(Eagle News) – The full musicals of renowned English composer and musical threater impresario Andrew Lloyd Webber will be streamed for free online weekly every Friday in a new Youtube channel called “The Shows Must Go On”.
It starts on April 3 (US time), with Webber’s “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” which will be streamed at Universal Pictures’ new Youtube channel, “The Shows Must Go On.” Webber himself announced this in a video message.
“Universal have come up with an idea of a whole series called the show must go on. It’s about musicals going from stage to screen. And they’re going to show some of mine every Friday for the next few weeks, starting off with Joseph and the Amazing technicolor dreamcoat, and some time buried in the schedule later on, the most important one is my disaster musical, ‘By Jeeves,’ and I’m very, very fond of it and so will you,” Webber himself said in a video message in the “The Shows Must Go On” Youtube channel.
The live stream of the 2000 version of the musical “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” which stars Donny Osmond, Maria Friedman, Richard Attenborough and Joan Collins will start April 3, Friday (7pm GMT), and in the Philippines on April 4 at 2 a.m. It will start at 2 p.m. Eastern/11 a.m. Pacific on April 3 for a 48-hour period online, with no charge or sign up required.
It is the adaptation of the hit Lloyd-Webber stage musical based on the Old Testament story of Joseph, (played by Donny Osmond) the youngest son of Jacob who is played by Richard Attenborough. It tells of Joseph’s betrayal by his jealous brothers and of him being sold into slavery.
Future shows that are expected to stream in the channel include Cats, The Phantom of the Opera, and Love Never Dies.
The Youtube channel also made the announcement, inviting music lovers to watch these favorite musicals online for free.
“Calling all musical lovers! Starting this Friday, we’ll be releasing a full-length, smash-hit musical once a week for you to watch for free!” said the “The Shows Must Go On” Youtube channel.
“It will be available for 48 hours, so you can tune in whenever you like over the weekend!” it said.
The channel also invited fans who would like to donate to organizations of actors to help them at this time of crisis. They include Acting for Others, Broadway Cares and Actors Benevolent Fund.
This initiative comes from the Universal Pictures Home Entertainment Content Group, a London-based “repertoire centre” of Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.
This came about after the theater community in the US came together to provide viewers worldwide the opportunity to see theater productions for free amid the coronavirus pandemic which had closed theater venues.
(Eagle News Service)