Andrew Lloyd Webber to miss Broadway opening of Bad Cinderella due to son Nicholas's critical illness
Andrew Lloyd Webber is missing the Broadway opening of his latest show due to the critical illness of his son Nicholas, who once premiered his own musical on a Calgary stage.
“I am absolutely devastated to say that my eldest son Nick is critically ill,” the Oscar-winning composer shared in a statement in an article by Carly Thomas published in the Hollywood Reporter on Saturday. “As my friends and family know, he has been fighting gastric cancer for the last 18 months and Nick is now hospitalized.”
THE LITTLE PRINCE
In January 2016, Andrew came to Calgary to see the premiere of a new version of The Little Prince, which Nicholas composed in a collaboration with James D. Reid that was produced by Theatre Calgary and London's Lamplighter Drama, Nick's production company.
"The theatre here (in Calgary) is of a world-class standard," Lloyd Webber said, in an interview with Eric Volmers in the Calgary Herald. "We knew that having that to work toward was a great motivator for us. We realized very, very quickly that the standard is absolutely comparable to what we would find in the West End or Broadway. It’s very comparable to something we would do in London or New York."
The cast of The Little Prince, onstage at Theatre Calgary in 2016. (Photo courtesy Theatre Calgary/Trudie Lee)
Nick is also a Grammy-nominated composer and record producer. His 2021 Grammy nomination came when he co-produced the original cast album for Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cinderella, which has been renamed Bad Cinderella for its move to Broadway.
"We are all praying that Nick will turn the corner," Andrew continued in his statement. "He is bravely fighting with his indomitable humour, but at the moment my place is with him and the family."
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