Every day is opening night.

Press Contact for The Actors Fund:
Rick Miramontez / Aaron Meier
rick@omdkc.com / aaron@omdkc.com
212 695 7400

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, PLEASE

ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER’S
“CANDENZA CHALLENGE”
CONTINUES GLOBALLY

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE ALREADY THOUSANDS OF SUBMISSIONS
OF FANS SINGING “THINK OF ME” FROM “THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA”
HERE

WINNER TO PERFORM ICONIC SONG
ON STAGE AT VERY FIRST PERFORMANCE OF “PHANTOM”
ON BROADWAY OR LONDON’S WEST END

New York, NY (April 24, 2020) – Today, Andrew Lloyd Webber unveiled highlights from the already thousands of submissions from his “Cadenza Challenge” where fans were invited to submit videos of them performing a cadenza, the virtuoso vocal passage at the end of “Think of Me,” the iconic song from his global phenomenon The Phantom of The Opera. The international “Cadenza Challenge” continues and submissions are being accepted on Lloyd Webber’s social channels.

To view highlights from the challenge, please visit: https://www.dropbox.com/s/8j4zqu791mb7xyr/Think%20Of%20Me%20Contest.mov?dl=0

A panel of judges which will include eight-time BAFTA Award winning television host Graham Norton and Sierra Boggess, one of the most acclaimed and beloved actors to play the role of Christine Daae in both New York and London, will select the winner who will get to perform their version of “Think of Me” (complete with cadenza) on stage at the very first return performance of The Phantom of the Opera on Broadway or in London’s West End.

Last Friday, as part of his ongoing “Composer in Isolation” series, Webber took to his social media and invited fans to submit their own rendition of “Think of Me” with their own cadenza, which is an operatic showcase near the end of the song. Fans from all over the world have been submitting their videos, as the challenge heats up.

This Friday, April 24, Webber’s Love Never Dies, the spellbinding sequel to The Phantom of the Opera, will be free on The Shows Must Go On! YouTube Channel for 48 hours beginning at 11:00 AM PDT/2:00 PM EDT and will once again encourage viewer donations to international organizations supporting arts and artists impacted by the global crisis. To date, The Shows Must Go On! have raised over $400,000 and counting for The Actors Fund and organizations supporting those impacted by the pandemic. Last week’s airing of The Phantom of the Opera at Royal Albert Hall raised more than $400,000 for The Actors Fund and was seen by more than 12 million viewers.

The Shows Must Go On! YouTube Channel, recently launched by UPHE Content Group, has made available a selection of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s much loved musicals, launching with one of the most enduring shows of all time, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (2000). The second production that was made available was the legendry rock classic, Jesus Christ Superstar (2012). Each musical will be available weekly for a limited 48-hour period online – no charge or sign up required – giving fans of musical theater an opportunity to enjoy beloved shows from their living rooms.

Alongside full-length shows, clips of famous performances and behind-the-scenes footage will be uploaded regularly to the channel, so fans can continue to get their theater fix at home.

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