Creating Spectacles Megamusicals Many different parts come together to make a great musical. This can create Webber’s musicals are sometimes called megamusicals. Megamusicals use some amazing spectacles. lighting, sound, and other special effects to add excitement to the show. For example, the first scene of The Phantom of the Opera features a huge mechanical In the 1980s, British composer Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musicals took over elephant. In the third scene, the leading actress disappears into a mirror. Later, a London and Broadway. In 1981 Webber wrote the music for Cats, a musical huge ceiling light called a chandelier swings wildly before crashing to the ground. based on poems by T. S. Eliot. Humans dressed as cats sang and danced. The special effects and music play on the audience’s emotions. The costumes were spectacular, as were the stage sets. In 1986 Webber’s Phantom of the Opera opened in London, and later it opened throughout the world. The amazing costumes and scenery thrilled audiences. So did the music. Roller-skating musicals Webber’s Starlight Express (1984) was the first musical in the world performed Andrew Lloyd Webber entirely on roller skates. In July 2007, another roller-skating musical, Xanadu, British composer Andrew Lloyd premiered on Broadway. Webber (b. 1948) became fascinated with musicals at a young age. He was only 20 years Starlight Express was the first musical old when he worked with lyricist performed entirely on roller skates. The Tim Rice to write Joseph and the production pictured here took place in Leipzig, Germany. Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (1968). Later, they wrote Jesus Christ Superstar (1970) and Evita (1976). With others, he produced Cats, The Phantom of the Opera, and Special costumes and make-up turn Starlight Express (see box). these actors into cats for a 2005 Russian production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cats. 14 15