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Andrew Lloyd Webber sidelined with prostate cancer
By Richard Ouzounian Theatre Critic
Published On Mon Oct 26 2009

Friends say hospitalized theatre legend Andrew Lloyd Webber, 61, looks forward to full recovery.
NATHAN STRANGE/AP FILE PHOTO

Andrew Lloyd Webber – whose mega-musicals have been a vital part of this city's professional theatre scene – has been admitted to a London hospital for treatment of prostate cancer.

Fortunately, according to a Lloyd Webber spokesman, the disease was detected at an early stage, which offers excellent hope for a full and rapid recovery.

The 61-year-old Oscar-winning composer indicated to friends that he plans to be at work again by the end of the year.

There was no indication what course of treatment Lloyd Webber has chosen – surgery, radiation or other options – at the unnamed hospital where he was admitted Saturday evening.

The diagnosis came as Lloyd Webber was about to go into rehearsals for his much anticipated sequel to The Phantom of the Opera, called Love Never Dies, that stars Torontonian Ramin Karimlu. The show is scheduled to begin previews in London on Feb. 20.

Lloyd Webber's offerings in recent years – Sunset Boulevard and Whistle Down the Wind among them – haven't done well, and his friends and enemies alike (he has plenty of both) are watching Love Never Dies with fascination to see if it will be a career-redeeming hit.

Here in Toronto, his work has been inseparable from the professional theatre scene for nearly 25 years.

Cats was the show that in 1985 began our love affair with mega-musicals. Its run at the Elgin Theatre was followed by 10 more shows.

Lloyd Webber then returned with The Phantom of the Opera – the real winner. Its decade-long run, whichbegan in 1989 at the Pantages, is still unsurpassed in the city's theatrical history.

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat has been another local favourite, with stagings on 10 separate occasions, in many cases starring Donny Osmond.

Jesus Christ Superstar has been on Toronto stages eight times, most recently in 2008. And Evita will get its eighth local production next summer at the Stratford Festival.

With files from Star wire services