Alan Parker Remembered: Andrew Lloyd Webber On ‘Evita’, Matthew Modine Praises ‘Birdy’ & Dexter Fletcher Recalls The ‘Bugsy Malone’ Moment That Changed His Life
Greg Evans Associate Editor/Broadway CriticAlan Parker, who died today at 76, was remembered today by colleagues and friends, with Andrew Lloyd Webber calling his Evita collaborator “one of the few directors to truly understand musicals on screen” and Matthew Modine, who starred in Parker’s 1984 drama Birdy, praising the director as a “great artist” who “transformed” the actor’s life.And Rocketman director Dexter Fletcher explained the pivotal role Parker played in his life by casting the then-nine-year-old Fletcher as “Babyface” in 1975’s Bugsy Malone.In a statement, Fletcher said:Sir Alan inadvertently changed my life at the age of 9 when he stuck me at the end of a line of 30 kids, passing a baseball bat, all whilst saying ‘Give this to