Renowned composer Andrew Lloyd Webber has announced he is developing a new musical centered on the 1911 theft of Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. The production will dramatize the true story of Vincenzo Peruggia, a Louvre employee who stole the masterpiece and hid it for two years before it was recovered in Italy. Lloyd Webber revealed the project following the Broadway opening of Cats: The Jellicle Ball, noting that he is beginning the writing process immediately.
This project highlights the enduring intersection of art history and popular culture, focusing on the specific event that transformed the Mona Lisa from a respected masterwork into a global icon. The 1911 heist created a unprecedented media frenzy that fundamentally changed how the public interacts with museum objects, a phenomenon Lloyd Webber aims to translate for the stage. By dramatizing the theft, the musical will explore themes of national identity, obsession, and the birth of modern celebrity through the lens of one of the world's most famous provenance mysteries.