‘Best of Broadway’ highlights music of Andrew Lloyd Webber

By John Benson

Though some of the works are decades old, they are still appealing to the audience, the producer says.

There is little debate that Andrew Lloyd Webber is the musical theater maestro of our generation. From “Sunset Boulevard” and “Evita” to “Cats,” “Phantom of the Opera” and more, this creative visionary provided the musical soundtrack to so many of our lives in the latter half of the 20th century.

With the idea of celebrating his works, “The Best of Broadway” series has created a special Webber touring production, which comes to Warren’s Packard Music Hall on Monday.

“It’s based on some of the greatest music — ‘The Music of the Night,’ ‘All I Ask of You,’ ‘Don’t Cry For Me Argentina,’ ‘Memory’ — written for the Broadway stage by Andrew Lloyd Webber,” said “The Best of Broadway” producer Raymond Saar. “We’ll also put in a variety of different songs, lesser-known songs that were cut from the shows.”

Created five years ago, the show features a cast of four Broadway singers and an eight-piece instrumental ensemble, which includes Warren’s own Tim Powell. Saar feels the entire production does service to Webber, who at one time had five shows running on the West End and three on Broadway.

“I think the major thing that speaks to the audience is he touches some chord in our heart and wraps around it,” Saar said. “The music we do deals with love, and love — no matter if you’ve touched it for an instant or held it for a lifetime —– we all know that feeling.

“So I think he’s found a way to tap into those feelings and explore love in a variety of different ways, from the torment of the Phantom loving this woman he can’t have to Evita loving the world to Grizabella in Cats singing ‘Memory,’ just loving the life but ready to move on.”

While it’s perhaps clich d to talk in detail about the timelessness of Webber’s material, Saar points out a certain criteria for an enduring quality that confirms why this songwriter’s work —– some of which is many decades old —– remains appealing to audiences.

“I think a good song and good story can touch a person in a variety of different ways depending on where you are in your life,” Saar said. “If you see something differently and hear this song 10 years from now you go, ‘What was I thinking?’ That it means something completely different.

“That’s the beauty of great writing and good music, that it can grow with you and give you different insights and thoughts.”

Saar feels that even though “The Best of Broadway” may on the surface seem more like an evening of Webber’s greatest musical hits than a true theater experience, he’s willing to bet the Mahoning Valley audience won’t be disappointed.

“What we try to do with the show, because you can’t carry an $8 million set, is to recreate the characters, so it’s almost like you’re walking onto the Broadway stage,” Saar said. “It’s not just song, song, song. We tell interesting anecdotes and personal experiences we’ve had with Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber. So you’ll walk away knowing more and having a great evening of entertainment.”