More Lion King shows cancelled in London over Covid absences

Gary Jordan, who stars as Zazu and Kayi Ushe, who stars as Simba, during a photo call
Gary Jordan, who stars as Zazu and Kayi Ushe, who stars as Simba, during a photo call earlier this year Credit: Gary Jordan, who stars as Zazu and Kayi Ushe, who stars as Simba, during a photo call earlier this year

The London production of The Lion King has announced further cancellations of performances due to “ongoing Covid-enforced absences” in the cast and crew.

Shows were due to return to today at the Lyceum Theatre after the December 14 and 15 dates was cancelled, but the Ambassador Theatre Group said in a statement that performances “can no longer play as scheduled” and it could be December 21 before they can resume.

An update on its website read:

Several shows in the US and UK have had to shut temporarily due to surging coronavirus case numbers and the spread of the Omicron variant.

The Hamilton musical has been hit in both countries, with its show on Broadway, New York, cancelled just hours before curtain-up on Wednesday due to “breakthrough cases” of the virus.

Its counterpart at the Victoria Palace Theatre, in central London, said it plans to resume shows with its 2.30pm matinee today after December 15th’s evening show was cancelled.

Two performances of Cabaret At The Kit Kat Club, featuring Eddie Redmayne and Jessie Buckley and being staged at the Playhouse Theatre in the West End, were also cancelled on Wednesday.

Both the matinee and evening performances of the production did not go ahead, with a Twitter message for the evening show saying that “despite extremely robust measures being in place, a member of the backstage company tested positive for Covid-19.”.

Life Of Pi, based on the Booker Prize-winning 2001 novel by Canadian author Yann Martel, scrapped five shows at Wyndham’s Theatre.

Producers said there had been “several cases of Covid in the company” despite “robust measures taken”.

Performances at the National Theatre of Hex, based on the classic fairy tale Sleeping Beauty, were also cancelled until Thursday.

Meanwhile, The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time is cancelled until Friday at the Troubadour Theatre Wembley.

The Royal Shakespeare Company’s The Comedy Of Errors at the Barbican in London has also been halted, with the production hoping to restart on Thursday December 23.

The festive period is crucial to theatres for income and reaching new audiences, especially so after most productions were cancelled or delayed in 2020.

This year theatres have been able to stage productions without restrictions on audience capacity.

Many venues have implemented the See It Safely scheme, from the Solt and UK Theatre bodies, which allows venues to display a special mark once they have signed up to a code of conduct and proved they are following the latest guidance.

Approved venues receive a toolkit including the mark, which can be displayed on venues and promotional material, an animated safety video, signage and further training.

Audiences now have to wear masks and show their Covid passport when attending theatre productions in the UK.