People
NEW YORK — The composer behind such iconic stage stories as “The Phantom of the Opera,” “Evita” and “Cats” is ready to tell his own.
Andrew Lloyd Webber plans to release his autobiography “Unmasked” on March 6, which loosely coincides with his 70th birthday on March 22. While there have been plenty of books about the composer, this will be the first he’s written.
The book, from HarperCollins, promises to take “stock of his achievements, the twists of fate and circumstance which brought him both success and disappointment, and the passions that inspire and sustain him.”
The book examines his shows and his music and has stories about Elaine Paige, Sarah Brightman, David Frost, Judi Dench, Richard Branson, A.R. Rahman, Mandy Patinkin, Richard Rodgers, Norman Jewison, Milos Forman, Placido Domingo, Barbra Streisand, Michael Crawford, Gillian Lynne and Betty Buckley, among others.
In a statement, Lloyd Webber said he has long resisted the urge to write his own story but finally succumbed under pressure from family and friends.
Lloyd Webber is considered one of the most successful composers in musical theater history. Last season on Broadway, he had four shows running concurrently — “Sunset Boulevard,” “School of Rock,” “Cats” and “The Phantom of the Opera,”
Other musicals he has composed include “Aspects of Love,” “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” “Jesus Christ Superstar” and “Love Never Dies.”
His awards include seven Tonys, seven Oliviers, a Golden Globe, an Oscar, the Richard Rodgers Award for Excellence in Musical Theatre, the Kennedy Center Honor and three Grammys.
DALLAS — A guitar played by Bob Dylan at notable concerts in 1970s has sold at auction for nearly $400,000.
Heritage Auctions in Dallas says a buyer requesting anonymity paid $396,500 Saturday for the singer-songwriter’s 1963 Martin D-28 acoustic guitar. The company says Dylan played the guitar through his set at George Harrison’s Concert for Bangladesh in New York City in 1971 and during his Rolling Thunder Revue tour from October 1975 to May 1976.
The guitar was sold by Larry Cragg, who was Dylan’s guitar repairman. The original 1977 purchase receipt, which was included in the offering, shows Cragg bought the guitar from Dylan for $500.
A Fender Stratocaster Dylan played at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival when he went electric sold for nearly $1 million in 2013.
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VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — A reality TV star killed a U.S. Coast Guard technician in a drunken wrong-way collision on a Virginia highway, authorities said.
Melissa Hancock, 25, has been charged with driving while intoxicated and maiming following the death of Petty Officer 2nd Class Daniel Dill, 29, news outlets reported.
Hancock appeared on Lifetime’s “Little Women: Atlanta,” a reality show that focuses on women of short stature.
Dill was a New Jersey native who was stationed in Portsmouth as an information systems technician.
Virginia State Police said Hancock struck Dill head-on around 2 a.m. Nov. 4 on Interstate 264. He died of his injuries the next day.
Dill had been on his way to pick up his wife and her friends, who had been celebrating her birthday. Dill, who didn’t drink, had offered to drive the group so no one had to worry about driving home after drinking.
Hancock told a state police trooper she drank two to four mixed drinks at a local nightclub about an hour before the crash, investigators said. Hancock’s blood alcohol content tested at 0.112 percent two hours after the crash, exceeding the 0.08 legal limit, authorities said. Hancock is 4 feet tall and weighs 77 pounds, according to a court summons.
“Everyone involved feels horrible about the tragic accident,” said Hancock’s attorney, Stephen Pfeiffer. “We are investigating the accident and the allegations against Miss Hancock.”
By The Associated Press
