HIGHSCHOOL DRAMA TEACHER VS LLOYD WEBBER

TF(&B)M's high school drama teacher and musical director Brad Friedman, responding to an article in the SF Chronicle called "Requiem for the Musical", which analyzed the current state of the art form, included some harsh words towards a couple of notables in the history of musical theatre:

I love too many musicals to name a favorite, but any score by Rodgers and Hart, George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Stephen Sondheim or William Finn, among a myriad of composers, has treasures to unearth, while Andrew Lloyd Webber and Frank Wildhorn seem determined to murder this art form.

Ouch! As Jesus Christ Superstar is my 2nd-favorite musical (to Hedwig & the Angry Inch), I may have a bone to pick here. JCS successfully fused contemporary rock music with the traditional structures and arcs of traditional theatre music, in a way that, by comparison, makes Rent (IMO) seem very artificial. Granted, some of ALW's more recent work makes me want to jam a red hot poker in my right eye, but I must defend that which I can stand. Thank you for your time.