Andrew Lloyd Webber - School of Rock: The Musical (Original Cast Recording) [Deluxe Edition] '2015;2018

Tracks list

Andrew Lloyd Webber is the most successful composer of musicals of his
generation and also a breaker of molds for the form. His predecessors were, for
the most part, American: New York-based songwriters steeped in Broadway
tradition. Lloyd Webber saw his share of shows as a child, too, but he was born
in London, the son of William Lloyd Webber, Director of the London College of
Music, and was trained at the Royal Academy of Music, hardly the sort of place
where youd be likely to hear Oklahoma! Nevertheless, Lloyd Webber hooked up with
lyricist Tim Rice, and the two began work on what would be a typical project for
them, a musical based on the Biblical story of Joseph and his coat of many
colors. Titled Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, it brought in a
strong rock & roll influence. After writing a second unproduced musical, the two
hit on the idea of writing a musical based on the life of Jesus Christ from the
point of view of Judas (not a typical premise for Broadway at the time) and,
again, imbued with rock. Unable to finance a stage version, Lloyd Webber and
Rice did manage to record their show, and Jesus Christ Superstar went on to
sales in the millions all over the world. The hit musical version followed.

Lloyd Webber and Rice then temporarily split, with the composer writing film
scores and working on a musical with playwright Alan Ayckbourn (Jeeves), after
which Rice returned with another audacious idea: a musical based on the life of
Argentine First Lady Eva Perón. Evita (1976) repeated the pattern of Jesus
Christ Superstar, with its hit record album followed by a successful theatrical
run in the West End and then on Broadway.

Working without Rice, who went on to write Blondel and Chess with other
composers, Lloyd Webber next wrote a musical revue based on T.S. Eliots
whimsical poems about Cats (1981). This time, the show came before the album,
and went on to become one of the longest-running musicals in the history of
Broadway (18 years) and the West End (21 years). By this time, Lloyd Webber had
largely abandoned the rock elements of his work in favor of what critics found a
pastiche style that borrowed from classical and opera sources. He had also
become a brand name (and a corporation, the Really Useful Company) that assured
at least a modest success for subsequent shows.

Lloyd Webber went on to a series of successful shows (Song & Dance, Starlight
Express) before scoring another massive hit in 1987 (1988 in New York) with a
musical adaptation of The Phantom of the Opera. It eventually became the
longest-running musical in Broadway history, and by a wide margin. In the
meantime, Aspects of Love opened in 1989 (a year later in New York), with a
musical adaptation of the Billy Wilder film Sunset Boulevard following in the
early 90s. Lloyd Webber was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1992. In 1996,
Alan Parker adapted Evita for the screen. Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice contributed
a new song, You Must Love Me, to the movie, which starred Madonna. You Must Love
Me won the Best Original Song award at the 1997 Academy Awards.

The composer continued to premiere new musicals well into the next century.
Based on the 1961 film of the same name, Whistle Down the Wind never made it to
Broadway, nor did 2000s The Beautiful Game, which dealt with the political
turmoil of 1969 Belfast. He produced the A.R. Rahman musical Bombay Dreams,
which premiered on the West End in 2002 and Broadway in 2004. His own The Woman
in White, based on the Wilkie Collins novel, opened on the West End in 2004 and
Broadway in 2005, closing in both countries in 2006. It was followed by 2010s
Love Never Dies, 2011s The Wizard of Oz (featuring the films music and a book by
Lloyd Webber and Jeremy Sams), and 2013s Stephen Ward, which premiered on the
West End but didnt play on Broadway.

Based on the 2003 film and featuring lyrics by Glenn Slater, 2015s School of
Rock marked his return to the Great White Way and became the first British
musical to have its world premiere on Broadway. When a 2017 revival of Sunset
Boulevard (with Glenn Close returning as Norma Desmond) opened on Broadway,
Lloyd Webber became only the second songwriter in history to have four shows
running there concurrently (joining School of Rock, The Phantom of the Opera,
and a revival of Cats). The first was the team of Rodgers & Hammerstein in 1953.
~ William Ruhlmann

Tracklist:
3:28 | 01. The Original Broadway Cast Of School Of Rock - When I Climb to the
Top of Mount Rock
2:47 | 02. The Original Broadway Cast Of School Of Rock - Horace Green Alma
Mater
2:04 | 03. The Original Broadway Cast Of School Of Rock - Here at Horace Green
4:23 | 04. The Original Broadway Cast Of School Of Rock - Variation 7 / Children
of Rock
3:20 | 05. The Original Broadway Cast Of School Of Rock - Give up Your Dreams
1:59 | 06. The Original Broadway Cast Of School Of Rock - Queen of the Night
4:55 | 07. The Original Broadway Cast Of School Of Rock - Youre in the Band
3:12 | 08. The Original Broadway Cast Of School Of Rock - If Only You Would
Listen
2:11 | 09. The Original Broadway Cast Of School Of Rock - In the End of Time (A
Cappella Version)
2:24 | 10. The Original Broadway Cast Of School Of Rock - Faculty Quadrille
3:12 | 11. The Original Broadway Cast Of School Of Rock - Stick It to the Man
3:36 | 12. The Original Broadway Cast Of School Of Rock - Time to Play
4:15 | 13. The Original Broadway Cast Of School Of Rock - Where Did the Rock Go
1:40 | 14. The Original Broadway Cast Of School Of Rock - Deweys Confession
5:08 | 15. The Original Broadway Cast Of School Of Rock - Act 2, Scene 8: Deweys
Bedroom
4:17 | 16. The Original Broadway Cast Of School Of Rock - School of Rock
(Teachers Pet)
3:37 | 17. The Original Broadway Cast Of School Of Rock - Finale
3:26 | 18. The Original Broadway Cast Of School Of Rock - Im Too Hot for You
(Bonus Track)
3:35 | 19. The Original Broadway Cast Of School Of Rock - If Only You Would
Listen (Alternate Version) [Bonus Track]
2:01 | 20. The Original Broadway Cast Of School Of Rock - In the End of Time
(Rock Version) [Bonus Track]
2:34 | 21. Kurt Hugo Schneider, Kirsten Collins & The Original Broadway Cast Of
School Of Rock - School of Rock: The Musical (Medley)

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