How Andrew Lloyd Webber became an inspiration during the pandemic

How Andrew Lloyd Webber became an inspiration during the pandemic

There was another famous musical personality who helped boost the morale during the pandemic among musicians, musical performers, and anyone interested in musical theatre - Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, he has been inspiring me and others to engage more with social media and to find comfort in his work through all of his videos and posts. In a way, it helped us all still find that connection that musical theatre can bring to an audience, even if only remotely. 

Not only that, as the musical theatre industry suffered due to the pandemic - with theatres having to close down for an undetermined length of time and performers finding themselves out of work for months - Webber didn’t hesitate from campaigning to help save this industry. As such a prominent public figure, his plea to help theatres shined a light over this issue, and also highlighted other campaigns intended to help out-of-work performers and closed theatres. The support of such popular figures is essential when smaller individuals and venues have to try and bring awareness to their lesser-known struggles.

As musicals adapted to the “new normal” of everything taking place online, Webber also announced the YouTube channel ‘The Show Must Go On’, a place where musical theatre enthusiasts could view snippets of shows and backstage content from the West End and Broadway. Alongside live streaming full performances of classics and new shows’ premieres to remind everyone that musical theatre is still alive, and to encourage people to head back to the theatres as soon as it’s going to be allowed again.

It wasn’t until early July of 2020 that the government revealed a $1.96 billion lifeline for the arts, and even then, not every theatre was eligible to receive that support, and individual performers were still left struggling with no certainty on when they could head back to performing. 

Theatres and their performers weren’t the only ones to be affected by COVID-19, music departments in schools were hit even harder after already meeting difficulties in funding instruments and accessing theatres prior to the pandemic. Just as it’s important to battle to keep musical theatre alive, so it is to keep inspiring young people to take part in music for their own wellbeing and a possible future career in the industry.

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s efforts to campaign for better support of the musical theatre industry during a crisis such as this inspired me and many others to take action and do our bit to try and help save what we love. It taught me the importance of using the resources I have available, usually provided by the music union, and getting involved in politics at a local level to bring the recurring problems to the attention of those who can actually make a change.

Plus, the power of petitioning and raising funds for good causes played an even more significant role this past year. It proved that individuals are ready to come together to help their favourite theatres, performers, and such an important industry that has brought them so much joy over their life.