Unmasked: A Memoir (Large Print Edition)
Paperback
Biographies GeneralMusiciansGeneral Music
ISBN13: 9780062496980
Publisher: Harper Large Print
Published: Mar 6 2018
Pages: 784
Weight: 1.85
Height: 1.80 Width: 6.00 Depth: 8.90
Language: English
You have the luck of Croesus on stilts (as my Auntie Vi would have said) if you've had the sort of career, ups and downs, warts and all that I have in that wondrous little corner of show business called musical theatre.
One of the most successful and distinguished artists of our time, Andrew Lloyd Webber has reigned over the musical theatre world for nearly five decades. The winner of numerous awards, including multiple Tonys and an Oscar, Lloyd Webber has enchanted millions worldwide with his music and numerous hit shows, including Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, Cats, The Phantom of the Opera--Broadway's longest running show--and most recently, School of Rock. In Unmasked, written in his own inimitable, quirky voice, the revered, award-winning composer takes stock of his achievements, the twists of fate and circumstance which brought him both success and disappointment, and the passions that inspire and sustain him.
The son of a music professor and a piano teacher, Lloyd Webber reveals his artistic influences, from his idols Rodgers and Hammerstein and the perfection of South Pacific's Some Enchanted Evening, to the pop and rock music of the 1960s and Puccini's Tosca, to P. G. Wodehouse and T. S. Eliot. Lloyd Webber recalls his bohemian London youth, reminiscing about the happiest place of his childhood, his homemade Harrington Pavilion--a make-believe world of musical theatre in which he created his earliest entertainments.
A record of several exciting and turbulent decades of British and American musical theatre and the transformation of popular music itself, Unmasked is ultimately a chronicle of artistic creation. Lloyd Webber looks back at the development of some of his most famous works and illuminates his collaborations with luminaries such as Tim Rice, Robert Stigwood, Harold Prince, Cameron Mackintosh, and Trevor Nunn. Taking us behind the scenes of his productions, Lloyd Webber reveals fascinating details about each show, including the rich cast of characters involved with making them, and the creative and logistical challenges and artistic political battles that ensued.
Lloyd Webber shares his recollections of the works that have become cultural touchstones for generations of fans: writings songs for a school production that would become his first hit, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat; finding the coterie of performers for his classic rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar; developing his first megahit, Evita, which would win seven Tonys Awards, including Best Musical; staking his reputation and fortune on the groundbreaking Cats; and making history with the dazzling The Phantom of the Opera.
Reflecting a life that included many passions (from architecture to Turkish Swimming Cats), full of witty and revealing anecdotes, and featuring cameo appearances by numerous celebrities--Elaine Paige, Sarah Brightman, David Frost, Julie Covington, Judi Dench, Richard Branson, A.R. Rahman, Mandy Patinkin, Patti LuPone, Richard Rodgers, Norman Jewison, Milos Forman, Plácido Domingo, Barbra Streisand, Michael Crawford, Gillian Lynne, Betty Buckley, and more--Unmasked at last reveals the true face of the extraordinary man beneath the storied legend.
Also in
Musicians
Smash!: Green Day, the Offspring, Bad Religion, Nofx, and the '90s Punk Explosion
Winwood, Ian
Hardcover
A Screaming Life: Into the Superunknown with Soundgarden and Beyond
Tepedelen, Adem
Thayil, Kim
Hardcover
Where the Music Had to Go: How Bob Dylan and the Beatles Changed Each Other--And the World
Windolf, Jim
Hardcover
The Little Guide to Dolly Parton: It's Hard to Be a Diamond in a Rhinestone World
Hippo! Orange
Hardcover
Mahalia Jackson, Moving on Up a Little Higher: The Story of an American Civil Rights Pioneer
Tyson, Timothy B.
Williams, Mary D.
Hardcover
Dolly Parton Songteller: My Life in Lyrics: My Life in Lyrics
Parton, Dolly
Oermann, Robert K.
Hardcover
A Life in Lyrics: The Official Creative Legacy of Freddie Mercury
Austin, Mary
Mercury, Freddie
Hardcover
Remember the Time: Protecting Michael Jackson in His Final Days
Beard, Javon
Whitfield, Bill
Hardcover
P Fkn R: Bad Bunny Y La Música Como Un Acto de Resistencia / P Fkn R: How Bad Bunny Became the Global Voice of Puerto Rican Resistance
Díaz, Vanessa
Rivera-Rideau, Petra R.
Paperback
Is This It: The Never-Ending Rise and Fall of the Strokes (and Rock 'n' Roll)
Hyden, Steven
Hardcover
David Bowie and the Search for Life, Death and God: A Spiritual Meditation on His Music and Creativity
Ormerod, Peter
Hardcover
What Do You Do When You're Lonesome: The Authorized Biography of Justin Townes Earle
Bernstein, Jonathan
Hardcover
With a Little Help from Their Friends: The Beatles and the People Who Made Them
Maconie, Stuart
Hardcover
Ain't Nobody's Fool: The Life and Times of Dolly Parton (Large Print Edition)
Ackmann, Martha
Hardcover
Bust a Move: Matt Dike, Delicious Vinyl, and the Hip-Hop Hits That First Conquered Pop
Relic, Peter
Hardcover
Dilla Time: The Life and Afterlife of J Dilla, the Hip-Hop Producer Who Reinvented Rhythm
Charnas, Dan
Paperback
Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of the Beatles
Massey, Howard
Emerick, Geoff
Paperback
Little Book of Elvis Presley: Inspirational Quotes from the King of Rock 'n' Roll
Croft, Rod
Hardcover
It's No Wonder: The Life and Times of Motown's Legendary Songwriter Sylvia Moy
Christian, Margena A.
Hardcover
3 Shades of Blue: Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bill Evans, and the Lost Empire of Cool
Kaplan, James
Paperback
Where Are Your Boys Tonight?: The Oral History of Emo's Mainstream Explosion 1999-2008
Payne, Chris
Paperback
The Silver Snarling Trumpet: The Birth of the Grateful Dead--The Lost Manuscript of Robert Hunter
Hunter, Robert
Paperback
Keep It Beautiful: Inside the Funkyverse of Shock G and Digital Underground
Mbassa, Alexis Wolfe
Jacobs, Gregory E.
Hardcover
Beyoncé-One of One: History Lessons, Love Letters, and Affirmations from a Cultural Icon
King, Antonia Jade
Hardcover
Dolly Parton: The Stories Behind the Songs: The Very Best Tracks, Explored and Explained
Zaleski, Annie
Hardcover
What Happened to Your Hair?: How We Played Loud... Loved Proud... and Never Backed Down... Together
Nelson, Matthew
Nelson, Gunnar
Hardcover
The Colonel and the King: Tom Parker, Elvis Presley, and the Partnership That Rocked the World
Guralnick, Peter
Hardcover
Burning Down the House: Talking Heads and the New York Scene That Transformed Rock
Gould, Jonathan
Hardcover
Puccini Without Excuses: A Refreshing Reassessment of the World's Most Popular Composer
Berger, William
Paperback
Elvis and Me: The True Story of the Love Between Priscilla Presley and the King of Rock N' Roll
Harmon, Sandra
Presley, Priscilla
Paperback
Jazz, TX: A Love Letter to Live Music, Community, and the Little Club That Could
Watkins, Doc
Hardcover
Every Valley: The Desperate Lives and Troubled Times That Made Handel's Messiah
King, Charles
Paperback
Lessons & Lace: Everything I Know about Dreams, Heartbreak, and Magic I Learned from Stevie Nicks
Brodsky, Rachel
Hardcover
