The evening, a celebration of the Wing’s 101 years of supporting strong and fearless voices in the American theatre, will feature a star-studded musical tribute to Lloyd Webber’s body of work. The composer, who recently celebrated his 70th birthday, is currently represented on Broadway with School of Rock and The Phantom of the Opera—the latter is Broadway's longest-running production.
The funds raised will support the Wing’s programs, which champion theatrical excellence at every stage.
“There was only one way we could follow up last year’s centennial blow-out, and that was by paying tribute to one of the great, unstoppable forces shaping both the theatrical landscape and popular culture over the past half-century: Andrew Lloyd Webber,” said Heather Hitchens, President and CEO of the American Theatre Wing, in a statement. “We are honoring Andrew for his immeasurable artistic contributions, and also for his unwavering commitment to arts education. The work he is doing on behalf of underserved young people is absolutely vital to the future health of both our industry and our society. We all feel incredibly lucky to count him as one of our most valuable partners on this front, and the work that we’ve accomplished together is some of the most meaningful, personally satisfying work we've ever done.”
In 2016, Lloyd Webber gave the American Theatre Wing a $1.3 million, three-year grant to support theatre education opportunities for diverse and underserved young people and public schools across the U.S. Since then, the Andrew Lloyd Webber Initiative has provided more than $1 million in grants and scholarships for schools wishing to enhance their theatre programs and students wishing to further their theatre training, reaching over 22,000 students nationwide.
