Heist alive! Andrew Lloyd Webber takes on the man who stole the Mona Lisa

Andrew Lloyd Webber, the man behind Evita and Jesus Christ Superstar, has begun work on his new musical about the 1911 theft of the Mona Lisa. By the early 20th century, Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece had become so popular with Louvre visitors that it had to be secured behind glass. The man tasked with installing the mechanism then stole the work it was intended to protect.

Lord Lloyd-Webber will chronicle the tale of how Vincenzo Peruggia donned a worker’s smock, removed the Mona Lisa from its glass casing, carried it into a nearby stairwell and separated the portrait from its frame, then fled the scene and kept it hidden for two years as the authorities questioned Pablo Picasso, Guillaume Apollinaire and a host of other suspects. Peruggia’s comeuppance came in 1913, when he demanded a ransom for the painting from an art dealer, who — conscience prevailing — reported him to the police.

As with several of Lord Lloyd-Webber’s plays, this has the Hollywood treatment written all over it. Let us hope any future adaptation proves better than the number they did on Cats, a film the composer deemed so bad he got himself a dog. To which a colleague asked: what other historical events deserve a proper moment on the silver screen? One incident stands out to me in particular, dating back to the summer of 1990 when Italy was hosting the World Cup. On the eve of the final (where Germany defeated Argentina), Luciano Pavarotti joined forces with rival tenors Plácido Domingo and José Carreras — the latter was still recovering from chemotherapy and a bone barrow transplant targeting acute lymphoblastic leukemia. It saw three adversaries unite in a celebration of Italian culture and beamed opera to a worldwide audience like it had never been done before. Perhaps Timothée Chalamet could play the slender Carreras.

A shorter version of this feature appeared in the April 29, 2026, issue of Country Life. Click here for more information on how to subscribe.