|
 |
 |
|
Award-winning composer Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber will be mentoring contestants on this week’s episode of American Idol. Contestants will be singing Andrew Lloyd Webber classics as they visit the Phantom Theater at the Venetian Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas for singing lessons from the master himself. The show will air Tuesday April 22nd at 8 p.m. on FOX. The results show will air Wednesday at 9 p.m. during which Andrew Lloyd Webber will perform LIVE on the American Idol stage.
Contestants may choose any song from Webber’s long list of popular Broadway musicals including titles like: Cats, Evita, Phantom of the Opera, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Sunset Boulevard, Jesus Christ Superstar, and The Sound of Music.
Webber sat down with Idol contestants Friday and Saturday, on stage, at the Phantom Theater. After listening to their song selections, Webber gave them tips about the arrangement and how to enhance their performance. Webber admitted later that last week was the first time he had ever even watched an episode of American Idol. However, this isn’t saying much considering that he has also only seen Phantom: The Las Vegas Spectacular once, as well. While in Vegas, Webber tried to find time to enjoy a few of the sites; dining at Wolfgang Puck’s Postrio and catching a performance of Jersey Boys were the highlights of his trip.
Andrew Lloyd Webber is excited about the evolution of theater in Las Vegas.
“I wish that Vegas would do a homegrown musical of its own, and sort of embrace what the values of the town are,” Lloyd Webber said in an interview with the Las Vegas Sun. “It’s a bit like what I told the kids on ‘Idol’: Think about what your own talents and your own gifts are, and then perform to those strengths, not what somebody else tells you. It sounds a bit pompous, this, but it’s not meant to be. There are certain things that are unique to this place, and if somebody was going to try a real musical here about Vegas, it would be very, very fascinating. Because there’s a tradition here, there’s a culture here now. Maybe some people don’t approve of it, but whatever. It exists.”
This evolution of theater in Las Vegas can be seen in Phantom - The Las Vegas Spectacular. Everyone loves a good love story, and Phantom falls nothing short of that. Phantom of the Opera has been a crowd-pleasing favorite since it first opened in London in 1986. Since then, the show has brought in over 80 million audience members worldwide, making it one of the highest grossing shows of all time! Andrew Lloyd Weber’s newest version was made exclusively for Vegas, with a custom-built $40 million theatre! Set in a 1911 Paris Opera House, a young female opera singer is mentored by a mysterious vocal coach who lurks in and out of the shadows of the Opera House. The young opera singer is immediately thrown into a love triangle between her mentor, “the angel of music,” and the love of her life and she must choose. Using the universal language of music to convey this beautiful story of love and passion, the audience is taken for a 95 minute thrill ride.
For tickets and information on Phantom – The Las Vegas Spectacular, click here.
|
