The Boys in the Photograph

The Beautiful Game
(some productions known as) The Boys in the Photograph
Original Cast Recording
Music	Andrew Lloyd Webber
Lyrics	Ben Elton
Book	Ben Elton
Productions	2000 West End 2009 Canada 2010 Johannesburg 2014 London

The Beautiful Game (sometimes performed as The Boys in the Photograph) is a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Ben Elton about a group of teenagers growing up during The Troubles in Belfast, Northern Ireland in 1969.

The title of the musical (The Beautiful Game) is taken from Pelé's autobiography My Life and the Beautiful Game. The plot, which is centred on a local football (soccer) team, focuses on the attempt to overcome the violence that has engulfed their community. The Catholic team has one atheist player, Del (who comes from a Protestant family) and the coach is a priest. The musical chronicles some of the key players during the emerging political and religious violence. Some of the players become IRA volunteers, and another is knee-capped. The musical also chronicles the emotional change in the protagonist from political ambivalence to becoming an IRA volunteer.

The most successful song from the score was "Our Kind of Love", which had originally been performed by Kiri Te Kanawa as "The Heart is Slow to Learn". It was cut from the re-worked version of the show in 2008, and used as the title song to Lloyd Webber's sequel to The Phantom of the Opera, Love Never Dies.

The world premiere of The Beautiful Game opened on 26 September 2000 at the Cambridge Theatre in London and closed 1 September 2001, after a total run of slightly more than 11 months. The production starred Irish singer Alex Sharpe in the role of Bernadette, and was directed by Robert Carsen with choreography by Meryl Tankard. The show was met with a mixed reception from the critics: while the production and Lloyd Webber's score were largely praised, Elton's book and lyrics came under fire for being crass, predictable and undistinguished although John Peter in his review in The Sunday Times wrote "Elton's book and lyrics burst with energy, indignation and intelligence. Brave and bitterly truthful...this show...need not fear comparison with West Side Story. Offhand, I cannot think of greater praise". The show never made it to Broadway.