ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER - LLOYD WEBBER SLAMS STATE OF WEST END

LLOYD WEBBER SLAMS STATE OF WEST END

SIR ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER has hit out at the state of West End musicals, blaming their preoccupation with the "feel-good factor" for dwindling ticket sales. The theatre impresario is dismayed shows aren't brave enough to tackle difficult issues, as he did with SIR TIM RICE in tragic musical EVITA. Now he's hoping to entice theatre-goers back to musicals with a UK reality TV show advertising for a new star in HOW DO YOU SOLVE A PROBLEM LIKE MARIA?, which will give the winner the lead role in his stage revival of THE SOUND OF MUSIC. The composer says, "The other night I realised that where Tim and I were headed - Evita dies and the last 25 minutes are extremely bleak - was such a different direction to where musicals have landed today. Can you name me an interesting new one? The feel-good factor seems to be the main thing. There's going to be a cataclysmic change in entertainment in the next five years. "Only three shows are doing any business - BILLY ELLIOT, PHANTOM and THE LION KING. Some shows are losing a $200,000 (GBP100,000) a week. Something completely different needs to happen. I'm concerned that I don't see a commercial future for many West End theatres."