Top 116 Quotes & Sayings by Andrew Lloyd Webber - Page 2

Two pieces of advice for young composers: Go away during technical rehearsals. And do not have a back operation.

I'm alive. I have my music; I have my children. I am the luckiest man.

I put a hell of a lot of myself into 'Love Never Dies,' and I felt quite drained afterwards.

I have a very strong will.

My wife says I can't remember if she has milk in coffee.

You can't just sort of come with, say, 'Yesterday,' or 'A Hard Day's Night,' and it be in the wrong place in the wrong show, and expect the song to work theatrically.

One would be lying if one didn't say that one had melodies that I keep in my back pocket.

I'm a ladies' man who can never make love. I'm resigned to that.

It may sound amazing to people today, but Rodgers and Hammerstein were considered by - how can I put it? - the sort of opinion-making tastemakers and everything to be 'off the scale as sentimental.'

I never wanted to be a performer. I suppose I was precocious, really.

The plot of my 'Phantom' is pretty much mine. It's based on the Gaston Leroux book - I've taken a lot of liberties with it.

I'm wondering whether to have someone go around with my mobile to completely throw everybody off the scent. I could appear in weird places.

I've often thought that we left the original 'Phantom' with a little bit of a cliff hanger, and I thought, 'Well, why not to do a sequel to it' at one point.

I was about 10, and I was supposed to be playing the piano at the school concert, and I got up in front of the whole school and said, 'I'm sorry. I'm changing the agenda. I want to play some songs I've written.'

Since 'School of Rock' opened, for the first time in my career, ever, really, I've had a lot of projects offered to me. It's extraordinary. Normally, I've initiated them all myself.

Disgracefully, the arts have too often borne the brunt of short-sighted cuts to educational budgets.

I don't really care very much if I don't think that the critics really understand music.

Making good television is what Simon Cowell does. That's his business.

If you just want ten songs to fit somebody else's script, then I'm not really the composer for that.

The fact is that 'The Wizard Of Oz' has never really worked in the theatre. The film has one or two holes where, in the theatre, you need a song. For example, there's nothing for either of the two witches to sing.

You cannot help but notice that schools that take music seriously tend to be more academically successful.

I haven't written a score that's going to change the Western world or the musical as we presently know it.

I wonder what would have happened if automation and computers had existed when 'Oklahoma!' was having its out-of-town try-out, and three days before closing in Boston, when it was still called 'Away We Go,' they added a new song called 'Oklahoma!' I don't think that could happen today. It's almost impossible to change musicals on the go now.

We try to get the best performance out of the artists. There is no point in saying to them, 'You're useless.'

There's no getting around it: Writing is hard, while working with young performers is nearly always a joy.

They should go back to the medieval tradition, which is that the nave of the church is always used for local business.

What I can't tell is, I don't know if there's a subliminal resistance to the idea of a sequel to 'The Phantom of the Opera' anyway.

Musicals are very collaborative. Unless you find somebody who wants to do something with you and has equal commitment, it's not going to work.

At one point I couldn't move or get out of bed or anything. I developed blood clots because I'd been completely inactive. Then they thought - because the pain was so much - I had an infection in the bones, so they gave me pills, which gave me a tummy infection. It's like a French farce.

It's interesting that the wondrous 'Hamilton,' which I could not be more ecstatic about, has taken a long time to perfect to bring it to Broadway. And it wouldn't have been possible if it was developed in the commercial theatre from the get-go.

Glenn Slater is my lyricist who, of the new young lyricists coming along, is the most exciting, I think.

I want to get every church in the country on Wi-Fi.

Mobiles mean people know where you are.

I remember, once I was going through Nice airport with Roger Moore, and these kids came up and asked for our autographs. Afterwards, Roger said, 'It must be very strange for you. I'm an actor, and signing autographs is part of what I do. But you're a public figure who people don't really know.' He was right.

I'm not a critic, and I never talk about other people's work.

I loved medieval architecture when I was very small; I don't know why.

Nothing will ever be as big as 'The Phantom of the Opera' for me.

A couple of back operations didn't cure anything, but instead, things got worse and worse and worse.

After I had prostate cancer, I had something which was misdiagnosed which led to a load of back operations.

As a composer at a point where I can absolutely pick and choose what I want to do, I don't want to write about anybody I don't care about.

If you look at my career... I couldn't possibly have chosen those subjects if I was thinking, 'That's a great commercial idea.' I'm not aware of a great musical where someone has done that.

I do want to write again. I hope to. But it's also important for me to realize, as I get older, that I don't have to be doing everything all at once.

The one thing I have always felt about musical theatre is that it is, to an extraordinary degree, about construction.

I often think how lucky we were with 'Jesus Christ Superstar.'

What strikes me is that theres a very fine line between success and failure. Just one ingredient can make the difference.

Softly, deftly, music shall caress you. Hear it, feel it, Secretly possess you.

Think of me, think of me fondly When we've said goodbye. Remember me once in a while Please promise me, you'll try. Recall those days, look back on all those times, Think of those things we'll never do. There will never be a day When I won't think of you. Can it be? Can it be Christine? Long ago, it seems so long ago, How young and innocent we were. She may not remember me But I remember her.

Nobody seems to think it's a good idea to mention mistakes, but I think it's important to acknowledge the mistakes you've made in life, because it's really through those that you learn things. I've made hundreds.

Love can make a summer fly, or a night seem like a lifetime.

I think it's probably, musically, probably the most sophisticated. ("The Woman in White") There's a lot more daring harmony in it than in some of my pieces... If you know what you want to do, as I always loved musicals, and then to have been lucky enough to be successful with them, I think that's all you can ask, isn't it?... Sondheim is absolutely wonderful and Alan Jay Lerner was wonderful.

Love changes everything. Days are longer, words mean more. Love changes everything. Pain is deeper than before. Love can turn your world around, and that world will last forever.

No matter what they tell you, no matter what they do, no matter what they teach you, what you believe is true.

Look with your heart and not with your eyes. The heart understands. The heart never lies. Believe what it feels, and trust what it shows. Look with your heart; the heart always knows. Love is not always beautiful, not at the start. But open your arms, and close your eyes tight. Look with your heart and when it finds love, your heart will be right.

When people ask me if musical theatre should be taught in music colleges, I reply that there is no need. All anyone needs to study is the second act of La Boheme because it is the most tightly constructed piece of musical theatre that there is. It is practically director-proof: you can't stage it badly because it just works too well. If you can write La Boheme, you can write anything. I would also recommend studying Britten's Peter Grimes.

Slowly, gently, night unfurls its splendor.Grasp it; sense it - tremulous and tender.Turn your face away from the garish light of day, turn your thoughts away from cold, unfeeling light - and listen to the music of the night !

No more memories, no more silent tears. No more gazing across the wasted years. Help me say goodbye.