Andrew Lloyd Webber reveals son 'critically ill' with gastric cancer 

Theater legend Andrew Lloyd Webber, whose new Broadway musical "Bad Cinderella" is set to open Thursday, delivered tragic news on Sunday when he revealed that his son Nick Lloyd Webber is "critically ill" and hospitalized with cancer.

“I am absolutely devastated to say that my eldest son Nick is critically ill,” the English composer-producer, who turns 75 on Wednesday, said in a statement. “As my friends and family know, he has been fighting gastric cancer for the last 18 months and Nick is now hospitalised,” he continued, using the British spelling of the word. “I therefore have not been able to attend the recent previews of ‘Bad Cinderella’ and as things stand, I will not be able to cheer on its wonderful cast, crew and orchestra on Opening Night this Thursday.”

Nick Lloyd Webber, 43, is the second-eldest of Andrew Lloyd Webber's five children. With older sister Imogen Lloyd Webber, a New York City-based broadcast journalist, Nick Lloyd Webber is one of Andrew Lloyd Webber's two offspring with first wife Sarah Hugill.

Following in his father's and grandparents' musical footsteps, Nick Lloyd Webber is a composer for theater — including for such musicals as "The Little Prince" and "Fat Friends: The Musical," and with scores for the Oxford Shakespeare Company — and screen, including for the 2021 movie "The Last Bus." Along with his father and Greg Wells, he shared a 2021 Grammy Award nomination for best musical theater album as a producer of "Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella."

Andrew Lloyd Webber is among the small number of EGOT winners, meaning recipients of an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Award. In addition to six Tonys as a composer or producer of Broadway musicals such as "Evita," "Cats" and "Sunset Boulevard," he received a Special Award For Lifetime Achievement in 2018.

"Bad Cinderella," with music and lyrics by Webber and David Zippel and a book by Emerald Fennell, opened in previews at the Imperial Theatre on Feb. 17.