Webber hits back at Spacey rocket
IMPRESSARIO Andrew Lloyd Webber has responded to Kevin Spacey’s claim that his popular Saturday night TV talent trawls are just a plug for his West End musicals – insisting he does it for his love of theatre, not profits.
The composer, pictured, even says he is doing himself no favours. He is having to put the staging of his Phantom Of The Opera sequel on hold in favour of the Oliver! production hyped in TV’s I’ll Do Anything!
Last month Oscar-winning Spacey, the artistic director at London’s Old Vic, attacked the BBC for distorting the theatre market with TV shows such as Any Dream Will Do and I’d Do Anything, in which unknowns are chosen for West End stardom.
He said the series, which began with How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria? in 2006 and which feature Lloyd Webber as judge and expert, were “crossing the line” and “unfair” as they promoted certain stage shows.
But multi-millionaire Lord Lloyd-Webber, 60, insists the programmes are made in good faith and are nothing to do with lining his own pockets: “When I went to the BBC with the idea of doing The Sound Of Music, firstly it wasn’t my musical and, secondly, to do the show we knew we had to have a £4 million production which we were going to take a huge risk over,” he reveals.
“At the end of the day all I can do is try to convey my passion for theatre and musical theatre in the best way I can.
"Oliver! is not my show – Cameron Mackintosh owns it completely. It’s going into the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, yes, but another show would be in there if it wasn’t Oliver! And this is the moment where I should say that the other show would have been my sequel to The Phantom Of The Opera,” he adds.
“That theatre is denied to me now and it’s my own. I’ve never had a show in Drury Lane.”
He adds on his website: “I don’t need to do television, I don’t need to be on TV on a Saturday night – I enjoy it because I love helping these performers.”
