A critical biography of Andrew Lloyd Webber, hailed by some for his innovations and melodic extravagance and denounced by others for creating "schlock operas" relying on spectacle more than musical virtuosity. Photographs of the shows and sketches for costume designs and sets are included.
With five critically acclaimed novels, as well as a hit TV movie, journalist, author and screenwriter Michael Walsh has achieved the writer's trifecta: two New York Times best-sellers, a major literary award and, as co-writer, the Disney Channel's then-highest-rated show.
The 1998 publication of As Time Goes By -- his long-awaited and controversial prequel/sequel to everybody's favorite movie, Casablanca -- created a literary sensation; translated into more than twenty languages, including Portuguese, Chinese and Hebrew, the story of Rick and Ilsa landed on best-seller lists around the world.
His first novel, the dark thriller Exchange Alley, was published by Warner Books in July 1997. Hailed by critics for its moody depiction of a crumbling Soviet Union - which Walsh covered first-hand as a correspondent for Time Magazine - and a violent, dangerous New York City during the darkest days of the early 1990s, the novel was picked by the Book-of-the-Month Club as an alternate selection.
Walsh's third novel, the gripping gangster saga, And All the Saints, was named a winner at the 2004 American Book Awards; even before publication, the movie rights to this fictionalized "autobiography" of the legendary Prohibition-era gangster Owney Madden was bought by MGM.
His 2009 novel, Hostile Intent, the first in a series of five thrillers about the National Security Agency to be published by Kensington Books, was an Amazon Kindle #1 bestseller, as well as a New York Times bestseller. The eagerly awaited sequel, Early Warning, will be published in Sept.
In the spring of 2002, the Disney Channel premiered Walsh's original movie (co-written with Gail Parent), Cadet Kelly, starring teen idol Hilary Duff of "Lizzie McGuire" fame. Until High School Music, the two-hour film reigned as the highest-rated original movie in Disney Channel history, as well as the Disney Channel's highest-rated single program ever.
Walsh is also the author of Who's Afraid of Classical Music (1989) and Who's Afraid of Opera (1994) for Fireside Books, and Andrew Lloyd Webber: His Life and Works, a critical biography of the composer for Harry M. Abrams (U.S.) and Viking Penguin (U.K.), published in the fall of 1989; an updated and expanded edition appeared in 1997. With fellow TIME Contributor Richard Schickel, he is the co-author of Carnegie Hall: The First One Hundred Years, a cultural history of the great American concert hall published by Abrams in November 1987. His most recent book about music is So When Does the Fat Lady Sing?, published by Amadeus Press.
