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Oh, What A Circus: The Autobiography
With wit and candour, Tim Rice describes the gilded path that took him from cricket and comic-obsessed schoolboy to one of the world's best-known lyricists. Along the way he worked as a petrol pump attendant and articled clerk before becoming a management trainee at EMI. But it was his fateful meeting with Andrew Lloyd Webber in 1965 which was to be the turning-point in Tim's career. Immediate fortune didn't follow and it took the album of Jesus Christ Superstar to reach no.1 in the States before they were taken seriously. Covering every aspect of his life until his marriage to Jane McIntosh and the opening of the stage production of Evita, this is an engaging and fascinating autobiography.
464 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1998
About the author
Tim Rice
127 books1 followerSir Timothy Miles Bindon "Tim" Rice, KBE, is an English lyricist, and author.
An Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, Tony Award and Grammy Award-winning lyricist, Rice is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita, and his work for The Walt Disney Company with Alan Menken (Aladdin), Elton John (The Lion King and Aida).
An Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, Tony Award and Grammy Award-winning lyricist, Rice is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita, and his work for The Walt Disney Company with Alan Menken (Aladdin), Elton John (The Lion King and Aida).
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 19, 2018
From an American standpoint, Rice writes an autobiography that doesn't highlight enough of his famous shows (this goes only through 1978 even though the book was written in 1999!) and one that is filled with too much minor personal information. Slog through 130 pages of his British childhood years before you get to the start of his real career with Joseph. That musical came together in bits and pieces over a period of almost 14 years before in the final form we see it in today, and while there are all sorts of fascinating details (including that Rice didn't actually write some of the things he is best known for but schoolchildren and teachers came up with some of the great gimmicks) the Joseph story is delayed by spreading it out chronologically which means many highlights get lost when woven among his personal life and his telling of the Superstar story.
Jesus Christ Superstar is the center of this book, and he goes into great detail about his perspective behind its creation. Most disappointing is that he says almost nothing about the film version because his "Ben-Hur" version of the screenplay was rejected. He slams the movie (as he does many of the Superstar theatrical productions) but should have taken time to put it in perspective decades after it premiered. The film is a fascinating piece that deserves more than just a few paragraphs here. He does come across as sacrilegious at times and is too quick to condemn those that didn't like Rice's unorthodox perspective on Christ. Throughout the book Rice emphasizes Christ's death and avoids discussion of the resurrection. He brags that he didn't use the New Testament as his source material but instead books written by others. That is obvious to the audience. While it's great to get so much detail about the creation of Superstar, he misstates a number of things he claims borrowed from his show (Godspell was actually created before Superstar, as was the Leon Russel song Superstar). He also gets into way too much detail about his fear of flying and his transportation to get to see the Superstar productions around the world.
The final section of the book is devoted to Evita and his personal life is woven among the details. He alludes to disagreements with Lloyd Webber but avoids specifics and at one point even says he'll save it for another book! The entire book has a distant feel when it comes to anyone he was personally involved with, from those in the music business to the many women he brags he slept with to his family. Instead he should have gotten an editor to weed out a lot of insignificant stuff and push Rice to give specifics about his private relationships. There appears to be no love lost between Rice and his musical writing partner because Lloyd Webber is rarely given credit for anything other than rehashing old melodies. Rice takes the credit for most of the success of the shows.
Finally, the title of the book should have been "Any Dream With Do" or something from either Joseph or Superstar. Those that love those musicals will enjoy the book, but if you are looking for insight into his writing relationship with Lloyd Webber or anything from their modern musicals you will be disappointed.
Jesus Christ Superstar is the center of this book, and he goes into great detail about his perspective behind its creation. Most disappointing is that he says almost nothing about the film version because his "Ben-Hur" version of the screenplay was rejected. He slams the movie (as he does many of the Superstar theatrical productions) but should have taken time to put it in perspective decades after it premiered. The film is a fascinating piece that deserves more than just a few paragraphs here. He does come across as sacrilegious at times and is too quick to condemn those that didn't like Rice's unorthodox perspective on Christ. Throughout the book Rice emphasizes Christ's death and avoids discussion of the resurrection. He brags that he didn't use the New Testament as his source material but instead books written by others. That is obvious to the audience. While it's great to get so much detail about the creation of Superstar, he misstates a number of things he claims borrowed from his show (Godspell was actually created before Superstar, as was the Leon Russel song Superstar). He also gets into way too much detail about his fear of flying and his transportation to get to see the Superstar productions around the world.
The final section of the book is devoted to Evita and his personal life is woven among the details. He alludes to disagreements with Lloyd Webber but avoids specifics and at one point even says he'll save it for another book! The entire book has a distant feel when it comes to anyone he was personally involved with, from those in the music business to the many women he brags he slept with to his family. Instead he should have gotten an editor to weed out a lot of insignificant stuff and push Rice to give specifics about his private relationships. There appears to be no love lost between Rice and his musical writing partner because Lloyd Webber is rarely given credit for anything other than rehashing old melodies. Rice takes the credit for most of the success of the shows.
Finally, the title of the book should have been "Any Dream With Do" or something from either Joseph or Superstar. Those that love those musicals will enjoy the book, but if you are looking for insight into his writing relationship with Lloyd Webber or anything from their modern musicals you will be disappointed.
March 2, 2020
But what about Chess?
I really did enjoy this book, but wanted to read about Chess which I have always preferred to these shows.
I really did enjoy this book, but wanted to read about Chess which I have always preferred to these shows.
January 14, 2021
Interesting, funny and warm.
January 18, 2012
I'm a big fan of Andrew Lloyd Webber & Tim Rice. I think there is a lot of snobbery about their musicals. Success always attracts critics. Usually people who can only 'talk the talk.'
I think Tim Rice is a an excellent lyricist. Not just in his collaboration with Webber but on many hit pop songs too. But for anyone interested in Musical Theatre or just the amazing story of Webber & Rice, this book does not disappoint. I never realised that their first major hit, Joseph and The Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, started out as a school musical. (They started very young.)
Tim is a librarian of facts, figures & dates that add to the fascination of the early years and later success. He started working life as an Articled Clerk before moving to EMI and working with Norrie Paramour, Cliff Richard, The Beatles and even singing on The Scaffold hit; Lily The Pink.
Besides taking us through the fascinating conception and birth of the famous musicals, Rice is also quite candid about his much publicised 'messy' personal life. His other love - cricket - also gets a good mention. He alludes to a second installment autobiography to bring things bang up to date. I will definately be getting that. The first one is a cracker.
I think Tim Rice is a an excellent lyricist. Not just in his collaboration with Webber but on many hit pop songs too. But for anyone interested in Musical Theatre or just the amazing story of Webber & Rice, this book does not disappoint. I never realised that their first major hit, Joseph and The Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, started out as a school musical. (They started very young.)
Tim is a librarian of facts, figures & dates that add to the fascination of the early years and later success. He started working life as an Articled Clerk before moving to EMI and working with Norrie Paramour, Cliff Richard, The Beatles and even singing on The Scaffold hit; Lily The Pink.
Besides taking us through the fascinating conception and birth of the famous musicals, Rice is also quite candid about his much publicised 'messy' personal life. His other love - cricket - also gets a good mention. He alludes to a second installment autobiography to bring things bang up to date. I will definately be getting that. The first one is a cracker.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews