AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Michael Reed

 Artist:Michael Reed

Song:Overture

Album:The Phantom of the Opera: Original Cast Album

The first thing you hear in any stage musical is the overture. One overture that stays with people is from Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera. As with many of Webber's musicals, the orchestra was conducted by Michael Reed. He has been arranging and orchestrating shows in London's West End since the 70s. But he is most identified with Webber. Reed studied at the Royal College of Music in London. His early credits include the 1974 musical Hans Andersen starring Tommy Steele, the 1978 musical Beyond the Rainbow and the 1981 London production of Barnum starring Michael Crawford. Reed worked with Steele again when he became the leader of the house orchestra at Safari Records. Webber then hired Reed to conduct the orchestra for The Phantom of the Opera. I guess conducting is a thankless job. You only get noticed when you screw up. Since then Reed has worked on Webber musicals like Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Aspects of Love and Whistle Down the Wind. He has worked on 20 London West End shows and plenty of TV specials for the BBC like Royal Variety Shows, Eurovision Song Contest and Prince's Trust Galas. He's worked in the US when Webber has brought musicals to Broadway. The Overture from The Phantom of the Opera is probably his best known work. Some guys just do the work and don't care about fame. I guess that makes Michael Reed an unsung hero of musical theater. Here's Michael Reed performing the Overture from the 1986 production of The Phantom of the Opera. BTW, a synthesizer was used to create the harpsichord sound.