Cinderella may be sold to an American investor
Andrew Lloyd Webber has said he will have to sell his musical Cinderella to an American investor if it is not able to open.
Last month the world premiere of the new show was postponed until 25 August because of Covid-19 isolation protocols.
According to media reports, Lord Lloyd-Webber said the production “can’t go on with this stop-start”.
“If Cinderella can’t open, it will have to be sold to an American investor,” he said. “I’m praying that it doesn’t have to be that way.”
The show had opened with an audience capacity of 50 per cent after the impresario rejected Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s offer for the show to be included in the live events pilot scheme.
According to The Sunday Times, Lord Lloyd-Webber said he does not “believe the Government has really listened to our concerns, so I’m talking purely economics in the hope that they might listen”.
He added: “I met the chancellor (Rishi Sunak) last week and he made the point that the US didn’t have the furlough scheme, but of course the scheme hasn’t really helped live production.
“The difficulty is that if you have a show that has been off for a long time, you have to rehearse it.”
Lord Lloyd-Webber added: “Rishi is passionate about the creative arts. He knows the vital role they play in our economy as well as society, and he’s always looking at ways to support the sector and the people working in it.”
Written by The Crown star Emerald Fennell and starring Carrie Hope Fletcher, Cinderella is described as a “complete reinvention” of the classic fairytale, and is based on an original idea by Fennell.