World Rights to Robert Sellers’ new book have gone to Applause Books.
This book focuses on the big ‘7,’ mega productions of the 80s, British musicals that were larger than life, colourful and spectacular, shows that certainly paved the way for the ‘event’ musicals of recent years such as The Lion King and Wicked.
Evita ran for seven years in the West End and four years on Broadway and ushered in an era when for over a decade Britain dominated musical theatre all over the world with blockbusting productions that were international hits, notably Cats, Starlight Express, Les Misérables, Phantom of The Opera, Chess and Miss Saigon.
For the very first time, many of the artists will celebrate and tell this extraordinary period in British musical history, both behind and in front of the curtain. And many of the stories of backstage dramas, production nightmares, and financial woes have never been told before.
Contributors include Andrew Lloyd Webber, Tim Rice, Cameron Mackintosh, Michael Crawford, Elaine Paige, Wayne Sleep, David Essex, Michael Ball, Abba’s Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus, Sarah Brightman, Barbara Dickson, Trevor Nunn & Patti LuPone.
Robert Sellers is the author of the best-selling ‘Hellraisers: The Life and Inebriated Times of Burton, Harris, O’Toole and Reed,’ and the authorised biographies of Peter O’Toole, Oliver Reed, Ernie Wise, and Kenny Everett. He has written histories of Ealing Studios and the George Harrison/Monty Python film company HandMade Films. He also ghost-wrote the autobiographies of Martin Edwards, ex-chairman of Manchester United, and Vic Armstrong, the world’s most prolific stuntman.
The book will publish late 2022.
Cull & Co. Literary Agency Ltd 