Introduction Songtext
von Andrew Lloyd Webber

Thank you very much
How kind
Thank you
Thank you
Bless you
Thank you
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen
Welcome to a, a truly remarkable revival
I think only the, uh, appearance live on this stage
Here this morning of Lord Lucan or possibly the- ...
Reenactment of The Battle of Culloden naked could
Excite more attention than this, which is the 40th
Anniversary performance, and yet world premier of- ...
The Likes of Us
This, um, as you may know, was the first musical written by two
Young men who have since gone on to become two middle-aged men
Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber
They met on April the 25th, 1965 at the South
Kensington residence of Andrew Lloyd Webber
And it was at 2:30 in the afternoon that they first


Shook hands, and at 2:45, they had begun work on
The show that you are about gaspingly to witness
Um, the subject is the dramatic story of Dr
Thomas Barnardo, the founder of the famous Victorian children′s homes
It's told in song, dance, and spoken word, as was the
Unbreakable fashion in musical theater in those far off days
These bright boys, brimming with hope and optimism and energy followed
All the golden showbiz rules of the day with unmistakable devotion
And as a result, their first collaboration, for
All its virginal charm, got precisely nowhere
Of course, this wasn′t the only reason for the
Show's failure to make a mark, but this really is
Is not the place for recrimination or blame
Um, goodness knows there'll be plenty of opportunity for that later
Um...
The show kept nearly being signed up, um
But none of the changes made any difference
And therefore, the Sydmonton Festival, in all its traditional
Wisdom has decided to make no fresh demands on the writers, um- ...
For this indisputably momentous occasion
What you are about to see and hear is the pre-Joseph, pre-
Cassette, pre-internet, pre-Cameron-Mackintosh version- ...
Um, from a far off time when, when really
Useful theater meant necessary surgery
And, uh...
And the only famous Rice in Britain went snap, crackle, and pop
There is one addition, however
It′s a number, uh, whose lyrics were handed in recently, 39
Years and 11 months late, uh, a record even for this lyricist
And a small...
A small prize will be given to the first person
Unconnected with the production to spot the new lyric
There was a book, which is to say the bits
Of dialogue and so on between the songs
Um, but for legal reasons, it appears not to have survived
Uh, my task this evening, therefore, is to fill in the gaps in
Between the numbers so that your understanding of the plot will
Be at least as rudimentary, uh, as, as that of the authors
Um...
Ladies and gentlemen, the Sydmonton Festival, with beaming
Pride, presents The Likes of Us, overture and beginners