Andrew Lloyd Webber "Joseph" began life as a short cantata that gained some recognition on its second staging with a favourable review in "The Times". For its subsequent performances, Rice and Lloyd Webber revised the show and added new songs to expand it to a more substantial length. Continued expansion eventually culminated in a 1972 stage musical and then a two-hour-long production being staged in the West End in 1973 on the back of the success of "Jesus Christ Superstar". In 1969 Rice and Lloyd Webber wrote a song for the Eurovision Song Contest called "Try It and See", which was not selected.
The Woman in White (musical) argued that Lloyd Webber's music, "never before so classical and operatic, becomes hypnotic and slowly unveils its melodies. You have to work for it but it's worth it." De Jongh criticised Jones' book, noting "If only Lloyd Webber had realised Charlotte Jones's free adaptation of Collins's original was preposterous." In his three-star review for The Guardian, Michael Billington praised David Zippel's "deft and neat" lyrics but, like De Jongh, took issue with Jones' book. He said, "I don't object to Jones excising minor characters or altering the story's structure: that inevitably happens when you turn a novel into a musical.