Ready to test an anti-coronavirus vaccine to speed up the reopening of theaters

Andrew Lloyd Webber volunteered to test a vaccine against Covid-19, to " prove theaters can safely reopen ". The British composer recently expressed the wish to resume the London performances of the Phantom of the Opera , one of his main works.

" I look forward to getting the vaccine tomorrow as part of clinical trials at the University of Oxford ," Andrew Lloyd Webber wrote in a tweet. I will do everything to prove that theaters can reopen safely ”. The composer of the musical Cats refers here to the vaccine developed in concert by the prestigious British university and the AstraZeneca laboratory.

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In recent weeks, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Cameron Mackintosh - London producer of Les Misérables , Mary Poppins and Phantom of the Opera - have castigated British authorities' decision to shut down theaters. If the two men agree on this subject, they do not see the future of their flagship show in the same way.

On July 28, Cameron Mackintosh had announced in a column published in the Evening Standard that the production of the Phantom of the Opera would " close permanently ". Andrew Lloyd Webber responded to his longtime producer's column by tweeting " as far as I'm concerned, The Phantom of the Opera will reopen ASAP ."

Across the Atlantic, The Phantom of the Opera will also have to wait before haunting the theaters of Broadway again. Like the London theaters, they have been closed since March and should remain so at least until January 2021. No shows will be played there until spring.

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A few British theaters are planning a gradual reopening from this fall, with a reduced gauge. In London, the Bridge Theater will soon present to the public its new play, Beat the Devil , in which playwright David Hare recounts his contamination with the coronavirus . The monologue performed by Ralph Fiennes is scheduled to be played from August 27 to October 31.