Really Useful Group and Related Topics

Andrew Lloyd Webber

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English composer and impresario of musical theatre.

Lloyd Webber studied at the Royal College of Music in London. In 2014, he was honoured for his "contribution to musical life" with an honorary doctorate from the college.

Jesus Christ Superstar, starring Paul Nicholas, at the Palace Theatre, London in 1972. Its success saw Lloyd Webber and Rice expand and release their previous biblical-based musical Joseph.

Evita at the West End's Adelphi Theatre. Lloyd Webber purchased the theatre in 1993. The 1998 video of Lloyd Webber's Cats was filmed at the venue.

The Phantom of the Opera at the Princess of Wales Theatre, Toronto

Lloyd Webber was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1993 for his contribution to live theatre

U.S. President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush stand with the Kennedy Center honourees in the Blue Room of the White House during a reception Sunday, 3 December 2006. From left, they are: singer and songwriter William "Smokey" Robinson; Andrew Lloyd Webber; country singer Dolly Parton; film director Steven Spielberg; and conductor Zubin Mehta.

Lloyd Webber and the UK's Eurovision entrant Jade Ewen

Lloyd Webber and Russian President Vladimir Putin prior to the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest in Moscow

After the 2016 English National Opera's revival of Sunset Boulevard at the London Coliseum was well-received, in 2017 the production transferred to the Palace Theatre on Broadway (pictured) in New York City

Cinderella at the West End's Gillian Lynne Theatre in July 2021

Lloyd Webber (middle) with his then-wife Sarah Brightman (right) in 1985. He would cast her as Christine in The Phantom of the Opera which debuted in London the following year.

His company, the Really Useful Group, is one of the largest theatre operators in London.

Cats (musical)

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Sung-through musical composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on the 1939 poetry collection Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot.

T. S. Eliot's poetry provided most of the lyrics for Cats

The Jellicle cats gather every year to make the "Jellicle choice" and decide which cat will ascend to the Heaviside Layer and come back to a new life.

From left to right: Old Deuteronomy, Jemima, Grizabella and Victoria during an event in Germany, 2011.

Broadway revival of Cats at the Neil Simon Theatre

The CATS Theatre in Shinagawa, Tokyo (2008)

The Operettenhaus where Cats played for 15 years

The first non-replica production of Cats was staged at the Teatr Muzyczny Roma in Warsaw, Poland (2007).

A school production of Cats in Bangalore, India (2014)

Radio microphones have become the norm in live theatre since Cats.

Lloyd Webber thus decided to turn Practical Cats into a musical, co-produced by Mackintosh and the Really Useful Group's Brian Brolly.

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

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Sung-through musical comedy with lyrics by Tim Rice and music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on the character of Joseph from the Bible's Book of Genesis.

According to the owner of the copyright, the Really Useful Group, by 2008 more than 20,000 schools and amateur theatre groups had staged productions.

The Palace Theatre, in the City of Westminster, London, built in 1891

West End theatre

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Mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres in and near the West End of London.

The London Palladium in Soho opened in 1910. While the Theatre has a resident show, it also has one-off performances such as concerts. Since 1930 it has hosted the Royal Variety Performance 43 times.

Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. Opened in May 1663, it is the oldest theatre in London.

Original interior of Savoy Theatre in 1881, the year it became the first public building in the world to be lit entirely by electricity.

The Lyceum Theatre, home to Disney's The Lion King.

Queen's Theatre showing Les Misérables, running in London since October 1985

The restored facade of the Dominion Theatre, as seen in 2017

The St Martin's Theatre, home to The Mousetrap, the world's longest-running play.

The Royal Court Theatre. Upstairs is used as an experimental space for new projects—The Rocky Horror Show premiered here in 1973.

West End theatres on Shaftesbury Avenue in 2016

Gilbert and Sullivan play at the Savoy in 1881

Victoria Palace Theatre (showing Billy Elliot in 2012) was refurbished in 2017.

The majority of West End theatres are owned by the Ambassador Theatre Group, Delfont Mackintosh Theatres, Nimax Theatres, LW Theatres, and the Nederlander Organization.

