Cameron Mackintosh Determined to Bring London's The Phantom of the Opera Back After 'Permanently' Shutting Down

In an article for Evening Standard, producer Cameron Mackintosh offered his view on the state of the theater industry in the wake of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. As previously announced, the London productions of Hamilton, Les Misérables, Mary Poppins and The Phantom of the Opera are delaying a return to performances through 2021 or "as early as practical." Now, Mackintosh has said that he and Andrew Lloyd Webber "have had to sadly permanently shut down our London and U.K. touring productions of The Phantom of the Opera, but are determined to bring it back to London in the future."

"London’s theater crisis rose to new heights of absurdity last week when Andrew Lloyd Webber brilliantly exposed the artistic and commercial bankruptcy of trying to apply social distancing to indoor mainstream theater. Even the most optimistic theater practitioners among us came to the conclusion that it is a disaster," Mackintosh said, referencing the reopening test conducted at the London Palladium on July 23; Olivier nominee Beverley Knight took the stage to perform two 30-minute song sets for a small, socially distanced audience.

"With no endgame to this crisis in sight, last week I had to follow through with the awful, distressing downsizing of my organization to ensure my company’s survival. In early May, I warned Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden and the government that this would be necessary unless we received financial help. Despite the recent announcement of a £1.57 billion rescue fund for the arts, this help still hasn’t materialized," he continued. "When COVID hit, all my eight theaters were packed with hit shows, including some of my own. So as by far the largest independent employer in the West End, it is not surprising that as both theater owner and producer, with no outside investors, I’ve taken a huge financial hit." Mackintosh mentioned that he has already contributed more than £1 billion in tax to London's economy and the theater industry.

Mackintosh concluded his article with a call on Prime Minister Boris Johnson: "Theaters aren’t meant to be dark, so please, Boris: 'Curtain up, light the lights, we have nothing to hit but the heights.' We are all raring to go back to work. But we need the money to survive and a realistic period of time to plan wisely so that the curtain stays up once we reopen. We are fed up of no business, we want to be back in show business."

"As far as I’m concerned Phantom will reopen as soon as is possible," Lloyd Webber tweeted on July 29 in response to the news.

At the time of the original shutdown announcement, The Phantom of the Opera had been running at Her Majesty's Theatre for nearly 34 years.