, since Gloria Swanson- the actress who played Norma in the original film- lived an eerily similar life to that of the character. Like Norma, Gloria was a silent film star who appeared in several films directed by Cecil B. De Mille, but her career dried up when the industry switched to talkies (an unfortunately common occurrence among silent film actors; many of them just couldn't make the transition for one reason or another). In the 30's and 40's, she appeared in a few stage productions and hosted one of the first live TV programs, but it was Sunset Boulevard that put her back in the limelight. Unfortunately, also like Norma, it would prove to be short-lived. Gloria hoped that the role would revitalize her career, but while she did get a few offers from directors, she rejected most of them as they were apparently just asking her to play Norma Desmond again. Funnily enough, there's a scene in the film (I haven't seen the musical so I don't know if it was adapted) where Norma is showing Joe one of her old films; and the clip they used is from one of Gloria's old films. Despite all this, the role was not specifically written with Gloria in mind, and Gloria was reportedly very different from Norma in terms of personality. I just find it kind of a neat coincidence. Also, Sunset Boulevard is one of my favorite films, and I feel like it gets overshadowed by the musical.
This channel is frickin awesome! You know how to make a forty-year-old theater kid so happy!!!😁
Brilliant research, and compelling as always. Thanks for these wonderful insights. I love theatre, but don't always love the business, and this story is an example of why.
this is a great video!! really captivating and well-paced. thank you for making it!
I like your videos. You've done your homework. Keep them coming! 🎭
This story is hilarious in the context of the actual story of Sunset Boulevard, Norma Desmond being a fading star who demands her recognition despite the industry turning her down, shrinking back into her ego and delusions.
Wait you started researching on the 1st, and the video came out in the 14th?? How do you make these videos so fast
Wonderfully crafted video
We all know the Phantom of the Opera was a complete cosmic lightning strike. Seeing how the rest of ALW's career played out before and after, I feel more like he was used like a channel for some timeless being to put his story on paper, than it being his actual brain child. Also considering Cameron Mackintosh being at the financial helm. I think Maria and Hal were the two workhorses pulling that catastrophe to finish, with some help from above.
Man had ONE stroke of genius that was then followed by the most vindictive, bitter, self-centered trail of mediocrity. It's kind of bizarrely fascinating to witness a musical creator dying such a brutal artistic death choking on his own ego.
@@kennethhwang3425 Sheer poetry, couldn't have said it better myself.
@@pryingpandoraproductions Thank you. ALW's problem is not the lack of natural talent, for there are plenty of great artists who are not naturally talented but are great due to their need for self improvement and work ethics. ALW can't see out of his own ass to improve.
@@kennethhwang3425 Hard work beats talent, when talent doesn't work hard.
I've noticed too that whenever any of Lloyd Webber's shows are mentioned, his lyricists are hardly ever mentioned. it's always "Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera", "Andrew Lloyd Webber's Evita", "Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cinderella", etc. I saw an article on line about Jesus Christ Superstar the other day that read "Andrew Lloyd Webber's Jesus Christ Superstar". No matter that Tim Rice had conceived the show and wrote all of the lyrics, yet, along with all other ALW lyricists, is getting airbrushed out. How often do we read of "Andrew Lloyd Webber and Charles Hart's Phantom of the Opera"? Never. The impression is always as if Lloyd Webber wrote everything, music, book and lyrics. .
A great video as always, even if it's shorter. This channel never disappoints.
I was wondering why ALW choose Lin-Manuel Miranda to collaborate for the queen's jubilee. I love LMM but he is not English and has no emotional connection to the Queen. I think ALW needs a popular American person to win over the Broadway audience. He does not have the fan base anymore.
Really ? He wrote Hamilton and ALW Saw Hamilton on Broadway i think he's a Hamilton fan
Ultimately ALW gets to hire whomever he wants. I read that he changed the music for Glenn Close so she would not have to sing the difficult range Patti Lupone did. Just one question though? Did Ms Lupone pay for the damages to the dressing room and all?
The main issue is Sir Andrew is not a composer but a corporation.
Patti wasn’t the first actress Lloyd Webber hired to play Norma. Ria Jones played her one year earlier in the very first 1991 workshop.
I think my favorite ALW story is about a planned American tour of Phantom. A bunch of the theatres the show was supposed to play in were too old and rickety to support the chandelier rig, so ALW paid to renovate them. Whereupon the tour was canceled and those theatres had just gotten free upgrades 😂
Who told you that? NOT true...
Hmm, that's before they Added The Camera to the Knife, The Camera Came later when CATS 98 was Filmed.
I left a note for PL at the stage door of "Company" in NY back in May hoping it would get to her and that she would sign a particular personal item of mine and mail it back to me with the provided envelope. She signed it and put it in the mail almost immediately. I like to think the the snarky (but true) comment I made about Glenn Close in the note had something to do with that. Of course maybe PL would have signed and returned it anyway. She's a professional, after all.
A mere fraction of this d-bag's fortune. Still, this makes me smile.
Ive been waiting for this!!!
👍🏻 Excellent take on the theatre/economic situation. It's content like this that makes me glad I SUBBED!
3:42 'A flop appreciation manual' on the right side looks like a fun read.
Broadway should reconsider whether they want to work with him. He doesn’t deal from the top of the deck. What a mean, duplicitous man.
This video also made me realize what an amazing individual Lin-Manuel Miranda is. They seem diametrically opposed personality-wise.
Excellent documentary. TBH, Andrew Lloyd-Webber doesn't really come across as an honourable person in many aspects of his life... I feel really sorry for the cinderella crew. This close after total unemployment due to the pandemic, this couldn't be a bigger kick in the teeth. Do Equity negotiate any kind of redundancy settlement for when this kind of thing happens?
Perfect video to put out in light of what happened at Cinderella
No matter how many times I hear the story of Sunset Boulevard the musical it entertains me. So juicy