Andrew Lloyd Webber may shut down ‘Cinderella’ due to COVID rules

[ad_1]

The British government won’t let poor Cinderella go to the ball.

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s new musical was due to take place on Tuesday’s opening night in London, but the production plunged into disarray as one of the actors, among more than 30, tested positive for the coronavirus.

Tonight’s premiere – which was supposed to coincide with the rest of England withdrawing pandemic-related restrictions on what Downing Street calls Freedom Day – has been canceled and no new opening date has been set. In a statement, the “Phantom of the Opera” composer and owner of the West End theater said that due to quarantine rules in the UK, his music may be shutting down completely.

On Saturday, as part of this [testing] “We have identified one positive case in a member of our cast who had a cameo role on the show,” Lloyd Webber said. “As a precaution, we canceled two shows on Saturday while we did further testing on everyone behind the scenes, which came back negative.”

The production then ran follow-up PCR tests, all of which came back negative.

Lloyd Webber said, “However, the impossible conditions created by the blunt instrument that represented the government’s directive of isolation meant we could not continue. We were forced to make a devastating decision that would affect the lives and livelihoods of hundreds of people.”

Lloyd Webber ended up looking like his ghost car nearly tearing down the chandelier of the Paris Opera: “Liberty day has turned into closing day.”

But does he get rid of the sets and let out the ghost light at Gillian Lin’s theater? Sources close to the production insist that this is not Lloyd Webber’s ploy, and that the show’s case is already up in the air. A Cinderella spokesperson told The Post that there will certainly be no music shows before next week – and what happens after that date is uncertain.

“It is difficult to see a way forward under the current rules, but we will do everything we can to get back,” he said.

Other baffled sources say the musical’s progress is strong, and it would be foolish for Lloyd Webber to throw “Cinderella” in the trash.

Cinderella in London has faced struggles for more than a year due to the coronavirus pandemic. SOPA/LightRocket Images via Gett

Written by Lloyd Webber with Oscar-winning songwriter David Sebel and Emerald Fennell, “Cinderella” is the latest victim of what the British press has dubbed an “epidemic” – harsh and mandatory isolation rules that anyone who comes into close contact with an infected person should be. That the person stays at home for 10 days, according to their tracking through an app that issues a call to your phone, regardless of vaccination status or negative test result. It is estimated that soon about 10 million Britons could be couch-bound.

The business’s crippling restrictions, which will be reassessed on August 16, are wreaking havoc on an already struggling theater business in London.

In the past two weeks, big-budget musicals such as “Prince of Egypt” and “Hairspray” have been forced to cancel weeks of shows – even though most mask-wearing and capacitive rules expire on Monday. “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” now back on stage at the Palladium, had to postpone its debut 12 days earlier this month.

“These rules are the death knell for the West End,” a source said. “The government doesn’t care about us. They don’t see us – until they put on our red carpets and ask to take pictures with our stars. Just take a look at [culture secretary] Oliver Dowden in “Hairspray”. He couldn’t wait to get a photo at the first preview with Michael Ball in his gown. Then, after at least a week, the “hairspray” is forced to lock in for at least three weeks.

“They don’t care.”

The only show currently running on the Great White Way, “Springsteen on Broadway,” is running at 100 percent capacity, requires audience members to be vaccinated and has not yet experienced any performance disruptions. But this production features only two artists – Bruce Springsteen and his wife, Patti Silva.

However, sources say Broadway should avoid the West End’s money-drain disruption. When the big Broadway musicals – like “Wicked,” “Hamilton,” “The Lion King,” and “Moulin Rouge!” Back in September, actors and crews will be required to be vaccinated, and anyone who tests positive for COVID will likely be sent home without canceling shows.

“I applaud London for taking so many steps forward to try to get artists back in action, but that’s why we’re waiting for Broadway,” a Broadway source said of the New York theater’s later return. We cannot afford to be closed for 10 days. We cannot afford to be closed for two weeks.

“We will be more prepared in the fall on how to deal with this.”

.

[ad_2]