Andrew Lloyd Webber discusses new musical The Illusionist and teases future Starlight Express plans

Andrew Lloyd Webber has unveiled a few more details about his new musical The Illusionist and teased a future life for the hit new revival of Starlight Express. 

Speaking to Dermot O’Leary on BBC Radio 2 to celebrate the launch of the Starlight Express album, Lloyd Webber reflected on the temporary lifespan of the current venue, meaning that audiences won’t be able to catch it at its north London home, close to Wembley Stadium, indefinitely.

There was good news on the horizon, however, with Lloyd Webber continuing by saying: “Not going to be there forever… as it is scheduled for redevelopment. But at that point we’ll move – as we’ve got numerous options for moving.”

The show is moving full steam ahead at Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre in the meantime, where it has already extended to next October.

Lloyd Webber’s musical, which first debuted 40 years ago, is about a child’s train set that comes to life and launches a competition to find the fastest engine in the world. Audience members in Wembley Park can sit either around or inside the “racing track”, or behind the performance space on a more conventional rake.

While a variety of his existing musicals are enjoying major revivals (with Sunset Boulevard on Broadway, Evita set for a London return and the Ballroom version of Cats looking like it’ll be back in New York before too long), Lloyd Webber has also turned his attention to new shows.

O’Leary discussed the new musical The Illusionist, another show based on an existing text (Steven Millhauser’s short story Eisenheim the Illusionist). Revealed recently as Lloyd Webber’s new show after months of speculation, it is based on the short story about a magician shaking up the social order in the turn-of-the-century Austrian Empire. It was previously the inspiration for a film starring Edward Norton.

“The Illusionist is developed in a completely different way” to shows like Cats, the composer and producer revealed while teasing what audiences might expect when the show hits the stage. Lloyd Webber confirmed that he was collaborating with British singer-songwriter Bruno Major (“Easily”, “The Most Beautiful Thing”. “We Were Never Really Friends”) on the show, which has a book by Argo scribe Chris Terrio and direction by award-winning director Jamie Lloyd.

“We’re in the process of doing demoes for it now. It’s very story-driven – I found one or two problems with the story in the movie, we’ve kind of solved those. I think that I’m writing the music to the story.” Lloyd Webber compared the experience to the writing process of Sunset Boulevard, where the music has to feed into what the narrative is putting in front of you: “You have to find a story where music adds to it.”

Of course, there’s always more for Lloyd Webber to be cooking up, and his drive to continue making work hasn’t slowed: “I’ve written The Illusionist and I’m thinking ‘what do I do next?’ and I haven’t a clue.”