Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals to go online for free during coronavirus theatre closures

Recorded versions of the composer’s beloved musicals will be made freely available each week

A series of musicals from theatre icon Andrew Lloyd Webber will be made available online for free while theatres on Broadway and London’s West End are closed because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Filmed versions of his shows will be uploaded to the YouTube channel The Show Must Go On! each week, where they can be viewed freely for 48 hours.

The first musical to appear on the channel will be Joseph and the Technicolour Dreamcoat, which will go live at 11am on 3 April 2020. The production stars Donny Osmond, Richard Attenborough and Joan Collins.

This will be followed by Jesus Christ Superstar the week after, with Tim Minchin, Melanie C and Chris Moyles in the cast.

In a short video announcing the project, Lloyd Webber said: “Universal have come up with the idea of a whole series now called The Show Must Go On, which is about musicals going from stage to screen.”

The series will feature his panned 1975 show By Jeeves, which is ”buried in the schedule later on”. “I’m very, very fond of it,” Lloyd Webber said.

Other shows that might feature in the series are Evita, The Phantom of the Opera, Cats, Starlight Express and School of Rock.

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