BIOGRAPHY
In a career that has spanned more than thirty years in show business, Robert Webb is a
Los Angeles-raised musician (originally from Claremont, California) who has spent the
last eighteen years based in New York.
Robert’s family and ancestors have been either teachers or school heads going back hundreds
of years. Robert’s parents were both raised in the world of independent schools. His mother,
before meeting his father, taught at Westlake School for Girls in Los Angeles, CA. She also
tutored Jane and Peter Fonda, the children of actor Henry Fonda. Shortly after meeting
Robert’s father at a school dance between Westlake and the Webb School of California,
founded by Robert’s grandfather, Howell and Betty fell in love and got married in 1948. After
Robert and his sister were born, their parents started an independent school of their own, the
Foothill Country Day School, to give their children and their friends’ children an education that
was superior to what was then available public schools.
Robert’s interest in musical theatre, conducting, arranging, vocal coaching and rehearsal piano
playing seemed to happen spontaneously, starting even before he could read. Robert’s
grandmother taught him absolute (perfect) pitch as a game while the three-year old sat under
her grand piano, the same piano that now lives in Robert’s Jersey City living room.
At age six, Robert’s parents hired a piano teacher for him, and he began playing show tunes by
ear, especially the music of Rodgers & Hammerstein after his parents took him to see a revival
of Oklahoma! in Los Angeles. Robert played softball with schoolmates and went skiing with his
father in the winter as he grew up, but was more likely to be playing a piano somewhere,
although he didn’t much like practicing at home.
At age seven, Robert wrote the music for a musical of his own, In Have Cat, Will Travel, a
homage to the popular TV Westerns of the day, such as Have Gun, Will Travel. The book and
lyrics were by Robert’s godfather, Howell Webb’s World War II buddy, Hanlin Becker. Mr.
Becker was a strong influence on two generations of Webbs, taking Howell to see his first
Broadway show, the original production of On The Town, and later taking the entire Webb family
to Disneyland, a tradition continued by the Webbs after Hanlin returned to New York where he
lived. As an adult, Robert’s affection for all things Disney continued -- but more on that later.
Robert not only wrote the music to Have Cat in third grade, which was performed by the fifth
grade, but also played rehearsals, performances, and the original cast album on piano, which
was recorded one evening after school at a local recording studio.
In high school Robert joined the Concert Choir and began auditioning for musicals. As eleventh
graders, Robert and his best friend Brian were cast as the Von Trapp boys in The Sound of
Music. When not on stage, Robert began spontaneously accompanying the rehearsals of the
adult characters in the show. Robert often spent time in between classes sight reading vocal
(piano/conductor) scores to well-known musicals that were in the High School music library.
This practice led to Robert starting his own collection of Broadway show scores, a tradition that
he continues to this day, as well as original cast recordings, together with his best friend Brian.
After they played in The Sound of Music together, they repeated the custom the following
summer in Oliver!, which was one of Robert’s favorite shows, dating to 1963, when he saw the
original Broadway production. As usual, Robert played rehearsals on piano when not on stage
himself and began a lifelong practice of vocal coaching the other singers. The following year,
Robert and Brian were high school seniors, and both auditioned for Camelot, for the role of
Mordred. Brian was cast, and Robert decided that since his talent was not sufficient to best his
friend on-stage, he would henceforth confine his activities to conducting, arranging, vocal
coaching and piano accompanying, all of which he liked better anyway. This soon led to
Robert’s first formal assignment as a Music Director: the local intermediate school’s production
of Oklahoma!, by now a show he knew well and loved. This was followed by a “Parks and
Recreation” summer production of “Guys and Dolls”, which Robert also conducted. In both of
the last-mentioned shows, he also experimented in orchestration, although at this point he was
unschooled and learned by trying things and asking more experienced musicians for help.
At UCLA, where Robert went to college, he continued to music direct and study orchestration
and conducting although he was technically a film major. His first tour occurred in 1973, a USO
tour of Sondheim’s A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum, which consisted of
performances both in Los Angeles and all over the Far East. Touring in Broadway shows
became a tradition he continued as a professional musician.
The following year was the 25th Anniversary of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific.
UCLA decided to pay tribute to it by doing a summer revival with Equity leads and student
ensemble and orchestra. Playing leading man Emile de Becque was Metropolitan Opera basso
Georgio Tozzi, the singing voice of the film version. The Music Director was one of Robert’s
heroes, Arranger/Conductor Peter Matz, who MD’d all of Barbra Streisand’s early albums, and
who was, at the time of UCLA’s South Pacific, the Music Director of the CBS-TV Carol Burnett
Show, which stayed on the air for 10 years. As usual, Robert played rehearsal and pit piano.
Coached by Matz, the student was then allowed to conduct portions of the show in front of a
paying audience. After the production was over, Robert asked Peter Matz if the Pro thought the
Student had talent. Matz replied affirmatively, and Robert immediately changed his career path
from film-maker to professional Conductor/Arranger.
