Get Onto My Cloud: The Tim Rice Podcast
Get Onto My Cloud has Tim at his chatty witty best, where he talks about his career in theatre and music, his colleagues and friends (plus the odd foe) and sometimes roams off stage to discuss other important matters in his life such as cricket, astronomy, Sunderland FC and boxer dogs. You can also expect to listen to recordings of some of his favourite lyrics (not always the obvious ones) and he reveals how and why some shows worked brilliantly and some didn’t.
Described as “Relaxed, casual, essential listening for musical theatre fans and historians.”
Sir Tim Rice wrote the lyrics for Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, Chess and The Lion King, to name but five. The composers he has worked with include Andrew Lloyd Webber, Elton John, Alan Menken, ABBA’s Bjorn and Benny and Freddie Mercury.
51
Chess 2: Four nights in Moscow
Tim recalls the early days of writing and recording Chess with Bjorn and Benny in 1983/4. A fascinating trip to Moscow with the Cold War still dominating international politics. He plays instrumental demos of some of the first tunes considered for the show, including one dedicated to Russia’s superstar Alla Pugachyova
23 min
52
Beauty Tips
A new UK tour of Beauty and the Beast has been announced for May 2021, pandemic permitting. The original production was one of Broadway’s top ten long-runners of all time when it closed in 2007 and this new tour will be in the hands of the original creative team, led by director Rob Roth for Disney Theatricals. Tim recalls the creation of the songs he wrote for the show with Alan Menken and muses on one or two song copyright issues. A must for lawyers.
24 min
53
Freddie
It’s not widely known that Tim wrote lyrics for two of Freddie Mercury’s songs on the Barcelona album he recorded with the great operatic soprano Montserrat Caballe. In Get Onto My Cloud episode 20 he plays both the tracks and assesses the theatrical aspect of Freddie’s huge talent. The podcast also includes a memorable recording of Bohemian Rhapsody by Elaine Paige.
25 min
54
The beginnings of Chess
No show has caused Tim as much heartbreak and enjoyment as Chess, the musical he wrote with Abba genii Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson. In the first of what may well be many Chess podcasts, he explains the genesis of the whole project which sprang into life at a dinner in Stockholm in December 1981.
22 min
55
From Here To Eternity
Tim recalls the great things and the disappointments of his most recent new West End musical, From Here To Eternity, music by Stuart Brayson, and plays four songs from the score, one of his favourites, and vows it will return!
22 min
56
Murray, Perry, Rita and Bing
Tim returns to some of the songs he co-wrote for the cinema, before he joined the Disney animation circus in the 1990s. Songs with music by John Barry, Marvin Hamlisch and Andrew Lloyd Webber - sung by A-listers Rita Coolidge, Bing Crosby and Perry Como. Plus a thank you to Tim Sheader for being the first post-Covid director/producer to stage a musical in London - a wonderful interpretation of Jesus Christ Superstar - which gives Tim Rice an excuse to feature the magnificent Murray Head.
22 min
57
Lion King Two
Tim looks back at the two Lion King movies, the 1994 original and the 2019 remake. He plays the two new songs he and Elton wrote for the second movie, only one of which was used, and then only over the end credits. He recalls the brilliance of Jeremy Irons and why he had to miss one of the greatest cricket matches of all time thanks to the Disney Organisation not appreciating the importance of the World Cup Final.
23 min
58
Blondel
After 3 probing gripping podcasts about Evita’s early days (podcasts 12-14), Tim reveals all (or most, anyway) about his first theatrical misfire - Blondel, a show written with the late Stephen Oliver, which ran for a year in London 1983. He takes the blame for its problems but plays some selections from the score which shows that Stephen was as suited and as gifted in the musical theatre sphere as he was in the classical music world. One day, maybe, it will return. Features the wonderful Cantabile (The London Quartet), Paul Nicholas, Stephen Tate, Sharon Lee Hill and David Burt.
