Andrew Lloyd Weber warns that the arts are at the ‘return point of return’

Lord Lloyd-Webber says the arts “will not come back” after being damaged by the coronavirus epidemic.

The composer and theater impressor told MPs that it was financially “impossible” to run theaters with social distance.

“We need to re-open and run our arts sector,” he told the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee.

“We are in a state of non-return.”

In July, Lord Lloyd-Webber performed a concert at the London Palladium to find out if socially distant performances were viable.

He spent 000 100,000 on a pilot project, hoping to allow the theater business to rise and run.

He initially wanted to show that theaters could open safely at full capacity.

However, in line with government social distance guidelines, the concert had to take place with hundreds of vacant seats.

Since then, two major new indoor theater productions have opened in London, but also with limited audience capacity.

Talking Heads monologues at the Bridge Theater and Sleepless recently opened their doors at Troubadour in Wembley Park.

However, many other theaters, including those in the West End, have not yet reopened.

“Now comes a point when we can’t really go much further,” Lord Lloyd-Webber said.

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“Theater is a very laborious business. In many ways giving performances now is almost a love affair.

“Very few performances hit the jackpot, as Hamilton, the Lion King or the Phantom of the Opera do.”

Theater Productions said, “It’s not like a movie, you can’t open a building.”

The government has announced a support package of Rs 7 1.57 billion To support the arts earlier this year, it was widely welcomed by the industry.

But Lord Lloyd-Webber stressed the importance of naming theaters to reopen.

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Lord Lloyd-Webber also discussed the “critical” importance of fresh air, saying that the air in his theaters was cleaner than outside.

“I am fully convinced that the air in the London Palladium and in my theaters is purer than the outside air.”

He suggested the Cinderella product could be moved from the UK to another location, where “people will help a little more”.

It will first open this month in the West End of London.

Rebecca Kane Burton, chief executive of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s stage LW Theaters, said: “We do not want to open theaters on a socially remote basis. I do not intend to open buildings with 30% capacity.”

She said the recent months have been devastating and catastrophic for the sector.

“This is a really bad, catastrophic time and we need to find a way out of it,” she said.

“It’s frustrating not to see a way to get a full re-opening after the pilot.”

She said: “We need time to plan. We can not turn into a tap like a theater. Christmas is in balance as we speak.”

Writing in the mail on Sunday over the weekend, Cultural Secretary Oliver Dowden said the government is currently working on a project to return some theater for the Pantomime season on the eve of Christmas.

“My officers are working on ‘Operation Sleeping Beauty’, which aims to bring back some of the theater’s magic for families this Christmas, and I hope to share more progress soon,” he said.

Mr Dowden also suggested that faster test theaters could be seen coming back.

“Testing is the short-term key until we find a vaccine that works,” he said.

“We are making exciting progress on the quick turnaround test, where daily coronavirus tests give people who test negative against the opportunity to visit the theater that evening.”

‘On their knees’

Speaking on the BBC News Channel, actor Simon Kalov said that a kind of test is a “dream”.

“This is something we need to explore.”

He said the Farruff scheme, which has helped some in the arts industry, should be expanded beyond October.

This was echoed by Theaters Trust Director Joan Morgan.

“With no advance date for the theaters to fully reopen and with the Furloff plan ending in October, we will see more repetitions and more theaters closing permanently,” he said in a statement.

Lucy Noble, Artistic and Commercial Director of the Royal Albert Hall and Chairman of the National Arenas Association, told the DCMS Committee that “the inability to perform on stage had serious consequences … serious financial consequences”.

She added: “All platforms are financially on their knees … When Oliver Dowden announced the $ 1.57 billion rescue package, the Royal Albert Hall hailed the package as one of the saving crown jewels.

“We were told we were not eligible for any grant.

“We are only eligible to borrow. We have already borrowed $ 10 million. We can no longer go into debt.”

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