Andrew: We can reopen with strict safety rules
ANDREW Lloyd Webber has called on the theatre industry to be “positive” about its future amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The 72-year-old plans to trial measures at The London Palladium after Phantom of the Opera continued in South Korea with strict hygiene rules and no social distancing.
It has been “absolutely awful to see everything that I’ve loved in my life gone”, the theatre impresario said.
“I want to prove that they can be open.”
The composer told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “What I hope to do is be able to demonstrate to the Government what has happened in Korea, at The London Palladium, hopefully in the first week of July.
“We’re going to do a whole series of tests there to see whether or not it’s going to work.”
Positive
Revealing he had already ordered sterile door handles and thermal imaging cameras, Lord Lloyd-Webber said: “I really believe we in theatre must be positive and use everything we can to demonstrate we can open.
“If having done that we fail, at least we’ve tried.”
He said he had spoken to Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden and was keeping his fingers crossed that not all of the ideas suggested in an upcoming report are adopted. He said: “I’ve seen some of their advice – one was a brilliant one for musicals – that you’re not allowed to sing.”
His comments came after Les Miserables, Mary Poppins and Hamilton were pulled from the West End for the rest of the year.
Artistic director at the Young Vic Theatre Kwame Kwei-Armah also called for help after estimating 70 per cent of theatres will run out of cash by December. He said the industry “stands on the brink of ruin”.