Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber very nearly wrote a James Bond musical but turned to the Biblical story of Joseph after being told 'Bond will be forgotten in five years'.
The legendary musical theatre composer made his big break with Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat which he created with Sir Tim Rice.
It came into existence after he was asked by a friend, who was a school choirmaster, if he could write a short piece for the choir.
Speaking to the Rockonteurs podcast, Sir Tim Rice said they were told to choose a topic that wouldn't date after first suggesting Bond.
"I thought probably the Bible would be a good idea, and Joseph was my favourite Bible story as a kid," he said. "When it came to the end of term school concert it went down so well with the parents, the headmaster said we've got to do this again in a bigger hall."
After receiving widespread praise, the 15 minute piece was performed at St Paul's Cathedral before being turned into a global hit.
It was that connection with St Paul's which inspired another of the duo's hit musicals - Jesus Christ Superstar.
"Because of our connection with the Dean of St Paul's, we had this weird idea to do something on the life of Jesus seen through the eyes of Judas Iscariot," Rice said.
