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Post by talkingheads on Jun 17, 2020 15:03:54 GMT
Statement from BILLIONAIRE Cameron Mckintosh over redundancy plans It's his personal money - would you bankroll everything indefinitely if you were him? He'll still be paying rather a lot in the meantime if the shows are to come back at all... Edit: see also the much better explanations in the "Getting theatre up and running again", thread. Or just read some basic economic theory. Technically is it his personal money? I assume his assets are all tied up in his business that no longer exists, for the moment at least. Every theatre is hemorrhaging money week by week. It's an impossible conundrum. How do you provide financial support to an industry that in effect can't return until a vaccine is found? It's heartbreaking but more and more it seems like the grim reality. |
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Post by djp on Jun 17, 2020 18:52:45 GMT
It's his personal money - would you bankroll everything indefinitely if you were him? He'll still be paying rather a lot in the meantime if the shows are to come back at all... Edit: see also the much better explanations in the "Getting theatre up and running again", thread. Or just read some basic economic theory. Technically is it his personal money? I assume his assets are all tied up in his business that no longer exists, for the moment at least. Every theatre is hemorrhaging money week by week. It's an impossible conundrum. How do you provide financial support to an industry that in effect can't return until a vaccine is found? It's heartbreaking but more and more it seems like the grim reality. Well yes but as he owns the theatres , he's presumably not worried about failing to pay rent to himself? He can't rent it to anyone else, so there's no opportunity cost- its a loss he can't avoid . His upkeep bill continues without staff. Some of any business rates bill is being covered by HMG.
Which means his big remaining cost is probably wages. But that's mostly being covered by the government furlough scheme , and its clear that there's a Whitehall battle still on to extend support for those industries that can't return to work .The Treasury is looking again at its speadsheets and not the wider economic longer term picture , but its far from clear it will win , as the political consequences of theatres closing, at least till someone buys or restarts them, are bigger than Ryan Air failing, or holidays being in Blackpool not Majorca.
What he's essentially threatening doing is treating his skilled staff like low skilled service workers who can be sacked and replaced easily, working on the idea that if they survive they can be rehired later. Probably how the Romans treated their theatre staff.
There's a range of competing explanations of that.At the extremes, he's either applying more political pressure to get extended support. Or he's just mean.
His problem is that a billionaire sacking his workforce, when most people will assume he should and could sustain a loss for 6 months or so , looks terrible. And it makes it more difficult for government to explain why its subsidizing other theatre owners when the voters assume its subsidising someone who can't and doesn't need to take that much with him.
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Post by mortal on Jun 18, 2020 9:05:08 GMT
Southampton Mayflower has just announced they are closing until 10th December
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Post by talkingheads on Jun 18, 2020 10:48:55 GMT
Southampton Mayflower has just announced they are closing until 10th December And the panto starts the next day. I really wonder if Debbie McGee will be able to take part? |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 19, 2020 0:49:49 GMT
Hairspray tour postponed until as yet unknown dates in 2021 apparently.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 19, 2020 9:30:32 GMT
Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center have canceled the rest of 2020. I imagine the announcement for most if not all of Broadway can't be too far off.
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Post by meister on Jun 23, 2020 14:52:40 GMT
I wonder if Chichester will keep the same programming and just shift it forward a year? I suspect not. From the FAQ: To keep us going: |
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Post by HereForTheatre on Jun 24, 2020 13:08:54 GMT
Curve have cancelled their Christmas musical this year.
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Post by n1david on Jun 24, 2020 13:28:06 GMT
One other by-product of these cancellations is that new productions are going to be much reduced in number next year with the number of shows which have been rolled over a year or definitely "postponed, not cancelled". The Almeida has committed to running everything that it's had to postpone, which presumably means that there are productions that might have been lined up for 2021 that won't appear now. Same with Chichester moving South Pacific and the Unfriend to new dates next year. Obviously it makes sense that if a theatre had confidence in a production this year, it would be unfair to the creatives that they wouldn't get a chance to show their work at all (unless it is impossible to do so due to cast unavailability or - as we might fear - a closed theatre). But I'm sure there are creatives working on things scheduled for 2021 who are nervously wondering if there will still be room for them.
