For the moment, the invasion of British musical theater on Broadway has subsided. So let’s take a whack at assessing Andrew Lloyd-Webber’s influence on the genre. His “wide popular appeal has never been matched by high critical estimation. His music has been called derivative, or worse. Today, he is more likely to be taken to task for purveying middle-class sentimentalism (and sensationalism) at the expense of genuine artistic insight. Nor is he personally popular on Broadway, where he has long been seen as an unwelcome foreign interloper. But his effect on Broadway has been enormous.” – New York Times