Talking With David Frost: Andrew Lloyd Webber

It's easy to see why caricaturists have such a fun time with Andrew Lloyd Webber: he's the spitting image of an elf. Twinkling eyes, impish smile, the whole J.R.R. Tolkien look. David Frost interviews Webber in the composer's Symington Court home outside of London. The 42-year-old pop star of the opera world talks about his life, his work, and his plans for the future. Interspersed throughout the program are performances of some of Webber's greatest hits: "Memories" (Cats), "Don't Cry For Me, Argentina" (Evita), "Music of the Night" (Phantom of the Opera), and others. Webber's anecdotes about working with his longtime lyricist Tim Rice (a partnership that broke up following Evita but is re-forming for an upcoming work) are interesting and amusing. In a funny bit, Webber plays and sings snatches from "I Don't Know How to Love Him" (Jesus Christ Superstar) as it was originally written: "I Long For Kansas Mornings." He also plays unpolished but tantalizing excerpts from his work-in-progress Sunset Boulevard. Eventually Frost gets down to the nitty both personally and professionally: querying Webber about his love life (on the eve of yet another marriage) and the critics' charges of plagiarism. Webber admits that he unconsciously lifted a classical melody once, but due to the averse publicity now routinely has his friends "check over" all the new music he writes. Success breeds contempt, and Webber currently has more shows running simultaneously in America and Europe than any other composer in history. Longtime Webber fans (of which, I have to admit, I'm a big one) will definitely enjoy this program, but Webber's popularity is today so far-reaching that general audiences will take to this also (and perhaps become fans themselves). Highly recommended. (See FRONTLINE: TO THE BRINK OF WAR for availability.)