The Best Andrew Lloyd Webber Musicals, Ranked By Theater Nerds
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Vote up the Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals you’d sing over and over.
Andrew Lloyd Webber's name has become synonymous with musical theater. Spanning more than six decades, the British composer has produced a staggering 22 musicals that range from renowned gothic romances like Phantom of the Opera - which holds the record for longest-running musical on Broadway - to obscure one-person shows like Tell Me On a Sunday. His legendary works reverberate across the generations, inspiring modern film adaptations and go-to karaoke show tunes that even the most casual of musical theater fans can sing along with.
With timeless melodies, soaring scores, and wildly imaginative stage productions, these Lloyd Webber classics hit all the high notes. Which ones would you give a standing ovation?
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Setting The Stage: An embittered, disfigured musical virtuoso - known as The Phantom - haunts the sewers under the Paris Opera House. His hardened heart softens when he falls in love with a young chorus girl, Christine Daaé. Luring her to his underground lair, he gives her singing lessons and helps her hone her enchanting vocals to be cast as the lead in an opera.
When her childhood friend Raoul pursues her romantically, the Phantom flies into a jealous rage. He kidnaps Christine, plotting to make her his bride so she can sing with him forever in his operatic underworld.
How It Stands The Test Of Time: As the longest-running Broadway production - spanning 35 years, from 1988 to 2023 - The Phantom of Opera is timeless. Based on Gaston Leroux's 1910 novel of the same title, the story has seen a multitude of adaptations, ranging from comic book pages to silver screens.
The 2004 film adaptation - starring Gerard Butler and Emmy Rossum - brought Phantom to the younger generation. Even for those who never saw Phantom on Broadway, you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who hasn’t at least heard the theatrical pipe organ theme song.
Standout Songs: "The Music of the Night," "Phantom of the Opera," "All I Ask of You"
Underrated Songs: “I Remember/Stranger Than You Dreamt It”
- 2334 VOTES
Setting The Stage: The 1970s rock opera traces the last week of Jesus Christ’s life - leading up to his crucifixion - through the eyes of Judas. Honing in on the psychology of its biblical characters, and the conflicts between Jesus and his disciples, the musical weaves Gospel-based narratives with contemporary political events. Without any spoken dialogue, the story is told solely through high-energy song and dance numbers.
How It Stands The Test Of Time: For a tale as old as time, Jesus Christ Superstar is revered as a fresh take on a biblical drama. Shimmering in 1970s music, language and colloquialisms, the now-defunct musical ran for eight years in London’s West End - the longest run at the time - before being surpassed by Lloyd Webber’s Cats.
Standout Song: "Superstar"
Underrated Song: “Everything's Alright”
- 3285 VOTES
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- Eric van der Palen
- Wikimedia Commons
- CC-BY 4.0
Setting The Stage: A historical musical based on the life of Eva “Evita” Perón, the story follows her rags-to-riches life from poverty-stricken child to ambitious actress to the First Lady of Argentina. Using her talents and power of seduction, she climbs the political ladder, ultimately becoming a hero to the poor, and dying - a tragically untimely passing - as a matriarchal saint.
How It Stands The Test Of Time: With music by Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice, Evita immortalizes the extraordinary life of the real Eva Perón. Although it endured a comparably modest run on Broadway - from 1979 to 1983 - the Tony Award winner is a fan favorite among Webber’s works. Its 1996 film adaptation starring Madonna, Jonathan Pryce, and Antonio Banderas reignited interest in the musical, snagging the Golden Globe award for Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical.
Standout Song: "Don’t Cry For Me, Argentina"
Underrated Song: “Lament”
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Setting The Stage: Riding the coattails of Jesus Christ Superstar's success, Lloyd Webber's second biblical musical tells the story of Joseph from the book of Genesis. The favorite of Jacob's 12 sons, Joseph receives a magnificent multi-colored coat from his father; this fuels the jealousy of his siblings, who sell him into Egyptian slavery as vengeance.
In addition to his snazzy threads, Joseph also has the ability to interpret dreams. This proves helpful when Pharaoh Potiphar employs him to decipher the unusual dreams he's been having. Set to a colorful soundtrack ranging from rock to reggae, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is a wildly imaginative interpretation of an Old Testament tale.
How It Stands The Test Of Time: Like Superstar, the musical is entirely devoid of dialogue, relying on flashy song and dance sequences to transform a tired biblical tale into a lively stage production. Lloyd Webber does this well, and Joseph is living proof. Although the show only ran on Broadway from January 1982 through September 1983, its legacy was immortalized with a 1999 film adaptation starring Donny Osmond.
