Theatre producer Sir Cameron Mackintosh has said that West End and Broadway theatres are unlikely to be able to stage musicals until early next year.
Speaking on BBC Radio 2, Sir Cameron said it’s impossible for theatres to plan for the future while social distancing is in place.
“We want the audience to feel safe, and we want the actors to feel safe.”
Theatres in many countries have been closed indefinitely in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
In the UK, all West End performances have been cancelled until at least 31 May.
Sir Cameron is a lauded theatre owner and theatrical producer, who has staged musicals including Cats, Les Miserables and the Phantom of the Opera.
His comments follow calls from other theatre professionals for urgent government bailouts, in order to save the industry from collapse.
Sir Cameron told Michael Ball it looked as if the West End and Broadway “are going to be the last to go back”.
“For major producers both sides of the Atlantic, the truth is until social distancing doesn’t exist anymore, we can’t even plan to reopen,” he said.
“We will be back, but we need time to get back. If we don’t hear [about lockdowns lifting] in a few weeks, I think the truth is we won’t be able to come back until early next year. I think that’s quite clear.
“And the longer it is until we can say social distancing is gone, the longer it’ll be for the theatre to come back.”
Last month, playwright James Graham said an “aggressive government bailout” would be needed to save UK theatres from the impact of the pandemic.
In several months’ time, “all of the reserves will have dried up and there will be no money left”, Graham warned.
“I don’t even know if there will be a theatre or film industry that we can recognise when this is all over.”
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control has confirmed 473 new cases of Coronaviruses cases in Nigeria, bringing total number of infections in the country to 177,615.
165,472 have been discharged, while 2,185 deaths have been recorded.
For Saturday’s figure, Lagos state continues to lead others with 323 cases.
Other new infections are as follows;
Akwa Ibom-46
Rivers-41
FCT-20
Ekiti-12
Osun-9
Oyo-9
Ogun-6
Bayelsa-3
Anambra-1
Edo-1
Nasarawa-1
Plateau-1
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The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, has confirmed 407 new cases of COVID19 in Nigeria.
The breakdown shows that Lagos has 160, Akwa Ibom -75, and Ondo-51.
Others include Abia-33, Oyo-29, Kaduna-18, Katsina-7, Gombe, and Ogun have 6 each.
Ekiti has 5, Delta-4, FCT-4, Ebonyi-3, Edo, and Niger have 2 each, while Bayelsa and Nasarawa have 1 each.
So far, Nigeria has had 174,315 confirmed cases, with 165,005 discharged and 2,149 deaths.
Today’s report includes 0 cases reported from Kano, Osun, Plateau, Rivers, and Sokoto States.
New infections have remained high in recent weeks after the figures became negligible in the last months before the deadly Delta variant was detected in the country.
As usual, Lagos had the largest figure 211. It is followed by Akwa Ibom with 80. Other new infections are as follows:
Kwara-73
Osun-29
Oyo-17
Rivers-17
Cross River-15
Edo-14
Anambra-9
Ogun-8
Ekiti-6
Bayelsa-4
FCT-4
Plateau-4
Bauchi-2
Nasarawa-2
Kaduna-1
Jigawa-1
This is now 173,908 total confirmed cases in Nigeria with164,994 discharged and 2,149 deaths.