24 min
59
The Prince of Musicals
Tim recalls the great success of the Evita studio album in the UK and its total lack of same in the United States. So it seemed unlikely that the Broadway legend Hal Prince would respond to Andrew Lloyd Webber’s invitation to direct Evita in the West End - but he did, after just one hearing of the studio recording, albeit he had some criticisms and reservations. Tim reveals Hal’s first ever thoughts about Evita - sent to the writers by old fashioned air mail postal delivery in late 1976.
19 min
60
The original Evita album (part 2)
Get Onto My Cloud Podcast 13 continues the story of the first ever revelation of Evita - as a record, not as a show, back in 1976. The album featured Julie Covington as Eva Peron, Paul Jones as Juan Peron and Colm Wilkinson as Che. Tim plays some lesser-known items from the recording including extracts that never made it onto stage two years later. Plus the First Lady of Musical Theatre singing the song Madonna first sang in the movie - You Must Love Me.
21 min
61
The original Evita album (part 1)
How to follow Jesus Christ Superstar? After failing to make headway working on a musical with Andrew Lloyd Webber based on PG Wodehouse’s immortal Jeeves and Bertie Wooster, Tim came up with the insane idea of a musical about the wife of an Argentine dic...
24 min
62
Superstar Rocks Broadway (sort of)
Tim recalls the first time a work by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice made it to Broadway. The show was Jesus Christ Superstar, the year 1971, and it was not always plain sailing, despite the huge success of the 1970 studio album recording. But the work ...
23 min
63
Cliff and Heathcliff
In the early 1990s Cliff Richard invited Tim to write the lyrics for all the songs in his proposed musical Heathcliff. John Farrar was to compose the music. The resulting show failed to excite many of the critics, positively anyway, but the public though...
23 min
64
Aida - part two
In response to staggering, well encouraging, interest in Get Onto My Cloud episode eight, about Tim's musical with Sir Elton John, Aida, episode nine features three more songs from the show sung by the Broadway stars Heather Headley, Adam Pascal and Sher...
21 min
65
Aida - part one
In 1996 Tim and Elton, following their success with The Lion King movie, embarked upon the creation of an original Broadway show entitled Aida, which Verdi had had a go at 125 years earlier. Despite trials and tribulations, the show made it to Broadway f...
24 min
66
Jesus Christ Superstar - the early days
50 years ago the unknown pairing of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice recorded the first ever version of their rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar. They had wanted to introduce the work on stage but no theatrical producers wanted to know. Thus forced to mak...
22 min
67
Starmania
In 1989 Tim was invited to translate the most successful French musical ever to have played in France. No – not Les Miserables. Unfortunately. Although his adaptation of Starmania and its songs failed to extend the show’s fame to foreign parts, his work ...
23 min
68
Beauty and Aladdin
The great composer Alan Menken has won more Oscars (8) than anyone else alive today. Tim has worked with him on several projects, including Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast. In this podcast he reveals how he stepped into the late Howard Ashman’s shoes, a...
21 min
69
Coat of not Very Many Colours
Tim recounts writing of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and the first ever public performance of the then 20-minute work at Colet Court School in March 1968.
21 min
70
Elton and Eldorado
Tim, having come to the realisation that he has written more than 40 songs with Sir Elton John, plays three of their lesser-known collaborations and chats about the animated movie The Road To El Dorado, for which they wrote the score, including an Elton ...
21 min
71
The Likes Of Us
In the second episode of his new podcast Get Onto My Cloud, Tim tells the story of his first meeting with Andrew Lloyd Webber in 1965 and how they immediately set about writing a musical based on the life of Dr. Thomas Barnardo entitled The likes Of Us. ...
21 min
72
Mantelpiece
Tim investigates his mantlepiece during a lockdown spring clean. Long-forgotten items relating to Joseph, Evita, INXS and Don Bradman surface. He plays one of his favourite Alan Menken collaborations and the 1965 single that started it all.
21 min