Andrew Lloyd Webber: I fear for Broadway because of high production costs
His shows The Phantom Of The Opera and Bad Cinderella have recently closed in New York.
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Your support makes all the difference.Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber has said he is “worried” about the future of Broadway as the “running costs are so incredibly high”.
The 75-year-old composer saw the last performance of his production Bad Cinderella at a theatre in New York on Wednesday.
His world-famous The Phantom Of The Opera, which is running in London, also had its last curtain call after more than 30 years on Broadway in April.
Sir Andrew told CBS Sunday Morning: “I’m a bit worried about the future of Broadway, the running costs are so incredibly high.
“So Broadway is going to turn into the equivalent of Fifth Avenue where you know, if you want to create a brand you put it on Broadway knowing you’re not ever going to really make any money on it, but they have to be there.”
He added that it will just be “very big hits” in the theatre district which “bothers” him.
Bad Cinderella, a retooling of the composer’s West End musical Cinderella with new songs, leading lady and title, had not been well received by critics since its opening in March at the Imperial Theatre.
It received no nominations at the 2023 Tony Awards, which take place on Sunday.
Lord Lloyd-Webber also said: “You can get a Tony Award for putting up a bit of money and saying you’re a producer.
“Somebody puts 20,000 (US) dollars (£15,910) into a play or something, and then that play wins best play and they can say, ‘I’m a Tony Award winning producer’.
“It needs to be addressed because it is a bit silly. There was that moment when sort of 30 people would come on stage (at the ceremony) because they’re all producers.”
Sir Andrew said he has not read any of the reviews for Bad Cinderella as his eldest son died the day after the show opened.
Nicholas Lloyd Webber, who was also a composer and was nominated for a Grammy alongside his father, Greg Wells and David Zippel for Cinderella, died at the age of 43 after “battling” gastric cancer.
Sir Andrew said: “I don’t think it really has completely sunk in yet.
“I’m not sure I’ve dealt with it very well. It’s very, very hard to put into words but I think about it a lot and we hugely miss him.”