Andrew Lloyd Webber offers $1.3 million grant for children

NEW YORK — Andrew Lloyd Webber came to cheer on his kid rock band at the Tony Awards — and also to give out some money to encourage more musical kids.

The legendary composer, whose "School of Rock," competed for the top musical prize Sunday, announced that he is funding $1.3 million to buy musical theater equipment in U.S. public schools and subsidize study.

"I'm afraid what's happening in America is mirrored in Britain. It seems to be that nobody quite understands in the treasuries of our various countries that every penny you put into the arts, comes back in some form — in my view, five times over," he told The Associated Press on the eve of the announcement.

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