Unmasked: A Memoir Audiobook (Free)

‘You possess the luck of Croesus on stilts (as my Auntie Vi would have said) if you’ve had the type of career, ups and downs, warts and all that I’ve in that wondrous little corner of show business called musical theater.’

Probably one of the most successful and distinguished artists of our time, Andrew Lloyd Webber has reigned on the music theatre world for pretty much five years. The winner of numerous honours, including multiple Tonys and an Oscar, Lloyd Webber has enchanted millions world-wide with about Unmasked: A Memoir his music and many hit displays, including Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, Cats, The Phantom of the Opera-Broadway’s longest operating show-and most recently, School of Rock and roll. In Unmasked, created in his personal inimitable, quirky tone of voice, the revered, award-winning composer will take stock of his accomplishments, the twists of destiny and circumstance which brought him both achievement and disappointment, as well as the passions that inspire and maintain him.

The son of the music professor and a piano teacher, Lloyd Webber reveals his artistic influences, from his idols Rodgers and Hammerstein and the perfection of South Pacific’s “Some Enchanted Evening,” towards the pop and rock music from the 1960s and Puccini’s Tosca, to P. G. Wodehouse and T. S. Eliot. Lloyd Webber recalls his bohemian London youth, reminiscing about the happiest place of his child years, his homemade Harrington Pavilion-a make-believe globe of musical theater where he created his first entertainments.

An archive of many exciting and turbulent years of Uk and American music theatre as well as the transformation of popular music itself, Unmasked is ultimately a chronicle of artistic creation. Lloyd Webber looks back at the development of some of his most famous works and illuminates his collaborations with luminaries such as Tim Grain, Robert Stigwood, Harold Prince, Cameron Mackintosh, and Trevor Nunn. Acquiring us behind the moments of his productions, Lloyd Webber reveals fascinating information regarding each show, like the wealthy cast of heroes involved with producing them, and the innovative and logistical issues and artistic politics fights that ensued.

Lloyd Webber shares his recollections of the works that have become cultural touchstones for generations of fans: writings tracks for a school production that would become his 1st hit, Joseph as well as the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat; locating the coterie of performers for his classic rock and roll opera Jesus Christ Superstar; developing his first megahit, Evita, which would earn seven Tonys Honours, including Best Musical; staking his popularity and fortune for the groundbreaking Felines; and making background with the amazing The Phantom of the Opera.

Reflecting a life that included many passions (from architecture to Turkish Going swimming Cats), full of witty and disclosing anecdotes, and offering commentary written by numerous celebrities-Elaine Paige, Sarah Brightman, David Frost, Julie Covington, Judi Dench, Richard Branson, A.R. Rahman, Mandy Patinkin, Patti LuPone, Richard Rodgers, Norman Jewison, Milos Forman, Plácido Domingo, Barbra Streisand, Michael Crawford, Gillian Lynne, Betty Buckley, and more-Unmasked finally reveals the true face from the outstanding man beneath the storied legend.