Andrew Lloyd Webber has announced the reopening of his theatres after the coronavirus pandemic forced them to close.
The renowned composer, 72, revealed he is ‘hugely optimistic’ about audiences returning to take shows in.
Previews of new musical Cinderella will begin next year at the Gillian Lynne Theatre, on April 30.
Productions of The Phantom Of The Opera, and Back To The Future will be following suit next June, at Her Majesty’s Theatre and the Adelphi Theatre, respectively.
As well as this, a musical adaptation of Frozen will be hitting the stage at Theatre Royal Drury Lane in the spring.
Dates are also still to be announced for a production of Matilda, at the Cambridge Theatre in Covent Garden.
Speaking about the return to venues, Andrew said: ‘I have been working ceaselessly throughout the year to get theatre back and these are the first dates that I feel confident that we will be able to reopen to full capacity.
‘Having been on the Oxford Covid vaccine trial myself, I am hugely optimistic that once the vaccine rolls out, audiences will return to theatre in droves.
‘My theatres will be ready for them. I am raring to go.’
Hospitality and entertainment sectors have been substantially impacted during the pandemic, with most of the sectors forced to shut during lockdowns.
The star has been vocal about the impact the measured have had on the arts, suggesting that the industry may not survive much longer without support.
‘We simply have to get our arts sector back open and running,’ he told the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee. ‘We are at the point of no return really.
‘There comes a point now when we really can’t go on much more. Theatre is an incredibly labour-intensive business.’
‘In many ways putting on a show now is almost a labour of love,’ he added.
‘Very few shows hit the jackpot in the way a Hamilton, Lion King or Phantom Of The Opera do. [It’s] not like cinema, you can’t just open the building.
‘I am absolutely confident that the air in the London Palladium and in all my theatres is purer than the air outside.’
Credit: Original article published here.
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