I loved watching the past couple of series .i.e Joseph and Maria. It introduced me to music I would not have been familiar with.

Anyway I was inside in Virgin or Zavi yesterday and there was the Greatest hits of ALW. Every single song on it I adore. I didn't realise I knew so many of them. the Lord I salute you, you are an incredibly talented man even if you do throw strops.

I loved watching that strop.
It's all part of the fun for me.

A lot of people do tend to look down on him, but, blimey, you can't really argue with his ticket sales for all the shows he's been involved in - he must be pleasing a lot more people than his critics would have you think.

I think he's a true eccentric and I love him for it.

I love ALW. There's a lot of snobbery about him, but I think his shows are fantastic.

I love him too! the guy's a musical genius! Although the one thing I dont like is at times he does expect every1 2 be like "OMG ITS ALW!" but apart from that, I love him, hes amazing

I've thoroughly enjoyed every one I've seen over the years and always leave the Theatre humming the songs. I don't think you can ask for more than that.

On the Cd I got yesterday I came across a tune called Mr. Mistoffolees. I have now been annoying my work colleagues by huming the thing all day. All I want now is a really powerful voice so I can sing his songs to perfection

He is not a stupid man........no matter how he looks or acts...........but then most people to are good at what they do are abit OTT..

AWL sort of flies at a higher level than most..........lol

All together now....
'Oh well I never was there ever a cat so clever as magical Mister Mestopheles!'
Nah, never heard that one before.

Seriously up as far as yesterday I hadn't. I now must find out where Cats is playing so I can go and see it.

I saw that show when it opened in the early 80's - and isn't it a credit to the guy that it is still bringing pleasure to people all these years later?

Definitely. I live in Ireland and don't get to london to often but one of these days I'm going to make it my business to get to the west end to see one of the shows. Have you seen a lot of them, which one would you recommend?

To be honest I don't know which ALW shows are currently running.
I have never been a fan of Sound of Music, but that's not his fault! That's still on, of course.

I believe Phantom of the Opera is still going - and I've seen that several times and always enjoyed it. I would recommend that for sure.
Cats was an unusual musical when it opened. There hadn't really been anything like it at the time - and Starlight Express was the same. Both really good. But I don't think there are any productions of either on at the mo, are there?
And Joseph is always wonderful!
I have also seen many productions of Oliver, and the stage musical is fab.
Can't wait to see this one!

I've hated Cats since I sat on the end of the row and was seriously intimidated by one of the male cats when they were in the audience LOL!

When I first saw the show [all those years ago] I was near the front too and before the show began, Old Deuteronomy was on the stage letting the kids from the audience pet him and climb over him. A few 'cats ' were on stage too. A nearby child had a sweetie in a wrapper and a 'cat' very much in character swatted the wrapper from the kid with it's 'paw' and then played with the wrapper just like a real cat would have done, pawing it from side to side on the stage.
It was magical.
Prob sounds stupid now but at the time it was wonderful.
The actor playing the cat seemed so real!

Thats what I call attention to detail!

I did like that Joseph song last year (I'm so easily pleased). Thanks for the advice.

An ALW virgin

I suppose, like anything, it's down to personal opinion.

I hated Miss Saigon but a lot of people would say I was crazy.

There are lots of good Musicals out there, not just ALW's.

I hope you have many hours of enjoyment seeing them all.

LOL! I'm not joking, the cat intimidating me was so malicious, I could feel my face burning up and couldn't look him in the eye (I was in my 30's LOL! ) - he was superb!

Now THAT'S attention to detail, too.

Great isn't it?!

Wonder what would have happened if you had tickled his tummy!

I'd have been clawed to death if I'd tried anything like that LOL!

Phantom is fabulous. I saw it in 1987 and again about 4/5 years ago. The production values were still tremendous. Joseph is also a good night out at the theatre. The original London production of JC Superstar (70s) was also wonderful theatre.

Phantom is still on. Which is ALW.
So is Sound of Music.

Do you know if there is a production of Joseph or any other ALW shows running apart from these two, please?
For the benefit of the posters above who haven't seen any and would like to?

My favourite obscure Andrew Lloyd Webber song is Old Deuteronomy from Cats. But there are some lovely ones that aren't well known at all. Half a Moment, Unexpected Song, Nothing Like You've Ever Known. One of my very favourites is High Flying Adored from Evita (the musical is well know, but that particular song isn't at all.)

I would recommend going to see any one of Phantom, JCS, or Evita. I think these represent him at his best.

I love this thread. It has brought back how much I loved Cats when it first opened!

I saw it 4 times as I was a student in London and one of my flatmates who was a dance student went out with a cat for a while! The original cast were amazing and it was so different to anything I'd seen before. I've been an ALW fan ever since.

I've seen most of his shows although I gave The Beautiful Game a miss and I also didn't see DVO in Tell Me On A Sunday.

I agree with LaurieMarlow that Phantom and Evita are amongst his very best work. Well worth seeing if you get a chance.

I loved Phantom too!

You've just reminded me what a lovely song that is.

I agree, Phantom is ALW at his best, although I think it 'grows' on you. I wasn't hugely won over the first time I saw it, but the second time I was all emotional at the end Some of the songs are incredibly moving.

I was worried that the film version wouldn't do it credit, but I was reaching for the tissues at the end of that too!

One of the first musicals I saw in London was 'Sunset Boulevard' with Patti LuPone. Not one of his most successful ones in this country, although it did much better in the States. Worth a listen too though as there are a couple of great songs - "Just one look" and "As if we never said Goodbye".

Oliver, Blood Brothers & West Side Story are probably my all time favourite musicals though - none of which are by ALW!