Lloyd Webber's really useless year

HE was the undisputed king of the West End musical. Over three decades he produced a string of smash hits, including Evita, Phantom Of The Opera and Jesus Christ Superstar.

They earned him a multimillion pound fortune, a succession of wives, a peerage, houses in London, New York and Ireland, and the opportunity to work with the most talented writers and singers in the industry.

But in recent years the hits have dried up for Andrew Lloyd Webber - and now his theatre company has fallen on hard times. Accounts just filed at Companies House show that his Really Useful Holdings company has fallen into the red. The 12 months to June 2001 saw the previous year's £11.3m profit turn into a £1.4m loss. Debts soared to £38.9m.

But worst of all for Lloyd Webber, or Lord Lloyd-Webber of Sydmonton as he is formally known, the poor results refer to the period before 11 September. In the months following the terrorist attacks, tourists stayed at home, leaving West End theatres struggling for audiences.

This year two of Lloyd Webber's best-known shows, Cats and Starlight Express, closed after runs totalling 39 years. His last two efforts, Whistle Down The Wind and The Beautiful Game, ran for just two years and 12 months respectively.

True, his on-stage fortunes have revived recently with his latest project, Bombay Dreams. The show, of which he is the producer but not the composer, has extended its West End run. Discussions are in progress over taking Bombay Dreams to Broadway, Japan and Germany, while a film version is being discussed with Hollywood studio Miramax.

Despite Really Useful's financial setback, Lloyd Webber is still being richly rewarded. The accounts show that the highest-paid director - believed to be Lloyd Webber, the company's sole shareholder - was paid £641,000 last year, up from £557,000 the previous year. But that is loose change for a man with a fortune estimated at between £365m and £550m.

Lloyd Webber was once in danger of becoming more famous for his off-stage exploits. He is on his third marriage. He announced his engagement to his present wife, Madeleine, on the day his divorce from singer Sarah Brightman came through. He had done the same when he divorced first wife Sarah Hugill, with whom he had two children, to marry Brightman.

Lloyd Webber and his brother, classical cellist Julian, grew up in fashionable South Kensington, west London. Educated at Westminster School, Magdalen College, Oxford, and the Royal College of Music, Andrew was still a student when he met lyricist Tim Rice and his career took off.

In the late Eighties, Lloyd Webber briefly flirted with the stock market, but investors failed to be wowed by his Really Useful Group and the company was soon taken private again. Recently he has invested in the bricks and mortar of London's Theatreland. Really Useful Holdings owns 50% of theatre group Stoll Moss.

A source at Really Useful said: 'While group operating profit is up this year, the overall loss is due to including the cost of borrowings related to the theatres in the full-year accounts for the first time, as well as taking a hit on the dollar exchange rate. And foot-and-mouth and rail strikes didn't help.'

The accounts also included the cost of closing The Beautiful Game, though the show did not end until September. 'We knew we were going to close it by then,' said the source. 'Things are looking much more buoyant now. We'll be back in profit next year. Theatre audiences are looking good, and Bombay Dreams has already repaid 20% of its money to investors after just six weeks, which is unheard of.'

Meanwhile, Lloyd Webber is not resting on his laurels. He is planning a production of The Sound Of Music and rewriting his Eighties hit musical Tell Me On A Sunday for actress Denise Van Outen.