Lloyd Webber, Andrew, 1948–, British theatrical composer. A member of a successful musical family, he began composing musicals as a teenager; Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (1968) was an early work done in collaboration with the lyricist Tim Rice. Lloyd Webber's spectacular string of hit musicals beginning in the 1970s helped transform London into the major center for new musicals. His scores include those for Jesus Christ, Superstar (1971), his first major success, also in collaboration with Rice; Evita (1978), a fictional biography of Eva Perón Perón, Eva Duarte de (ā`vä d
..... Click the link for more information. ; The Phantom of the Opera (1986; Tony); Aspects of Love (1989); Sunset Boulevard (1993; Tony); and The Woman in White (2004), based on the classic Wilkie Collins Collins, Wilkie (William Wilkie Collins), 1824–89, English novelist. Although trained as a lawyer, he spent most of his life writing, producing some 30 novels.
..... Click the link for more information. suspense novel. His show Cats (1981), based on poems by T. S. Eliot Eliot, T. S. (Thomas Stearns Eliot), 1888–1965, American-British poet and critic, b. St. Louis, Mo. One of the most distinguished literary figures of the 20th cent., T. S. Eliot won the 1948 Nobel Prize in Literature.
..... Click the link for more information. , was the longest-running production in Broadway history until The Phantom of the Opera set a new record in 2006. Lloyd Webber was knighted in 1992 and created a life peer (Baron Lloyd-Webber of Sydmonton) in 1997. In 2000 he purchased 10 London theaters and variety halls, which, when added to the three he already owned, made him the dominant owner in the world's largest theatrical district.

Lloyd Webber, Andrew

later Baron Lloyd Webber

(born March 22, 1948, London, Eng.) British composer. He studied at Oxford and at the Royal College of Music. His first collaboration with lyricist Tim Rice (b. 1944), Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (1968), was followed by the rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar (1971), which blended classical forms with rock music. Their last major collaboration was Evita (1978). Lloyd Webber's eclectic, rock-based works helped revitalize musical theatre. In both London and New York City, his musical Cats (1981), based on poems by T.S. Eliot, became the longest-running musical in history. He later collaborated on Starlight Express (1984), The Phantom of the Opera (1986), and Sunset Boulevard (1993), among other stage works; in 2006 The Phantom of the Opera surpassed Cats to become the longest-running show on Broadway. He was knighted in 1992 and ennobled in 1996.