Andrew Lloyd Webber has sold the Garrick, Duchess, Apollo and Lyric theaters, all of which are primarily used for straight plays. The buyer is Nimax Theatres Limited, a company headed by American producer Max Weitzenhoffer who was most recently represented on Broadway by Medea and Really Useful Theatres production director Nica Burns. The transfer of power will occur in October.
Lloyd Webber's The Really Useful Group, in partnership with Bridgepoint Capital, currently owns and manages 12 London theaters. In addition to the four previously mentioned, they are the Adelphi for which they have a half share with the Nederlander organization, Cambridge, Theatre Royal Drury Lane, Gielgud, Her Majesty's, London Palladium, New London and Palace. Delfont Mackintosh group recently took over the Queen's Theatre, which used to be operated by Really Useful and, in March 2006, Delfont Mackintosh will take over the Gielgud.
News broke in January that Lloyd Webber was considering selling the four theaters. The small theaters, which need renovation, have long lost money. When reports surfaced that the venues were on the market, many worried that after the sale they would no longer be used as theaters but rather reconfigured into clubs or restaurants. However, those fears appear to have been unwarranted, as Weitzenhoffer and Burns have expressed their intent to present theatrical pieces in the houses. "The idea of producing and presenting great theater in these historic playhouses, as owners, is thrilling," the pair said in a statement.
