The Les Miserables box office, which briefly reopened in December
Credit: PA
The usual pleasure of booking for a show and anticipating a great night out has been replaced, this past year, by a new, painfully frustrating experience. You book, the Prime Minister gives another “Alas…” address, the show gets postponed, you rebook for a future date, Boris speaks again, the show gets postponed - and repeat, ad nauseum.
Now imagine the stress of box office workers at the other end of the phone, who probably heard this news at the same time as you, fears for their job, and is now handling a constant stream of queries from annoyed customers wanting to know how the latest lockdown or tier change affects their booking.
Roar writer Matthew Seaman on the consequences of new Covid-19 restrictions on the theatre industry.
My last article, on the role of theatre as more than just a ‘hospitality industry,’ is already outdated, as London entered Tier 3, and now Tier 4. I spoke about the long-awaited return of the hit West End musical
Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, which did enjoy its glorious reopening at London’s Apollo Theatre on Saturday 12th December. Despite being at fifty percent capacity, the audience managed to welcome the cast back with just as much energy as always. After what must have been an exhausting four shows in just one weekend, the inevitable, but no less painful, announcement came from Daily Mail’s Baz Bamigboye: