Just in: Andrew Lloyd Webber calls off Cinderella

Just in: Andrew Lloyd Webber calls off Cinderella

News

norman lebrecht

July 19, 2021

After a petulant month of publicity, the composer-impresario has yielded to a Covid outbreak.

Here’s Reuters:

July 19 (Reuters) – Musical theatre impresario Andrew Lloyd Webber on Monday closed his new London production of “Cinderella” the day before it was due to open after a cast member tested positive for the coronavirus.

Lloyd Webber did not announce a new opening date, blaming “impossible conditions” imposed by the British government.

“I have been forced to take the heart-breaking decision not to open my ‘Cinderella’,” Lloyd Webber said in a statement.

“The impossible conditions created by the blunt instrument that is the government’s isolation guidance, mean that we cannot continue,” he added.

Comments

  • Fred Funk says:

    So it’s a combination of poor hygiene, vaccination status, and regular testing. Some VERY stupid people over there.

  • V Lind says:

    ALW may have written some popular things, and a few songs are actually quite good, but he is otherwise a waste of space.

    His attitude to the House of Lords is disgusting. Whatever one might feel about the Lords, he accepted the title, which makes him a member of one of the Houses of Parliament. He turned up once in recent memory in order to vote on the wrong side of some issue or other, and does nothing but whinge, as if everything done in the UK were a personal slight to him.

    His sense of entitlement is breathtaking. He ought to be stripped of the title, which he only uses to throw his weight around. And, presumably, in the time-honoured way, to get a good table in a restaurant. He is of neither use nor ornament to the Lords.

    • Steve says:

      When you say “to vote on the wrong side”, do you mean he unintentionally voted in the opposite manner to his intentions? Or simply that he didn’t vote the way you would have?

      • Anthony Sayer says:

        We must remember there is a ‘right’ and a ‘wrong’. The smug, entitled left have a monopoly on the former. You must educate yourself.

      • V Lind says:

        The latter. He returned from the US to vote against a Lords amendment that would have delayed George Osborne’s tax credits cut for three years.

        Considering he voted in only 2% of the votes that took place while he retained his seat, I thought that self-serving.

        He has left the Lords, though, probably pressured because of his low attendance and lack of participation.

  • Sam says:

    And yet apparently Lord Grimstone, investment minister, told one large employer that app was only an ‘advisory tool’ and that people were not under any ‘legal duty’.

    • Saxon says:

      I think that is the actual legal situation: if someone declines to self-isolate then they have not broken the law. There is also no legal requirement to use the app (many people don’t carry a mobile phone around with them, some don’t even have a mobile phone).

  • Gustavo says:

    With 54% percent of the UK population fully vaccinated (and presumably quite a high proportion of people who have either survived or died of COVID-19), I honestly can’t understand why Cinderella shouldn’t be allowed to go to the ball.

    • Robert Roy says:

      Good taste?

    • Saxon says:

      Around 54 percent of people in Britain have had the virus: those people will have the same immunity as someone who has had the vaccine. There are probably have around enough people with immunity (adding the two groups together) to stop the virus spreading uncontrollably, which means relaxing restrictions is reasonably safe.

      Of course, we can not completely eliminate Covid, and there will always be people who get seriously ill from it, but the numbers will be reasonable small.

  • Gustavo says:

    Baron Lloyd-Webber’s “Marry for Love” is reminiscent of themes by John Williams:

    “Harry’s Wonderous World” – from 03:07…
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAOTXm3Nv0U

    “The Search for the Blue Fairy” – from 02:28…
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-tbIcxyph8

  • George M. says:

    Glad everyone was spared another awful “musical.”

  • Bella says:

    Funny bc everyone agrees with ALW. We’re done with this crap. Cancel a show over one case of sniffles ( probs not even) is insanity. No one has any confidence in this government any more. House arrest for all.. ” For your safety”

    • Anthony Sayer says:

      Absolutely. Being risk-averse to the point of nocturnal incontinence just pulls the rug out from under the left’s feet. They have nothing else to offer except big state and control and are thus nullified. Covid has been a godsend for them. Also, the snobs who denigrate ALW are probably just jealous of his success.

  • Gustavo says:

    “Freedom day” with Big Boris Nass

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_ULdXn3C_8

  • Micaelo Cassetti says:

    Cinderella??
    Christmas is STILL over five months away…

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