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To Lloyd Webber's chagrin, his relationship with his flashy wife has become a staple of London's racy tabloids. Brightman has been vilified as a "home wrecker" who came between Lloyd Webber and his first wife (referred to as Sarah I, while Brightman is Sarah II). Last year there were so many breathless "exclusives" about shouting matches between husband and wife and an affair that Brightman was allegedly having with an old boyfriend that Lloyd Webber slapped libel suits on several of the more gossipy tabloids. The papers settled or retracted, and Lloyd Webber sent the money to various charities.
No one denies that the Lloyd Webbers' temperaments make for a volatile mix. "We are both totally impractical because we let our emotions take first place," says Brightman. "Nothing is ever bottled up. If we feel something, we'll say it. It's wonderful, because you always know where you are with Andrew." Where Andrew is quiet and reserved, Brightman is vivacious and open; where he favors conservative suits that match his Tory politics, she tends to flamboyant costumes that round out her slim figure, luxuriant Burne-Jones tresses and alabaster skin.
The marriage has thrust the pair into the social spotlight. Says one of Lloyd Webber's close associates: "Sarah II has had quite an influence on his life. They have a certain life-style that he didn't know before. They go to a lot of parties and first nights. They entertain quite a bit. Sarah I was very much a country wife in the traditional English sense. Sarah II is more outgoing, more florid. She is more Zandra Rhodes; Sarah I, more Burberrys."
Photos of the 20-year-old Lloyd Webber from the time of Superstar show an awkward, long-haired youth blinking uncomfortably in the spotlight of fame -- the phantom of his own opera. Now, in Britain at least, he is the most prominent musical figure since the Beatles, a fixture on TV talk shows who is fussed over and clutched at whenever he walks down a street or sits in a restaurant. During his partnership with Rice, Lloyd Webber was content to let his more outgoing, voluble associate front for the pair. "Tim was a natural performer," remembers Lloyd Webber. "I was somewhat of an enigma. Since then I've had to learn to look at a camera, but I don't do chat shows where I am supposed to be funny, nor do I have a desperate urge to do the Carson show. But when I need to talk about the work, it is a different matter."
Somewhat disingenuously, Lloyd Webber professes not to relish his new status, to be unaware of the impact his growing personal fame will have on his box-office appeal. "In the end," he insists, "it comes down to the quality of what you give them in the theater." So it does. And on that basis the canniest show composer of our time has long since confirmed his standing. But the sure-to-be-smash opening of Phantom will doubtless confirm something else too. The awkward London youth has grown up, conquered Broadway and become what he once only envisioned: Andrew Lloyd Webber, Superstar.