Standout Song: "Any Dream Will Do"
Underrated Song: “Benjamin Calypso”
- 5163 VOTES
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- Paul Huntley
- Wikimedia Commons
- CC-BY 4.0
Setting The Stage: The stage adaptation of Billy Wilder's Old Hollywood classic, Sunset Boulevard follows fading film star Norma Desmond as she struggles to accept that her days in the Tinseltown spotlight have gone dark. Upon meeting an ambitious young screenwriter, Joe Gillis, she puts him up in her mansion towering over Sunset Boulevard and employs him to write a script for her big comeback to the silver screen.
Lloyd Webber's musical interpretation of the 1950 film comes in for a close-up, retelling the tragic tale of a Hollywood has-been through a theatrical lens.
How It Stands The Test Of Time: Lighting up Broadway from 1994 to 1997, the original Sunset Boulevard starred Glenn Close, who took home a Tony for her performance as Norma Desmond. Patti LuPone, Elaine Page, and Petula Clark are among the other performers who brought Norma to life on the stage. As if it never said goodbye, a West End stage revival debuted in October 2023, proving the dark Hollywood tale is timeless.
Standout Song: "As If We Never Said Goodbye"
Underrated Song: “Eternal Youth Is Worth A Little Suffering”
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- 6292 VOTES
Setting The Stage: A clan of alley cats, the Jellicle Cats, gather for the annual Jellicle Ball to compete in song and dance. Crowned by the wise Old Deuteronomy, the winning cat’s life will then be sacrificed and it ascends to cat heaven - AKA the Heaviside Layer. Meanwhile, the villainous cat Macavity is hellbent on stopping the ceremony in lieu of summoning the spirit of the Moon Demon to ignite a war between the cats and dogs.
How It Stands The Test Of Time: Based on a series of poems by T.S. Eliot, the storyline of Cats is infamously dizzying and disjointed, but that doesn’t stand in the way of its magic. Raking in more than $3 billion during its 18-year run on Broadway, it's beloved for its dazzling acrobatics, kitschy costumes, and fantastical felinity.
In 2019, the wonderfully weird musical inspired an even stranger screen adaptation. Starring Judi Dench, James Corden, Ian McKellen, and even Taylor Swift, the film was more of a litter box than a box office success, but a testament to the musical’s staying power nonetheless.
Standout Songs: “Memory,” "Jellicle Cats"
Underrated Song: “Bustopher Jones”
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Setting The Stage: In another Lloyd Webber movie-to-musical adaptation, School of Rock is inspired by the 2003 Jack Black movie of the same title. Wannabe rockstar Dewey Finn is in over his head when he poses as a substitute teacher at a prep school. Rising to the occasion, he teaches his students the only subject he's well-versed in: rock 'n' roll. Taking notes from the film, Lloyd Webber's stage production captures a headbanging, heartwarming story of chasing musical dreams.
How It Stands The Test Of Time: Although a comedy starring Jack Black seems an unlikely candidate for a West End musical, Lloyd Webber's School of Rock adaptation proved to be a smash hit. Debuting more than a decade after the film, it ran for nearly four years - banging out more than 1,300 performances - and was hailed as his “most exuberant show in years." With high-voltage songs and family-friendly content, it's a rock for all ages.
Standout Song: "School of Rock (Teacher's Pet)"
Underrated Song: “Variation 7/Children of Rock”
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Setting The Stage: While many of Lloyd Webber's musicals are inspired by literary or cinematic works, the concept for Starlight Express was born on a train ride through New England in 1976. Performed entirely on roller skates, it tracks the tale of a child's train set coming to life. Backed by genre-blending showtunes that include rock, R&B, and jazz, the miniature machines - including underdog Rusty the Steam Train - compete for the title of “Fastest Engine in the World” in a mythical tale of the little engine that could.
How It Stands The Test Of Time: Opening in 1984 and chugging along until 2001, Starlight Express is the West End's ninth-longest-running show to date. Two decades later, it seems the train show hasn't quite run out of steam - a revival is set to roll back onto the stage in June 2024.
Standout Song: "Starlight Express"
Underrated Song: "Poppa's Blues"
- 9176 VOTES
Setting The Stage: The Phantom is back, and he's more obsessed than ever! Picking up a decade after the masked opera singer's ghostly disappearance, Love Never Dies is the sequel to Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera. The story finds Christine Daaé embracing marriage and motherhood in Paris. When she's beckoned by a mysterious impresario to sing in a new show in New York's Coney Island, her world reaches a chandelier-crashing crescendo as the Phantom makes his return.
How It Stands The Test Of Time: Phantom of the Opera is a tough act to follow. Basking in a 35-year run on Broadway, its sequel closed its curtains after just 18 months. Regardless of its lackluster reception, Love Never Dies is a testament to the enduring legacy of Lloyd Webber's gothic love story.
Standout Song: "'Til I Hear You Sing"
Underrated Song: “Devil Take The Hindmost”
- 1082 VOTES
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Setting The Stage: In Lloyd Webber's revival of a 1960s classic film, three young farm children befriend a wounded fugitive whom they believe to be Jesus Christ. Struggling with the recent loss of their mother, they hide him in their barn - protecting him from small-minded, small-town adults - in hopes that he can help bring their mother back from the dead. Set in rural 1950s Louisiana, the production fuses various musical styles, including rock, gospel, and bluegrass, in an emotive, coming-of-age tale.
How It Stands The Test Of Time: First gracing the stage in 1996, Whistle Down The Wind had a successful run into the early 2000s. It also received a revamped revival in 2022. Showcasing Lloyd Webber's gift for sweeping melodies, its story is as timeless as its wistful score.
Standout Song: "No Matter What"
Underrated Song: “Safe Haven”
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Setting The Stage: Lloyd Webber's one-person, one-act show follows a young British woman as she navigates life and love in the US. After moving from England to New York City to meet her boyfriend - only to find him cheating - her romantic misadventures take her from coast to coast on a journey of self-discovery.
How It Stands The Test Of Time: Written as an experiment in small-scale stage production, the one-hour show has endured the decades. First hitting the stage in 1979, the musical - still performed today - has seen a variety of leads, including Sarah Brightman, Bernadette Peters, and Marti Webb. In 2020, a gender-swapped version that reimagined the lead character as a gay man was announced, updating the early '80s musical into the 21st century.
Standout Songs: “Tell Me On A Sunday,” “Take That Look Off Your Face"
Underrated Song: "Let's Talk About You"
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Setting The Stage: Moments before playing music at a church fundraising event, Bertie Wooster is forced to improvise when his banjo goes missing. His faithful butler, Jeeves, suggests he regale the restless audience with anecdotes surrounding the romantic mishaps of his upper-class London friends instead. Together - and with the help of the crowd - they recreate farcical tangles of events in lively song and dance numbers.
How It Stands The Test Of Time: In 1975, Lloyd Webber produced an epic West End flop titled Jeeves that closed after only 38 performances. Two decades later, he decided to give it another go. Opening in 1996, By Jeeves was longer lasting and better received than its predecessor, even inspiring a 2001 film with the same title.
Standout Song: "Travel Hopefully"
Underrated Song: “Wizard Rainbow Banjo”
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Setting The Stage: Perhaps Lloyd Webber's most controversial musical, Aspects of Love follows twisty romantic entanglements amid a three-generation family in post-WWII France and Italy. Based on David Garnett's 1955 novella, the musical melodrama is full of partner-swapping, promiscuity, and plenty of unsettling moments.
How It Stands The Test Of Time: Aspects of Love didn't quite stand the test of time, as it was problematic from the start. In its 11-month Broadway run in 1990, the plot is tinged with incestuous love triangles, sexual grooming, and various unethical behaviors that raised reviewers' eyebrows.
Despite the questionable storylines, the musical got a classier revival in 2023. Stage star Michael Ball reprised his leading role, returning to sing the show's most-celebrated song, “Love Changes Everything.”
Standout Song: "Love Changes Everything"
Underrated Song: “Mermaid Song”
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Setting The Stage: Lloyd Webber's biographical musical follows osteopath and socialite Stephen Ward and his involvement in the notorious British sex scandal, the Profumo affair. Set against a swinging 1960s backdrop, the eclectic score ranges from smooth reggae to up-tempo '60s pop. Told from Ward's point of view, the story swirls in salacious subject matter masked by dark political humor.
How It Stands The Test Of Time: Switching between song and spoken dialogue, it's a definitive departure from Lloyd Webber's sung-through shows like Jesus Christ Superstar. Despite the intriguing topic, this 2014 production fell flat compared with his earlier works. Criticized for lacking a clear direction and being too far out of his wheelhouse, the production lasted just four months in the West End.
Standout Song: “I'm Hopeless When It Comes To You”
Underrated Song: “Super Duper Hula Hooper”
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Setting The Stage: Set in the Victorian era, this tale follows the life of Dr. Thomas Barnardo, a well-loved philanthropist who rescued orphaned children from the streets of London. Culminating in the founding of a children's home in 1867, it's a poignant tale of a remarkable man, captured in a sweeping two-act musical.
How It Stands The Test Of Time: The first collaboration between Lloyd Webber and lyricist Tim Rice, The Likes of Us first hit the stage 40 years after its 1965 conception. The dynamic duo wrote three hit musicals together, including Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita, but this one started it all. Though not as successful as their other collaborations, it's a testament to Lloyd Webber's passion for resuscitating old creative projects, and bringing them into the modern world.
Standout Song: “Strange and Lovely”
Underrated Song: “Man of the World”