The Phantom of the Opera (1986 musical)

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Musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, lyrics by Charles Hart, and a libretto by Lloyd Webber and Richard Stilgoe.

Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman performing the title song

Steve Barton and Sarah Brightman in the final scene

In November 2019, the co-producers of Phantom, Cameron Mackintosh and Lloyd Webber's Really Useful Group (RUG), announced that the show would again tour the UK and Ireland, but this time with a return to the original production rather than the 2012 production.

Her Majesty's Theatre

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West End theatre situated on Haymarket in the City of Westminster, London.

Sir John Vanbrugh painted by Godfrey Kneller

King's (previously Queen's) Theatre, Haymarket, the 18th-century predecessor of the present theatre; watercolour by William Capon (V&A)

Actor-manager Richard Brinsley Sheridan, painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds

Interior of second theatre on the site, c. 1808. Drawing by Auguste Pugin and Thomas Rowlandson for Ackermann's Microcosm of London

Drawing of the theatre by Thomas Hosmer Shepherd, 1827–28

Jenny Lind, The Swedish Nightingale, 1850

Carl Rosa's opera company performed at the third theatre.

Herbert Beerbohm Tree as Cardinal Wolsey at the theatre, in a 1910 photograph

Shaw's Pygmalion ran at the theatre in 1914, starring Mrs Patrick Campbell as Eliza.

Oscar Asche in Chu Chin Chow. Its record-breaking run of 2,235 performances at the theatre began in 1916.

The 'boat scene' in Phantom is achieved using surviving Victorian stage machinery.

Society of London Theatre plaque commemorating Her Majesty's Theatre

LW Theatres has owned the building since 2000.

London Palladium

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Grade II* West End theatre located on Argyll Street, London, in the famous area of Soho.

Bing Crosby at the Palladium in 1976. He released the album, Bing Crosby Live at the London Palladium, later that year.

Production of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the Palladium in May 2004

The Sound of Music at the Palladium in February 2007

The auditions of Britain's Got Talent at the Palladium in January 2019

Cats (revival) at the Palladium in February 2015

Madonna at the Palladium in February 2020 during her Madame X Tour

In 2000, ownership of the theatre changed once again when Stoll Moss was acquired by Andrew Lloyd Webber's Really Useful Group.

The theatre showing Magic Goes Wrong in 2022

Apollo Theatre

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Grade II listed West End theatre, on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster, in central London.

Souvenir of 300th performance of Véronique at the theatre in 1905

The facade in 1989, during a production of Thunderbirds FAB

Stoll Moss Group purchased the theatre in 1975, selling it to Andrew Lloyd Webber's Really Useful Group and Bridgepoint Capital in 2000.

Adelphi Theatre

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West End theatre, located on the Strand in the City of Westminster, central London.

Sketch of a scene from Jane Scott's 1816 play, The Old Oak Chest

Charles Dickens' The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain at the Adelphi, in the Illustrated London News, 30 December 1848

Plaque commemorating William Terriss beside the stage door of the Adelphi Theatre

Cover of Vocal Score of Seymour Hicks' The Earl and the Girl

In 1993, Andrew Lloyd Webber's Really Useful Group purchased the theatre and completely refurbished it prior to the opening of his adaptation of Sunset Boulevard.

Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (musical)

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Jukebox musical with book by Australian film director-writer Stephan Elliott and Allan Scott, using well-known pop songs as its score.

The London production of the musical version of the film, December 2011.

Entrance to Broken Hill. (Pictured left to right): Wade McCollum (Tick/Mitzi), Scott Willis (Bernadette) and Bryan West (Adam/Felicia).

It is co-produced by Andrew Lloyd Webber's Really Useful Group and directed by Simon Phillips with musical arrangements by Stephen 'Spud' Murphy, choreography by Ross Coleman, costume designs by Tim Chappel and Lizzy Gardiner, production designs by Brian Thomson, and lighting by Nick Schlieper.

A report on Really Useful Group

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