Lloyd Webber — hi-viz lord of all he surveys
ANDREW LLOyD WEBBER donned his building site safety gear, including a very becoming hard hat, and declared: ‘I’m ready for my close-up.’
He’s also ready to buy more large theatres — if only some were available.
The composer and impresario cut quite a figure in his hi-viz vest, builder’s boots and protective glasses — a look that could catch on, once I get a copy of my photograph over to the folks at GQ.
The master builder was showing me around the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, where a 200strong team is painstakingly restoring and refurbishing the Grade I-listed venue.
Even with indoor- outdoor scaffolding, and shorn of its plush seats and swish carpets, the Lane (as it’s fondly known) is still a magnificent piece of architecture. All kinds of goodies have been uncovered, including Grecian pillars in the main foyer that had been boxed in.
When the makeover is completed next summer, the theatre will once again be the grandest of gems.
Lloyd Webber was in good humour but admitted he occasionally feels distraught because of the paucity of musical houses in the West End.
‘If anything, I’d like to buy one or two more because we are short of places for big musicals,’ he told me. One would have to think about building from scratch; or joining a development and getting it built that way. It’s a desperate situation.’
Part of the reason, of course, is that some shows run for decades. This includes his own Phantom Of The Opera at Her Majesty’s — one of six entertainment palaces Lloyd Webber owns ( including the London Palladium) through his LW Theatres organisation.
He also shares control of the desirable Adelphi with James Nederlander, who owns a chunk of Broadway.
We were soon joined by Rebecca Kane Burton, LWT’s chief executive; and Dan Watkins, the project manager.
They pointed out the mammoth pit, where there were once six Victorian hydraulic lifts. Lloyd Webber joked that the giant hole was really being dug for a swimming pool.
Kane Burton, who, once upon a time, worked for English Heritage, looked around, stunned by the size and scale of it.
‘Completely gutted, it looks like a Roman amphitheatre,’ she observed.
Leg room is being increased, although that does mean 200 or so fewer seats. There will be loads more ladies loos, too.
Back in the day, there was a King’s side of the house and a Prince’s side. That’s being restored. Tickets for King’s will have a crown; while those for the Prince will bear the Prince of Wales feathers. A bit sexist, I thought. ‘Well, there are queens here all the time,’ Lloyd Webber noted, though I had no idea what he could have been referring to.
There will be bars, a restaurant, a Rotunda bar and the Grand Saloon (Lloyd Webber likes the idea of afternoon tea and a small orchestra in there).
Kane Burton warned that there’s ‘ a clock ticking very firmly in everyone’s head’.
The Disney musical Frozen (as this page was first to report) begins performances here in autumn 2020; and director Michael Grandage and his team will be eager to get the set in, and do run- throughs and, perhaps, try out a new song or two.
Tickets for Frozen will go on sale in February.