The Phantom Of The Opera West End ‘will reopen as soon as is possible’ says Andrew Lloyd Webber

Andrew Lloyd Webber has issued a short statement about the fate of The Phantom Of The Opera in the West End.

Producer Cameron Mackintosh yesterday said that the London production had closed “permanently”.

“I have had to sadly permanently shut down our London and UK touring productions of The Phantom of the Opera, but are determined to bring it back to London in the future,” Mackintosh wrote in the London Evening Standard.

Reacting to the news, composer Andrew Lloyd Webber issued a short statement on Twitter reading: “As far as I’m concerned Phantom will reopen as soon as is possible.”

It was previously announced that The Phantom of the Opera would have to undergo an “extended closure” for repairs to the set and theatre.

A statement read: “Cameron Mackintosh and the Really Useful Group have over the last few months of the London run and since the enforced closure of The Phantom of the Opera due to [the pandemic] undertaken a number of specialist inspections to see how much repair and maintenance work is needed to be done to the physical production and the Theatre.

“The conclusion is that unfortunately, the work is so considerable, a period of extended closure is urgently needed.

“The set of this, the original production, is now over 34 years old and unsurprisingly many of the scenic elements are coming to the end of their natural life which was never envisaged to be as long as this when first built.

“LW Theatres, operator of Her Majesty’s Theatre, also need to attend to a number of remedial works on this historic building that for the last four decades has only been able to undertake decorative work.”

Playing in the West End since 1986, The Phantom Of The Opera is based on the French novel of the same name by Gaston Leroux.

Featuring music by Lloyd Webber with lyrics by Charles Hart and Richard Stilgoe, it tells the story of soprano singer Christine Daaé who becomes the obsession of a masked musical genius who resides beneath a Paris opera house.