Covid: String of West End shows, including Disney's The Lion King, cancel pre-Christmas performances
A string of West End shows have been forced to cancel pre-Christmas performances due to Covid-19-related cast and crew absences.
Disney’s The Lion King will be closed from Tuesday until Boxing Day while 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 cancelled last week with more cancellations announced on Monday.
A statement on Twitter, Ambassador Theatre Group, the company behind Disney’s The Lion King: “Unfortunately performances of Disney’s The Lion King in London scheduled to take place between Tuesday 21 December and Sunday 26 December can no longer play as scheduled.
“We hope to resume performances on Tuesday 28 December at 7.30pm and will provide further information as soon as possible.
“On behalf of everyone at Disney’s The Lion King we apologise for the disappointment and for any inconvenience this may cause.”
The Book Of Mormon has also cancelled a week of shows following an “exponential” rise in positive Covid cases within their London cast and crew.
On Instagram, producers announced: “We have had to make the decision to cancel all performances of The Book of Mormon at the Prince of Wales Theatre until Monday 27 December.
“This means all performances scheduled between Monday 20 December and Thursday 23 December are now cancelled.
“Once again, we would like to apologise for the inconvenience caused. Please check back for further updates regarding performances scheduled from 27 December.”
The Young Vic Sadly, cancelled all performances of Best of Enemies up until 3 January due "to extensive Covid disruption affecting our company, front of house, production and staff teams".
Theatres are not the only West End institution suffering. Nightclubs face an uncertain end to 2021 with businesses fearing they will be forced to close amid the surge in infections.
Michael Kill, CEO Night Time Industries Association, called on the government for more clarity to avoid businesses being "caught out by further restrictions"
Nightclubs are still allowed to remain open in England but require proof of double-vaccination or a negative PCR or lateral flow test result within the last 48 hours for those attending some venues.
The West End saw shopper numbers plunge by 17% against pre-pandemic levels over the weekend as cautious people chose to remain at home.
“With less than five days to go until Christmas day and the probabilities of a circuit-breaker lockdown increasingly on the horizon, the retail and leisure sector is now facing a huge amount of financial uncertainty when it should be enjoying a much-needed shot in the arm,” said Jace Tyrrell, CEO of the New West End Company.