Unmasked by Andrew Lloyd Weber is part one of
his memoir. Oh it’s a bit much. The man goes into far too much detail of
his childhood, and he does blather a bit. BUT, this book is immensely skim
worthy. He’s chatty in the humorous British way – he can be snarky and you, the
reader, do feel like you are at tea or perhaps a bar and he’s regaling you with
stories. So, it’s a fun book if you are interested in all things Weber and
theater.
His behind the scenes look at the London stage and Broadway
is fascinating. The amount of work involved in putting on a show is amazing.
And certainly , his successes are not to be sneered at, nor does he shy away
from the failures in his book. He dishes on various people and his
collaborations with deep talent – Tim Rice, Robert Stigwood, Harold Prince,
Cameron McIntosh, and Trevor Nunn. There are plenty of details on his first hit
– Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, the fabulous Jesus
Christ Superstar, Evita, the groundbreaking Cats, and he ends
this book with the history dazzling Phantom of the Opera.
He’s obviously a brilliantly talented man with interests in
architecture and music. His witty anecdotes of numerous celebrities -
Sarah Brightman, Judi Dench, Mandy Patinkin, Patti LuPone, Michael Crawford,
Betty Buckley, and more will keep you turning pages. There’s a lot to be
learned and shared in Unmasked. If you like theater, this
is a book for you. If you’ve seen Phantom more than once…this
book is for you. If you are a T.S Elliott Cats fan….well, read
for the Memory….like I said, you can skim and hum and chuckle along.
