*

Poor Andrew Lloyd Webber. He's unemployed (or so he says, with a big grin on his still-cherubic face). Nowhere to go, nothing to do... except look after the 10,000th Broadway performance of his international phenomenon, The Phantom of the Opera ("There was always something about that show that worked"); shepherd into Broadway's Neil Simon Theatre, on March 22, the new production of his first worldwide hit, Jesus Christ Superstar; and make sure the new production of his Evita, starring Elena Roger and Ricky Martin, comes into the Marquis Theatre on April 5. And he has to premiere the Australian movie he produced of his Phantom sequel, Love Never Dies. Oh, and of course he's deeply involved with the reality show in the U.K. that will unveil, he hopes, a new star for the British production of Superstar that will tour the arena circuit.

Apart from this, Andrew Lloyd Webber has nothing to do. "I keep looking for a subject for a new musical, but so far nothing has really excited me. I'd like to write some film music," he says sadly, "but nobody asks me because they think I wouldn't do it. But if the film was right, I would."

Forty-one years ago, a 22-year-old Andrew Lloyd Webber and his lyricist partner, Tim Rice, wrote a musical better described, perhaps, as a rock opera. Because they couldn't get it on in the theatre, they persuaded some friends to record the songs in the hope that they could attract a producer. "We didn't mean to invent the 'concept album,'" he laughs. "We just wanted to attract some theatre people to our little show." That "little show" was Jesus Christ Superstar, and it remains one of the most popular musicals ever, constantly performed throughout the world. Now, in a blazing new production by Des McAnuff, it comes to Broadway from its sold-out run at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Ontario. "I've never really been happy with it before," admits Lloyd Webber. "Now Des has got it absolutely right. In a way, this version is the opposite to the original in that it's got a grittiness and a reality about it, real rock 'n' roll, and as long as it stays rock 'n' roll, I'm a happy boy. If you go back over the years, it's amazing how many pieces that we now celebrate weren't quite right in their first incarnation. Now, it's right."

Back in England, there are plans for an arena tour of Superstar led by the winner of a reality show competition. While controversial, (Rice has spoken out against it) Lloyd Webber stoutly defends the concept of letting the television audience help choose his cast: "It makes new stars and builds new audiences for musical theatre. To find and get performances out of these talented kids is wonderful. And the home audiences have a reason to come to the theatre. I'm proud of the gang we've encouraged."