Tim Rice – My Life in Musicals: I Know Him So Well – Festival Theatre
Tim Rice is a man of many words. He’s been writing lyrics for 60 years, collaborating with some of our most celebrated composers - Andrew Lloyd-Webber and Elton John, of course, and more recently, Gary Barlow. He even wrote some lyrics for Elvis.
Rice wanted to be a rock star, so he sent demo tapes to all the leading record labels. Impressed by his lyrics, a musical publisher introduced him to Lloyd-Webber, and a great songwriting partnership was born.
A teacher friend invited the pair to write a song for a school concert. The result was an early iteration of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. The concert was a great success – “This is the first time the parents have enjoyed a school concert”, said the teacher. One of those parents was a leading theatre critic, and a coupl...