In September 2001 China was officially introduced to the works of Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber with a gala concert staged at The Great Hall of the People in Tianneman Square.
Featuring an international company and a 60-piece orchestra, the concert starred London's leading musical theatre actress Elaine Paige — who made her long-awaited Broadway debut in Sunset Boulevard in 1996 — and singer Kris Phillips and was recorded live. Now available on DVD and VHS from Video Collection Int. Ltd., "Andrew Lloyd Webber: Masterpiece" features 32 songs from such musicals as The Phantom of the Opera, Evita, Cats, Sunset Boulevard, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Aspects of Love, Whistle Down the Wind, Jesus Christ Superstar and The Beautiful Game.
Paige, who has starred on the London stage in Evita, Cats, Chess, Anything Goes, Piaf, Sunset Boulevard and The King and I, performs seven Lloyd Webber tunes on the recent release, including "Don't Cry for Me Argentina," "The Heart Is Slow to Learn," "Memory," "The Perfect Year," "As If We Never Said Goodbye," "No Matter What" and the duet "Friends for Life" with Phillips.
The DVD and VHS (Pal format only) are available from U.K. record/video outlets and may be purchased on-line at either Dress Circle (www.dresscircle.co.uk) or Black Star (www.blackstar.co.uk). The recording was also released in the U.S. with the new title "The Best of Andrew Lloyd Webber (Live in China)" and is available at amazon.com.
The complete song list of the 135-minute "Andrew Lloyd Webber: Masterpiece" follows: Jesus Christ Superstar Overture
"Superstar"
"I Don't Know How To Love Him"
"Any Dream Will Do"
Evita Suite
"Buenos Aires"
"And the Money Kept Rolling In"
"Don't Cry for Me Argentina"
"The Heart Is Slow to Learn"
Beautiful Game Overture
"Let Us Love in Peace"
"Gethsemane (I Only Want To Say)"
"Take That Look Off Your Face"
"The Jellicle Ball"
"Macavity: The Mystery Cat"
"Memory"
Aspects of Aspects
"Love Changes Everything"
"Whistle Down the Wind"
"Pie Jesu"
The Phantom of the Opera Overture
"The Phantom of the Opera-The Journey"
"Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again"
"All I Ask of You"
"Masquerade"
"The Music of the Night"
Sunset Boulevard's "Car Chase"
"Sunset Boulevard"
"The Perfect Year"
"As If We Never Said Goodbye"
"No Matter What"
"Friends for Life"
—By Andrew Gans
