The Andrew Lloyd Webber Show goes on the road

A new concert spectacular featuring Andrew Lloyd Webber's most timeless songs will start its tour next month of Auckland and Wellington.

Lloyd Webber has been described as the master of musical theatre, the maestro of musicals and a theatrical force to be reckoned with. His musicals have been seen by hundreds of millions around the world, translated into dozens of languages and have won numerous entertainment awards.

After more than 40 years, his music continues to have the extraordinary ability to touch an audience with entertaining stories full of emotion and memorable tunes.

Now, using state-of–the-art technology, audiences will journey to the avenues of Broadway, the streets of Eva Peron's Buenos Aires and the speedways of Starlight Express, in a remarkable settings of his greatest works.

All the big numbers from Evita, The Phantom of the Opera, Cats, Jesus Christ Superstar, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Sunset Boulevard, Woman in White to the current Love Never Dies will be there.

New Zealander Delia Hannah, will be one of the lead performers in the show along with singers such as Guy Noble.

She recently completed the Australian and Asian tours of Cats playing the role of Grizabella. Before that she performed for two years in Les Misérables and also sang the role of Glinda in The Wizard of Oz.

Delia made her New Zealand debut as Florence Vassey in the 1992 tour of Chess and she also appeared in the 1994 hit production of Blood Brothers and the 10th anniversary production of Les Misérables in 1999.

More recently audiences will have seen her in Auckland Theatre Company's Into The Woods and Silo's sell out season of The Threepenny Opera, directed Michael Hurst.

“I’ve dedicated a large part of my career to performing songs written by Andrew and so it’s only fitting that I can celebrate his work with a production of this scale,” she says.

Directed by one of Australia’s leading directors, Stuart Maunder, the show will feature songs such as Eva Peron’s passionate "Don’t Cry For Me Argentina," the classical masterpiece "Pie Jesu," from the rock favourite Superstar ,and songs from his new musical Love Never Dies.

Director Stuart Maunder says of the show, “The emotional force of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s songs is undisputed. We want to celebrate the extraordinary variety of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s output and the emotional force of his songs by presenting an intimate affair with all the emotion, all the tunes while taking you on a musical journey – one that is stylish, inventive and surprising and also offers some rare insights into the mind of this genius creator.”

Lloyd Webber has composed 16 musicals, several film scores, a Latin Requiem Mass and continues to compose every day. His musical Cats was the longest-running musical on Broadway, only to be overtaken by another of his hit musicals The Phantom of the Opera.

His awards include seven Tonys, three Grammys including Best Contemporary Classical Composition for Requiem, seven Oliviers, a Golden Globe, an Oscar, two International Emmys, the Praemium Imperiale, the Richard Rodgers Award for Excellence in Musical Theatre and The Kennedy Center Honor. He was knighted in 1992 and created an honorary life peer in 1997.

AUCKLAND
The Civic, The Edge, Auckland
Tuesday May 3 – Sunday May 8

WELLINGTON
St James Theatre, Wellington
Tuesday May 10 – Sunday May 15