British composer Andrew Lloyd Webber has been diagnosed with prostate cancer, a spokeswoman said today in a statement that said "the condition is in its very early stages. Andrew is now undergoing treatment and expects to be fully back at work before the end of the year."
Lloyd Webber, 61, recently announced plans for a sequel to his phenomenally successful musical Phantom of the Opera. Called Love Never Dies, it is scheduled to open in London in March and follow on Broadway in November. He said the sequel resulted from "unfinished business." Lloyd Webber's other musical hits have included Cats, Jesus Christ Superstar, and Evita. He was knighted in 1992 and named to Britain's House of Lords in 1997. (More Andrew Lloyd Webber stories.)