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LW Entertainment
LW Entertainment Ltd. (formerly the Really Useful Group Ltd. (RUG)) is an international company set up in 1977 by Andrew Lloyd Webber. It is involved in theatre, film, television, video and concert productions, merchandising, magazine publishing, records and music publishing. The company's original name is inspired by a phrase from the children's book series The Railway Series (which also inspired Webber to create Starlight Express) in which Thomas the Tank Engine and the other locomotives are referred to as "Really Useful Engines".
The company was set up in 1977 when Lloyd Webber, frustrated with the terms of his contract with the impresario Robert Stigwood, decided to take greater control over the management of his creative works. All Lloyd Webber compositions and productions created from that point have been owned by the company.
The Really Useful Group was floated on the stock market in 1986. Four years later, Lloyd Webber took it back into private ownership, selling 30% to film and music group PolyGram to fund the cost of buying back shares. In 1995, PolyGram was bought by Canadian conglomerate Seagram, with the Really Useful stake being passed to its own film and music subsidiary, Universal. In 1999, Lloyd Webber paid $US75 million for Universal's 30% stake, giving the composer 100% ownership of the group.
The Really Useful Group was rebranded as LW Entertainment in August 2025.
The Really Useful Theatre Company produces and manages plays and musicals, mainly, but not limited to those written by Lloyd Webber. It is also responsible for licensing its productions worldwide. In the 1990s, RUT mainly produced shows on its own, but more recently has again developed partnerships with other producers and production companies, notably Bill Kenwright, to produce its works, as it had done in the 1980s with Cameron Mackintosh.
Among its productions and co-productions are:
In 2016, Really Useful partnered with Concord Theatricals to act as representative for licensing its works in North America. In October 2021, the groups extended the partnership through 2025.
Really Useful Films is responsible for the production of film versions of Lloyd Webber's catalogue. Initially, these had consisted of lower budget straight-to-video versions of the shows (Cats, Joseph, Jesus Christ Superstar, and By Jeeves), but in 2004 the Really Useful Films completed the film The Phantom of the Opera, directed by Joel Schumacher and starring Gerard Butler and Emmy Rossum, which was nominated for three Academy Awards and three Golden Globes.
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LW Entertainment
LW Entertainment Ltd. (formerly the Really Useful Group Ltd. (RUG)) is an international company set up in 1977 by Andrew Lloyd Webber. It is involved in theatre, film, television, video and concert productions, merchandising, magazine publishing, records and music publishing. The company's original name is inspired by a phrase from the children's book series The Railway Series (which also inspired Webber to create Starlight Express) in which Thomas the Tank Engine and the other locomotives are referred to as "Really Useful Engines".
The company was set up in 1977 when Lloyd Webber, frustrated with the terms of his contract with the impresario Robert Stigwood, decided to take greater control over the management of his creative works. All Lloyd Webber compositions and productions created from that point have been owned by the company.
The Really Useful Group was floated on the stock market in 1986. Four years later, Lloyd Webber took it back into private ownership, selling 30% to film and music group PolyGram to fund the cost of buying back shares. In 1995, PolyGram was bought by Canadian conglomerate Seagram, with the Really Useful stake being passed to its own film and music subsidiary, Universal. In 1999, Lloyd Webber paid $US75 million for Universal's 30% stake, giving the composer 100% ownership of the group.
The Really Useful Group was rebranded as LW Entertainment in August 2025.
The Really Useful Theatre Company produces and manages plays and musicals, mainly, but not limited to those written by Lloyd Webber. It is also responsible for licensing its productions worldwide. In the 1990s, RUT mainly produced shows on its own, but more recently has again developed partnerships with other producers and production companies, notably Bill Kenwright, to produce its works, as it had done in the 1980s with Cameron Mackintosh.
Among its productions and co-productions are:
In 2016, Really Useful partnered with Concord Theatricals to act as representative for licensing its works in North America. In October 2021, the groups extended the partnership through 2025.
Really Useful Films is responsible for the production of film versions of Lloyd Webber's catalogue. Initially, these had consisted of lower budget straight-to-video versions of the shows (Cats, Joseph, Jesus Christ Superstar, and By Jeeves), but in 2004 the Really Useful Films completed the film The Phantom of the Opera, directed by Joel Schumacher and starring Gerard Butler and Emmy Rossum, which was nominated for three Academy Awards and three Golden Globes.