Lloyd Webber: ‘I’ll volunteer to test the new Covid vaccine
HE is the man behind some of the biggest, boldest musical productions in theatre history.
But now Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber is taking a desperate step to prove that the curtains can again be raised in the West End – by taking part in a coronavirus vaccine trial.
The lockdown has cost around 5,000 UK theatre jobs. On Wednesday, Lord Lloyd Webber said he would be taking part in tests of the vaccine being developed by Oxford University.
The 72-year-old tweeted: ‘I am excited that tomorrow I am going to be vaccinated for the Oxford Covid-19 trial. I’ll do anything to prove that theatres can re-open safely.’
Fans hailed him as a ‘hero’ with a ‘courageous fighting spirit’, while a number of stage stars and celebrities voiced their support for his move.
Former Strictly Come Dancing judge Arlene Phillips said that she was also ‘ready’ to step in if the vaccine trial needed more volunteers.
Glasgow-born stage and screen star John Barrowman said he would ‘do the same’, while Aled Jones said he was ‘more than happy to be vaccinated too’.
The experimental vaccine, called ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, is being developed by the University of Oxford in partnership with the drug company AstraZeneca.
Early results released on July 20, based on the first 1,077 people in scientific trials, suggested that the vaccine is both safe and triggers an immune response. Lord Lloyd-Webber, who spent lockdown with his wife Madeleine in Hampshire, owns seven London theatres: Cambridge Theatre, the Gillian Lynne Theatre, Her Majesty’s Theatre, Theatre Royal Drury Lane, Adelphi Theatre (co-owned with the Nederlander Group), The Other Palace and the Palladium.
He used the Palladium as a ‘test bed’ in July in a bid to attempt a reopening this year. Sanitising door handles and thermal imaging cameras were fitted as part of safety measures.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4 about his plans, he said: ‘Everybody going into the theatre is fobbed with the anti-viral chemical and the theatre itself is fobbed as everything is backstage after every performance.’
‘A courageous fighting spirit’