Andrew Lloyd Webber is undergoing treatment for prostate cancer, a spokesman for the British producer/composer said Sunday. The unidentified spokesman said in a statement to the BBC that Lloyd Webber, who has been working on a sequel to his The Phantom of the Opera titled Love Never Dies, expects to return to work before the end of the year and to open the musical in London on March 9 and in New York on November 11, 2010. When the dates were announced earlier this month, some writers expressed surprise, given the fact that Lloyd Webber had originally said that he planned to open the musical simultaneously in London, New York and Shanghai this fall. The composer's spokesman also indicated that his cancer treatment is not expected to affect plans for a BBC talent search for a child actress and a dog to play the lead roles in Lloyd Webber's planned stage version of The Wizard of Oz. Initial auditions are due to begin in early 2010, with a panel of judges expected to be announced before the end of this year.
26/10/2009
