Leading Lady Lyrics - Aspects of Love

Song Overview

“Leading Lady” lands in Act II of Aspects of Love, the 1989 West End musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Don Black and Charles Hart, adapted from David Garnett’s 1955 novel. On record, you’ll hear Paul Bentley (Marcel), Ann Crumb (Rose), Michael Ball (Alex) and David Greer (Hugo) carry the moment on the Original London Cast Recording, tracked at Olympic Studios and issued in August 1989. The number celebrates Rose’s theatrical breakthrough while quietly stoking the personal triangles that power the show.

Review and Highlights

What you hear: a brisk, Broadway-forward celebration tinged with knowing irony. Marcel, the impresario, whips up a toast to Rose’s ascent; Alex and Hugo hover, each with private claims on her heart. The arrangement leans on buoyant orchestra writing, a crisp rhythmic engine, and patter-like lines that let Marcel preen while Rose glows. In three minutes and change, the track resets the stakes for Act II: success complicates love.

Creation History

Aspects of Love opened at London’s Prince of Wales Theatre on April 17, 1989, in a Trevor Nunn production; the two-disc Original London Cast Recording preserved most of the score. AllMusic dates the album’s release to August 1989 and notes Olympic Studios as the recording location. “Leading Lady” appears early in Act II on stage and as track 24 on remastered listings.

Song Meaning and Annotations

Plot

We’re in a Paris theatre at the top of Act II. Rose has finally hit. Marcel orchestrates the curtain-call adoration; Alex, now older and more chastened, watches; Hugo circles with a rival’s energy. The public coronation is loud, but the private subtext is louder: fame has rearranged the triangle.

Song Meaning

On paper it’s a tribute; in practice it’s a mirror. “Leading Lady” frames Rose not just as star but as object of projection - mentor’s triumph, lover’s ideal, ex’s regret. That duality fits the show’s larger canvas of love as performance: who we are with the lights up versus off. The music’s buoyancy camouflages the pressure of expectations she now wears alongside the dress.

Annotations

“The perfect leading lady: / Unique and true and towering!”

That hyperbole functions like theatre’s version of a garland - generous and strategic. It flatters Rose and signals Marcel’s stake in her legend.

“Your humor and your humility... / Your strength and your fragility...”

The couplets telescope Rose into archetype: strong yet delicate, accessible yet untouchable - a marketable persona that the men around her sell to themselves as much as to audiences.

Style and rhythm

The number sits in contemporary Broadway language with operetta tinting - buoyant 4-square cadence, bright orchestration, crisp ensemble interjections. It’s built to sparkle, not brood, which is exactly why its emotional aftertaste lingers when the applause dies down.

Cultural touchpoints

Like other Lloyd Webber “crowd-scene” pivots, “Leading Lady” uses public adoration to pry open private fractures. It pairs well, dramaturgically, with the show’s hit single “Love Changes Everything,” the franchise melody that dominated the UK charts in 1989 and defined the musical’s public image.

Key Facts

• Artist: Original London Cast (music by Andrew Lloyd Webber)
• Featured: Paul Bentley (Marcel), Ann Crumb (Rose), Michael Ball (Alex), David Greer (Hugo)
• Composer: Andrew Lloyd Webber
• Lyricists: Don Black, Charles Hart
• Producer: Andrew Lloyd Webber (cast album)
• Release Date: August 1989 (cast recording)
• Album: Aspects of Love (Original London Cast Recording)
• Label: Really Useful Records / Polydor (UK)
• Length: ~3:26
• Language: English
• Music style: Contemporary Broadway with operetta coloring
• Track # (2005 remaster index): 24
• Mood: celebratory, star-making, slightly self-aware
• Copyrights: © 1989 The Really Useful Group Ltd. (Phonographic rights under exclusive license to Polydor Ltd. UK)

Questions and Answers

Who produced “Leading Lady” by Andrew Lloyd Webber?

Andrew Lloyd Webber produced the Original London Cast Recording that includes “Leading Lady.”

When did Andrew Lloyd Webber release “Leading Lady”?

It arrived as part of the Original London Cast Recording released in August 1989.

Who wrote “Leading Lady”?

Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber; lyrics by Don Black and Charles Hart.

Where does it fall in the show?

Early in Act II, immediately after “A Theatre in Paris,” functioning as Rose’s onstage coronation.

Who sings it on the original album?

Paul Bentley (Marcel), Ann Crumb (Rose), Michael Ball (Alex) and David Greer (Hugo), with ensemble.

Awards and Chart Positions

While “Leading Lady” itself was not released as a single and did not chart, the parent production earned multiple major nominations on Broadway in 1990, including Tony nominations for Best Musical and Best Original Score, and Drama Desk nods (with a Theatre World Award win for Kathleen Rowe McAllen).

How to Sing Leading Lady

Who sings what: Marcel (bass/baritone) drives the patter and crowd-work; Rose (mezzo) rides the bright melodic line; Alex (tenor) and Hugo (baritone) interject to color the celebration with subtext. Official materials list Rose as mezzo, Alex as tenor, Marcel as bass.