Andrew Lloyd Webber: Masterpiece

This concert was a wonderful introduction of musical theatre to the masses in China. I would imagine that anyone who attended the concert would be able to get those songs out of his or her head. The group of performers are stellar, with the exception of the female Chinese lead. She was not bad, she had a very nervous-sounding voice and seemed far too breathy for the tunes she sang. 'I Don't Know How to Love Him' was not the powerhouse performance it should have been because of that. Still, the positive attributes of this concert far outweigh the negatives. Tony Vincent is as excellent as ever with a phenomenal voice and a dazzling smile. Kris Phillips and Elaine Paige also perform well, although there was something missing in Phillips' performance of 'Gethsemanes.' His 'Sunset Boulevard' made up for this, though. The rest of the ensemble perform remarkably. I was especially impressed with the woman who sang "Take That Look Off Your Face" and the man who sang "Love Changes Everything." Overall, I would certainly recommend viewing this concert to anyone who has a heart for musical theatre. 7.5/10 stars as far as concerts go.

When I first heard of this new Andrew Lloyd Webber concert, I was thrilled. Lloyd Webber has been my favorite composer for years and I was eagerly awaiting this concert's arrival. I saw it on my local public broadcasting station and was greeted with an array of wonderful songs. The vocally and visually appealing Tony Vincent rocked the house with a powerful rendition of "Jesus Christ Superstar". I was pleasantly surprised to see and hear songs that are often slighted on most other Andrew Lloyd Webber collections, particularly "Take That Look Off Your Face", sung perfectly by Helen Walsh, and "The Perfect Year", a duet between Fei Xiang and one of my favorite singers Elaine Paige. I was elated to hear two songs from The Beautiful Game ("Let Us Love In Peace" and "Our Kind Of Love") which were performed beautifully by power-house, Laura Fitzpatrick. Sophie Crosato moved me to tears when her beautiful voice rang through the air with "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again". And of course, what would an Andrew Lloyd Webber event be without the fabulous Elaine Paige belting out her beloved show-stopper, "Memory"? On the bad side, I disliked Fei Xiang's singing voice and attitude. He seemed arrogant and this annoyed me. Overall, it was very-well done and I loved it so much, I ended up taping it. The music of Andrew Lloyd Webber never fails to entertain and enthrall me.

there are plenty of well-known Chinese singers, but in this concert, it only has two, one male, one female. that is it. and neither of them is based in mainland china. so it got boring a little bit. i think that it would be much better if they could have hired a few more Chinese singers to sing his songs. it shouldn't be hard to memorize all the English words in just one song even if they don't speak English.

unlike some pop star concerts, there was no fireworks, special effects, etc. they didn't have much colorful backstage shows, it is mainly just people singing. the costumes seem to be flat, a little ordinary.

of course, the performance itself is good. overall, i enjoyed it, but i won't watch it again any time soon.