Tim Rice,una carriera favolosa!

TimRice è nato ad Amersham, Buckinghamshire, Inghilterra, e ha studiato alla Aldwickbury School, alla St Albans School ed al Lancing College.

Tim Rice è noto soprattutto per le sue collaborazioni con Andrew Lloyd Webber, con cui ha scritto Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar ed Evita. In collaborazione con gli ex-ABBA Björn Ulvaeus e Benny Andersson ha realizzato il musical Chess da cui sono tratte le canzoni “One Night in Bangkok” e “I Know Him so Well”. Successivamente ha lavorato per la Walt Disney Company assieme ad Alan Menken e Elton John (The Lion King e Aida), scrivendo i testi di canzoni per musicals e films.

Per i suoi testi Rice ha ricevuto cinque candidature agli Oscar in tre edizioni: nel 1993 con “A Whole New World” dal film “Aladdin” (musica di Alan Menken), nel 1995 con “Circle of Life“, “Hakuna Matata” e “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” (musiche di Elton John), tutte tratte dal film “Il re leone” della Disney, e infine nel 1997 con “You Must Love Me“, con la musica di Andrew Lloyd Webber, scritta appositamente per il film Evita. In tutte le tre edizioni la candidatura si è trasformata in vittoria (nel 1995 con “Can You Feel the Love Tonight“).

Rice è anche cofondatore del Guinness Book of British Hit Singles ed ha lavorato come editore dal 1977 al 1996.

Rice è stato spesso ospite di trasmissioni radiofoniche in giochi come Just a Minute e Trivia Test Match. Rice ama affermare scherzosamente che negli Stati Uniti la sua fama è più che altro legata all’apparizione nel film About a boy (“Un ragazzo”, con Hugh Grant). Tra i suoi interessi si annoverano il cricket (è stato presidente del Marylebone Cricket Club nel 2002) e la matematica. Rice ha inoltre scritto la prefazione al libro Why do buses come in threes? di Rob Eastaway e Jeremy Wyndham; un altro importante contributo letterario è stato quello per il libro di One Hit Wonderland, di Tony Hawks . Rice è un tifoso del Sunderland A.F.C., e nel novembre del 2006 gli è stato conferito il dottorato onorario in lettere dall’università di Sunderland, in una cerimonia tenutasi allo Stadium of Light.

Teatro

• 1966: The Likes of Us – musiche di Andrew Lloyd Webber. Rappresentato per la prima volta nel 2005
• 1968: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat – musiche di Andrew Lloyd Webber.
• 1971: Jesus Christ Superstar – musiche di Andrew Lloyd Webber.
• 1978: Evita – musiche di Andrew Lloyd Webber.
• 1983: Blondel – musiche di Stephen Oliver. Prodotto nuovamente nel 2006.
• 1986: Chess – musiche di Benny Andersson en Bjorn Ulvaeus.
• 1986: Cricket – musiche di Andrew Lloyd Webber. In occasione dei sessant’anni della Regina Elisabetta
• 1992: Tycoon – musiche di Michel Berger. Originale: Starmania di Luc Plamondon.
• 1994: Beauty and the Beast – musiche di Alan Menken. Testi delle canzoni originali del film di Howard Ashman.
• 1996: Heathcliff – musiche di John Farrar.
• 1997: King David – musiche di Alan Menken.
• 1997: The Lion King – musiche di Elton John insieme a Lebo M, Mark Mancina, Jay Rifkin, Julie Taymor e Hans Zimmer.
• 2000: Aida – musiche di Elton John.

Cinema e televisione

• 1992: Aladdin – musica di Alan Menken. Completato il lavoro iniziato da Howard Ashman begonnen.
• 1994: The Lion King – musiche di Elton John e Hans Zimmer.
• 2000: The Road to El Dorado – musiche di Elton John e Hans Zimmer.

Rice was born in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, England, and was educated at Aldwickbury school, St Albans School and Lancing College. He is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita, and his work for The Walt Disney Company with Alan Menken and Sir Elton John. He also collaborated with Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson of ABBA on Chess and with Rick Wakeman on the concept albums 1984 and Cost of Living.

He was a co-founder of the Guinness Book of British Hit Singles and served as an editor from 1977 to 1996. He has also been a frequent guest panelist for many years on the radio panel games Just a Minute and Trivia Test Match. Rice often jokes that he is most recognised in America for his appearance in the film About a Boy. The film includes several clips from a (real) edition of the game show Countdown on which he was the guest adjudicator. His other interests include cricket (he was President of the Marylebone Cricket Club in 2002) and maths. He wrote the foreword to the book Why do buses come in threes? by Rob Eastaway and Jeremy Wyndham, and featured prominently in Tony Hawks‘ One Hit Wonderland, where he co-wrote the song which gave Hawks a top twenty hit in Albania.

Rice was interviewed by Dom Joly in the cult British sketch show Trigger Happy TV. Whilst discussing Rice’s autobiography somewhere near Kensington Church Street in London, Joly feigns a severe migraine, prompting Rice to ask “Are you OK? – you’re not about to die are you?” Joly attempts to continue the interview but after some moments he wanders off declaring, “I’m sorry I can’t do this anymore, it’s not my scene” – leaving Rice to ponder, “is that normal?”

He released his autobiography Oh What a Circus – The Autobiography of Tim Rice in 1998, which covered his childhood and early adult life until the opening of the original London production of Evita in 1978. A sequel covering his life since then is in production.

• Rice was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1999.
• In 2002, he was named a Disney Legend.
• His daughter, Eva Rice, is a best-selling author.
• He supports Sunderland AFC.

• Rice wrote the lyrics to two best-selling albums of the year: First for Jesus Christ Superstar in 1970 and then for The Lion King in 1994.
• Rice wrote the lyrics to The Golden Boy and The Fallen Priest both taken from Freddie Mercury’s solo album Barcelona (album)