Richard Stilgoe

Best known in the us being a contributing lyricist for many Andrew Lloyd Webber productions, Richard Stilgoe was also a longtime tv character in his local England, because of his wry love of life and clear wit. Blessed in Surrey, Stilgoe was raised in Liverpool and was a choral vocalist in early stages, but scrapped that and only rock & move; he performed using the Cambridge Footlights humor revue, and eventually transferred to London, where he performed funny, often satirical music in little nightspots. He parlayed this action into regular shows on BBC Radio 4’s Today display, and by the past due ’60s acquired graduated to tv, appearing on many revue-style humor displays. He became children name in Britain through the ’70s after getting a regular slot machine on the favorite satirical display Nationwide, where he frequently set the written text of audience issues to music. Following that he shifted to the likewise successful That’s Existence, not forgetting other, shorter-lived series. A longtime lover of musical theatre, Stilgoe seized a chance to offer Andrew Lloyd Webber with several extra lyrics for his blockbuster achievement Cats, which opened up in London in 1981. Webber used Stilgoe because the major lyricist on his following project, the luxurious roller-skating extravaganza Starlight Express; following its London starting in 1984, Starlight Express became the second-longest-running musical in English history (behind Pet cats). Although he wasn’t the principle lyricist on 1987’s Phantom from the Opera, Stilgoe once again contributed extensively, and in addition done the show’s publication. Furthermore to his use Webber through the ’80s, Stilgoe also had written several children’s musicals (Excellent the Dinosaur and Body Function), and shaped a performing collaboration with Peter Skellern, which toured once in awhile over the following 2 decades. He later on became a normal on the overall game display Countdown, where he exchanged puns with sponsor Richard Whitely and produced anagrams from contestants’ titles. Stilgoe offers received the Purchase of the United kingdom Empire and devotes a lot of his time and energy to his charitable project the Orpheus Center, which gives impaired children the chance to try out music.