The West End at breaking point: ‘We’re running out of Sellotape to hold everything together’

Theatres face reaching breaking-point early next year if the Omicron surge carries on unabated and Government doesn’t step in to offer help, Andrew Lloyd Webber has warned, as the West End continued to battle an unprecedented slew of abrupt closures.

The composer owns six theatres, including Her Majesty’s – home to his long-running blockbuster The Phantom of the Opera and the Cambridge, home to the RSC’s rival smash Matilda.

The latter lost performances on Wednesday and Thursday evening, and other big shows to be affected by sudden cancellations include Cabaret, which has ceased performances until next week, and Hamilton, which has closed until Friday at the earliest. For Lloyd Webber, whose latest show Cinderella lost a matinee on Wednesday and has been cancelled from Thursday evening through to Sunday, theatreland faces a twofold headache: the challenge of keeping shows running given the virulence of the new strain and a collapse in audience confidence.

“It’s now at the point where everything will break if we can’t get through January and February,” he said. “When Omicron was first announced a few weeks ago, the box-office [takings] went down by about 30 per cent for our shows, then it went down by another 30 per cent. It’s a trickle at the moment. January and February is always a bad time but everything has fallen off a cliff. The advance was strong so hopefully we will be able to carry on but how long for is another matter. You can’t go on forever. Everyone is hoping that things will improve by the end of February.”

Might long-runners like Phantom be at risk? “Obviously we would try to keep both Phantom and Cinderella going for as long as we could, but they are big shows, among the biggest in London,” he said. “You can’t take any big show for granted.” In June he told the Telegraph that he might have to sell some of his theatres. The risk remains, he says. “If the worst comes to the worst, we’re still in that boat.”

The commercial sector has received little in the way of government financial support. “I think the Government is now basically saying ‘We can’t afford to support anyone anymore, we will allow everything to go on’.” he says. “And I think the view of Nadine Dorries [the Culture Secretary] is that the West End is run by billionaires and they don’t need help. In our case she’s wrong. We have had to apply to the bank for more money. We’re not a money tree. It boils down to what kind of West End you want. Do you want owners who care passionately about the buildings or do you want them owned by venture capitalists?”

Dorries “hasn’t been in touch”, he notes. “I don’t believe this government will ever listen to me about the importance of theatre. And I don’t know if I can get back into campaigning - what’s the point?”

His high levels are concern are matched elsewhere. “It’s a nightmare and the Treasury is nowhere to be seen,” rails veteran producer Cameron Mackintosh, who owns eight theatres. “Lack of musicians, wardrobe, wigs, follow-spot [operators] and front of house staff are just as big a contributor to shows being cancelled [as cast infections]. We seem to be collectively running out of Sellotape to hold everything together, and fast.”

“This has happened at exactly the worst moment,” confirms Julian Bird, the CEO of the Society of London Theatre (SOLT). “We have always said that the Christmas period is the most important period for regional and London theatres. The majority of revenues are made at this time of year. The sector is going to take a big knock. Nadine Dorries should be advocating for it. She needs to be pushing the Treasury for financial support that organisations and individuals need. The Government is saying that it safe for us to stay open at this time. But if confidence falls off a cliff or more restrictions are introduced, we need support announced soon.”

Nimax's Nica Burns, who operates six theatres, strikes a more optimistic note. “Yes, it’s a nightmare and it’s tough to deal with, but the bottom line is that theatres are open at 100 per cent capacity. We had 92 per cent capacity across our theatres last week, which is the same as 2019, and that was a bumper year. Our concern is for the future. If the Government is telling people to work from home and not socialise that’s obviously going to make us alarmed. So far, though, I would say this is a set-back. It’s not an existential crisis, yet.”