NZ Artist Named For Lloyd Webber Spectacular

NZ Artist Named For Lloyd Webber Spectacular

THE MASTER of musical theatre, ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER, is delighted to announce one of his favourite performers, New Zealander DELIA HANNAH, will perform in THE MUSIC OF ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER - a theatrical masterpiece touring Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Manilla and Hong Kong during 2011.

Delia, who recently completed the Australian and Asian tours of Cats playing the role of Grizabella, joins a stellar cast in an extravaganza that will transport audiences direct to the sets of Andrew's most magical productions.

Through state-of-the-art technology, audiences will be swept from the avenues of Broadway to the magnificence of Eva Peron's Argentina, to the speedways of Starlight Express, in a dazzling journey through the many settings of Andrew Lloyd Webber's greatest works. All the 'big' moments from Evita, The Phantom of the Opera, Cats, Jesus Christ Superstar, Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Sunset Boulevard, Woman in White to the current Love Never Dies will be there.

Delia is delighted to have been chosen to tour with THE MUSIC OF ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER - a production that celebrates his music genius.

Prior to touring with Cats, Delia performed for two years in the premiere season of Les Misérables. She also toured Australasia as a principal soloist in the 1996/1997 Australian Tour of The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber starring Anthony Warlow and Sarah Brightman. She won a Variety Club Award and a Mo Award for Aspects of Love and played Glinda in The Wizard of Oz.

Delia made her New Zealand debut as Florence Vassey in the 1992 tour of Chess starring Tommy Korberg and Murray Head from the original London cast. She also appeared in the 1994 hit production of Blood Brothers starring David Soul (of Starsky and Hutch fame) and the 10th anniversary production of Les Miserables in 1999. More recently audiences have seen Delia in Auckland Theatre Company's Into The Woods and Silo's sell out season of Three Penny Opera, directed my Michael Hurst.

"I've dedicated a large part of my career to performing songs written by Andrew and so it's only fitting that I can celebrate his work with a production of this scale."

After more than 40 years, Andrew Lloyd Webber's music continues to have the extraordinary ability to touch an audience, lifting them to new heights of exhilaration and emotion after just a few bars of music.

THE MUSIC OF ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER, which will feature a sensational cast of musical theatre talent, celebrates the master composer with a New Zealand tour, beginning in Auckland on 3 May 2011 before touring to Wellington and Christchurch.

Directed by one of Australia's leading directors, Stuart Maunder, this theatrical event will feature some of Andrew Lloyd Webber's most timeless songs from Eva Peron's passionate 'Don't Cry For Me Argentina', to the classical masterpiece 'Pie Jesu', from the rock favourite 'Superstar' to the breathtaking new 'Love Never Dies.'

Internationally respected and ever-popular Musical Supervisor, Guy Noble, will lead live musicians while acclaimed artists Blake Bowden, Alinta Chidzey, Andrew Conaghan, Michael Cormick, Trisha Crowe, Kirsten Hobbs, Shaun Rennie and our own Delia will take the audience on an unforgettable journey through the vast array of Andrew Lloyd Webber's memorable repertoire.

Having starred in recent productions of Cats, West Side Story and Mamma Mia!, the multi-talented cast will perform numerous Lloyd Webber classics.

Director Stuart Maunder said, "The emotional force of Andrew Lloyd Webber's songs is undisputed. We want to celebrate the extraordinary variety of Andrew Lloyd Webber's output and the emotional force of his songs by presenting an intimate affair with all the emotion, all the tunes whilst taking you on a musical journey - one that is stylish, inventive and surprising and also offers some rare insights into the mind of this genius creator."

Lloyd Webber has been referred to as ".one of the most prolific-ever composers of musicals." (The UK Daily Mail).

He has composed 16 musicals, several film scores, a Latin Requiem Mass and continues to compose every day. His musical Cats was the longest-running musical on Broadway, only to be overtaken by another of his hit musicals The Phantom of the Opera. Lloyd Webber was knighted in 1992, and his awards include seven Tony's, three Grammys including Best Contemporary Classical Composition for Requiem, seven Olivier's, a Golden Globe, an Oscar, two International Emmys, the Praemium Imperiale, the Richard Rodgers Award for Excellence in Musical Theatre and The Kennedy Center Honor. He was knighted in 1992 and created an honorary life peer in 1997.

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