Andrew Lloyd Webber took to Twitter this morning to announce that his highly anticipated new musical Cinderella would close immediately due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Cinderella was shut down on July 17 with the report of a positive COVID-19 case and was set to resume performances on July 20th. Even with the ongoing dispute of shows in the West End playing to certain seating capacity, Andrew Lloyd Webber decided to open Cinderella at 50 percent capacity rather than wait out the pandemic any longer. Other shows on the West End, including Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat will begin playing to 100 percent capacity starting on July 20th.
Cinderella featured an updated book by Oscar-winning screenwriter Emerald Fennell with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by David Zippel. The musical starred Carrie Hope Fletcher in the title role along with Victoria Hamilton-Barritt, Ivano Turco, Rebecca Trehearn, Georgina Castle, Laura Baldwin and Gloria Onitiri.
Read Andrew Lloyd Webber's full statement below.