Within days of his graduation from UCLA in June,1975, Robert was hired by the Los Angeles
Light Opera as their youngest staff rehearsal pianist. In those days LACLO was a leading
regional theatre and was indirectly responsible for the creation of the original production of
South Pacific because the producer, Edwin Lester, who loved to present operettas (nicknamed
“floperettas” by Industry wags) in the 1940’s to 1960’s, long after their vogue in the 1920’s, had
acquired recently retired Metropolitan basso Ezio Pinza. A new musical planned for him had
fallen apart, and Pinza had a “play or pay” contract but Mr. Lester had nothing for him to do. In a
stroke of luck (or genius) he placed a call from Los Angeles to Richard Rodgers in New York.
The result was Pinza’s contract was bought by Rodgers & Hammerstein, and South Pacific was
born.
Robert’s on-the-job graduate “training” was under the supervision of Hollywood rehearsal pianist
Harper Mackay. Harper had played for many of the great Hollywood movie musicals, including
West Side Story, where he became friends with Marni Nixon, well-known voice double for many
of the female stars like Natalie Wood, and Broadway and Hollywood orchestrator Irwin Kostal.
For the past ten years, Robert has accompanied Marni’s voice lessons and played for and
coached Marni’s students in New York where she still is one of the best known voice teachers.
While playing rehearsals at LA Civic Light Opera, Robert was also teaching elementary school
music at his parent’s school ten years after his own graduation, but it was difficult work and
Robert was happier coaching students and clients who were motivated by a professional career
goals as Robert has always been. In 1976, Robert celebrated the Bicentennial of the United
States, piano-conducting his second Equity show, a dinner theatre tour of Oklahoma, which was
certainly familiar territory.
A year later, producer Laurence Kasha decided to turn the MGM musical Seven Brides for
Seven Brothers into a stage musical and it went into rehearsal in Spring,1977 with Robert
playing auditions, rehearsals, dance arrangements and eventually performances on tour. He
became friends with Orchestrator Irwin Kostal, also on the project, who had worked with Harper
Mackay, Marni Nixon and Natalie Wood in West Side Story. Robert and Irwin had an
interesting, sometimes stormy relationship. Robert was still in his early 20’s but asked Irwin to
orchestrate Seven Brides with piano, celesta and accordion as had been done for the MGM film
in 1953. Irwin agreed, and Robert loved playing several keyboards in the pit.
During the next 15 years Robert played and conducted a number of other tours while still based
in Los Angeles. He continued to work for LA Civic Light Opera until it folded after Edwin Lester’s
retirement. When not on the road, Robert played auditions and coached singers. One of his
favorite stories concerns Patti Lupone. Patti had auditioned for Harold Prince in Evita and was
called back with orders to learn “Don’t Cry For Me, Argentina”, “Buenos Aires” and “Rainbow
High”. She called Robert and made an appointment. Webb thought Lupone a natural and a
perfect Eva. In his usual manner he made the star feel comfortable and showed her where to
breathe, etc., then made melody tracks for her on tape. After an hour, he asked for $35 (his rate
in 1979). Patti said “It’s not enough”. Robert said, “If you get the role, send me another check,
doubling it”, which she did.
Another job came from a phone call in 1989, with composer Alan Menken calling. There has
been a change in personnel at Disney, and Alan, based in New York, needed an MD in Los
Angeles to finish the pre-records for The Little Mermaid, which was then in production. Robert
agreed and auditioned (on the front porch of his then home in Burbank) background singers,
then co-produced the recording of the unfinished vocal music with Alan’s writing partner, the
brilliant Howard Ashman (Little Shop of Horrors). After the film was released, the same team
wrote and recorded Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Pocahontas, and The Hunchback of Notre
Dame. All of these films used Robert as a vocal coach and pianist both for auditions and for
rehearsals. The highlights of those years included listening to Alan play and sing live versions
and demos of the songs before Robert taught them to Angela Lansbury, Robin Williams (in their
homes), Linda Hunt, Mel Gibson and David Ogden Stiers. Tragically, Howard died of HIV
during the filming of Aladdin. Alan has continued to write with Tim Rice, Stephen Schwartz and
Glen Slater, among others.
In 1994, Robert went to see the then current Broadway revival of Grease with Rosie O’Donell
that was trying out in Costa Mesa, California. The MD, John McDaniel, was an old friend and
Robert had dinner with him between shows on Saturday. A few months later John called from
New York and asked Robert to move to New York and assist in the rehearsals of the National
Tour of Grease with Sally Struthers. Robert agreed and spent two years on the road with that
tour. He then played on Broadway as a “sub” on the original revival. New York was an exciting
place for a newcomer in the late Nineties. 42nd Street was completely boarded up when Robert
first moved to New York. Gradually it re-opened as a family destination, anchored by the
Disney restoration of the New Amsterdam Theatre, which is arguably still the most beautiful
house on Broadway.
New York became Robert’s new home. He eventually bought property in New Jersey and
Pennsylvania while continuing to work in New York. He continues to be excited by working in
the “theatre capital” of the world and by working with young people as a free lance vocal coach,
on staff at American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA) from 1999-2010 and currently at
Marymount Manhattan College (MMC). His “mantras” continue to be “Less is More”, first told to
Robert by Pater Matz, and “The Devil is in the Details” and “Form follows Function”, from
Stephen Sondheim’s lyric anthology “Finishing The Hat”.