Andrew Lloyd Webber has spoken about his plans for new musical The Illusionist.
The multi-award-winning composer and producer spoke to Variety in a wide-ranging interview about his current renaissance, the perils of producing on Broadway, and his brand new musical The Illusionist.
The new show is based on the novella ‘Eisenheim the Illusionist’ featured in The Barnum Museum by Steven Millhauser, and in turn the 2006 movie directed by Neil Burger and starring Edward Norton and Jessica Biel.
The book of The Illusionist is by Oscar-winning screenwriter Chris Terrio (Argo, Justice League, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice), with British songwriter Bruno Major also contributing to the musical.
At this year’s Tony Awards, where Lloyd Webber’s musical Sunset Boulevard triumphed with three Tony Awards, including Best Musical Revival and Best Actress for Nicole Scherzinger, Lloyd Webber confirmed that The Illusionist would premiere in London’s West End in September 2026.
Is Jamie Lloyd out?
It was also reported, principally by Baz in Deadline last year, that The Illusionist would be directed by award-winner Jamie Lloyd. Lloyd directed Sunset Boulevard in London and on Broadway, and is currently enjoying blockbuster success with his new production of Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s Evita at the London Palladium, starring Rachel Zegler.
That’s until Lloyd Webber spoke to Variety, saying that “it’s much too early” to decide who will direct the show, and that “with a new work, it needs to be someone I’m comfortable with”.
The implication is that Jame Lloyd may not be the attached director after all, and Brent Lang speculates in Variety that, “their close collaboration seems to have become strained, at least temporarily.”
It is currently unclear whether tensions between the two creatives will affect other projects, including a rumoured Broadway transfer for Evita.
Produced by Michael Harrison
Whoever directs The Illusionist, one thing is certain: The show will be produced with Lloyd Webber’s key producer, Michael Harrison (Hello, Dolly!, The Wizard of Oz, Starlight Express).
Lloyd Webber announced yesterday that his company of nearly 50 years, The Really Useful Group, would rebrand to become LW Entertainment, to better manage and maximise his body of musicals, including licensing, creative spin-offs and merchandising.
The statement about the new company was at pains to confirm that LW Entertainment focuses solely on copyright exploitation, and that theatrical production is handled by Michael Harrison for Lloyd Webber Harrison Musicals, with new projects including The Illusionist.
The Lloyd Webber Harrison Musicals joint venture started in 2023, and has produced The Wizard of Oz, Starlight Express, the recent Joseph tour, and Evita.
Lloyd Webber also told Baz in Deadline that having Harrison as producer is “fantastic”, and that “I’ve got this tough producer… who says, Andrew, it’s not good enough” and allows Lloyd Webber to “just be a creator again.”
Jamie Lloyd also started his own production outfit – The Jamie Lloyd Company – in January 2024, parting ways with Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG) following a successful 10-year partnership between the award-winning director and the international theatre owner and producer. That company is a co-producer of Sunset Boulevard and Evita.
London over Broadway
London’s West End has long been Harrison and Lloyd Webber’s preferred premiere location for The Illusionist, over an opening on Broadway.
Both told Baz in Deadline that they’d prefer London, with Lloyd Webber saying “it could be New York, it could be here [in London]. I’d like it to be here”, and Baz says that Harrison “expresses a desire for The Illusionist to open in London and observes that while it will be “spectacular,” it doesn’t need to be in a “huge” house.”
There’s currently much speculation that Jamie Lloyd’s production of Evita will transfer to Broadway with Rachel Zegler following its London run. There has even been rumours that the St James Theatre in New York, where Lloyd’s production of Sunset Boulevard played, might be the chosen venue, given current works to the outside balcony (and that it is owned by ATG, who were co-producers on Sunset Boulevard).That said, The Queen of Versailles starring Kristin Chenoweth is up next at the venue.
However, in Lloyd Webber’s interview with Variety, he was downbeat about the idea of transferring either Evita or The Illusionist to Broadway. “That may no longer be possible, Lloyd Webber says, because of the high cost of mounting Broadway musicals”, and that “Lloyd Webber now thinks transferring productions to Broadway may be untenable.”
Lloyd Webber told Variety that: “These aren’t cheap shows to do, and I think the tax credit might be the straw that breaks the camel’s back for quite a lot of people,” he says. “I’ve been worried about Broadway for a very long time, because people are not really able to get their money back and most of these shows have limited runs. It’s a brave person who brings something to Broadway now.”
A day before the Variety interview, Broadway producer JJ Powell of Neptune Productions, who invests in musicals including Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Sunset Boulevard on Broadway, told Richard Eden in the Daily Mail that the show had “failed to help make any money for the producers” on Broadway, and that “‘it was the hit show and winner of the season, but still lost around 40 per cent of its total investment, which was some $15 million, including the director Jamie Lloyd’s stake of $4 million”.
Powell also invested in Cabaret on Broadway, which is a huge success in London but has struggled to find an audience in New York, saying that the show will close in October with a loss of $25 million. “With operational costs through the roof, management difficulties, unions and the obsession to go for gold, as well as star-studded casts, ticket prices are soaring, leaving the average citizen unable to access entertainment which should be for the masses”.
Lloyd Webber musicals in London
Andrew Lloyd Webber’s shows currently playing in London include long-runner The Phantom of the Opera at His Majesty’s Theatre, and an immersive production of Starlight Express at the Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre.
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