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Post by maggiem on Jun 24, 2020 15:16:09 GMT
Further to my other post, this is the full text of the email sent from Newcastle Theatre Royal. "Theatre Royal update Due to the impact of Covid-19, Newcastle Theatre Royal announced last week, with a heavy heart, that it will remain closed until Tuesday 24 November 2020. The statement from Government on Tuesday 23 June 2020 that theatre buildings can reopen from 4 July but that live performances are not allowed, confirms this position. Newcastle Theatre Royal Trust is a charity but operates in a commercial environment. It receives no funding and relies entirely on its share of ticket sales and related income, keeping only a small proportion of ticket income which pays for the running of theatre. The Theatre Royal has been closed since 16 March 2020, when the Prime Minister advised the public not to attend theatres. Since this date it has had no income but has instead refunded tens of thousands of tickets. The impact of the crisis has been devastating. The Theatre Royal is unable to reopen until social distancing measures are removed and with no income it means it will have to significantly reduce the size of its staff team. This week Newcastle Theatre Royal Trust is starting consultation with its staff – it has a permanent staff team of 89 full and part time posts and is proposing to make 44 of these positions redundant. The majority of the remaining staff will be asked to go onto a retainer until it reopens, with just thirteen staff continuing to work on reduced hours and pay. There is no current guidance on when audiences can return and this uncertainty has led to the Trust making this very hard decision. Philip Bernays, Chief Executive of Newcastle Theatre Royal Trust said: ‘We have had no performances and no income for three months, we have no funding to support us and we have no guidance about when we will reopen. Faced with this uncertainty we have to do everything we can to secure the future of Newcastle Theatre Royal. When we reopen we will be in a changed world and as an organisation we need to be ready for this; we will need to be smaller and more flexible to face the challenges of this different future. This has led to the very difficult and heart-breaking decision that we need to significantly reduce the size of our staff team. The team are second to none in their dedication, enthusiasm and abilities. Throughout the past three months they have shown real team spirit and I want to thank them for their support and resilience at this time of crisis. They are the stars of the Theatre Royal.’ You can make a donation to Newcastle Theatre Royal via the website and there a number of other ways to support the venue too, including naming a seat in the auditorium or becoming a member. Shows at the Theatre Royal are programmed into 2021 and 2022 and tickets are available to purchase online. Further information on ways to support Newcastle Theatre Royal can be found at www.theatreroyal.co.uk/actsofkindnessOnce again, thank you for your patience and well wishes, we really appreciate your support. Stay safe." |
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Post by xanady on Jun 24, 2020 17:07:54 GMT
No Christmas show at the Curve,Leicester this year is dreadfully disappointing news.Such a wonderfully welcome and inclusive theatre.
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Post by NeilVHughes on Jun 24, 2020 17:16:43 GMT
Jermyn St Theatre has decided to stay closed for the rest of the year with productions hopefully resuming in early 2021.
On 4 July, many parts of ‘normal life’ will reopen. Theatres are still closed and live performance is prohibited.
Even if we are allowed to reopen, British theatres cannot break even with social distancing – we rely on full houses. Theatres in Europe are already reopening – because there’s more state funding for theatre in Berlin than in the whole of England, so they can run with socially distanced audiences.
Jermyn Street Theatre is a charity funded by box office, private philanthropy, trusts, and nifty co-producing. We get no government grants.
Theatres have asked government for a rescue package – a mix of loans, insurance, tax breaks, the extension of the Jobs Retention ‘furlough’ Scheme, and an investment. The money we need is far less than the bailout of the big three airlines.
Week after week has gone by. Government silence has been deafening.
Meanwhile, theatre is falling apart. Being closed is ruinously expensive. Some of the regional theatres we work with have already made most staff redundant. 70% of theatres expect to close permanently by Christmas.
Sport, cinema, restaurants, shops, pubs, museums and galleries can all chart a path back, but the performing arts – theatre, dance, live music – are incredibly difficult to reopen safely or profitably while coronavirus is in circulation unvaccinated and untreatable.
There is only one risk bigger than being closed – reopening and being forced to close again.
Reopening is a costly operation. We can’t put enough seats on sale. And if one person in a cast or crew tested positive, we’d close – without insurance. We would go bankrupt.
In the absence of any news from government, we have taken the difficult but necessary decision to remain closed to the public for the rest of 2020.
We have some very exciting projects coming up online, and by autumn we will start to create productions in our empty theatre, and stream them to your home. We’ll stay creative, entertaining you and employing as many artists as we can. But we cannot open the doors.
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Post by talkingheads on Jun 24, 2020 17:40:26 GMT
I have never been as angry as I am about the Government's silence on theatre. The profits are in evidence. The only reason at this point is that they actually want to kill off the arts, which is beyobd barbaric.
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Post by moelhywel on Jun 24, 2020 21:49:59 GMT
Item coming up on Newsnight about theatres.
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Post by basdfg on Jun 24, 2020 21:56:49 GMT
I have never been as angry as I am about the Government's silence on theatre. The profits are in evidence. The only reason at this point is that they actually want to kill off the arts, which is beyobd barbaric. It's a culture war - and for this government it thinks it's swing voters think the arts are not worth saving - it openly wants it's proxies in the press to be able to attack theatres for needing support.
How are things financially on broadway and the americain theatre industry.
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Post by Jon on Jun 24, 2020 22:03:16 GMT
I have never been as angry as I am about the Government's silence on theatre. The profits are in evidence. The only reason at this point is that they actually want to kill off the arts, which is beyobd barbaric. It's a culture war - and for this government it thinks it's swing voters think the arts are not worth saving - it openly wants it's proxies in the press to be able to attack theatres for needing support.
How are things financially on broadway and the americain theatre industry.
There is no culture war.... |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 24, 2020 22:44:37 GMT
If the Christmas shows start going then how many theatres will survive and likewise smaller music venues who will likely be using their gig rooms as bar overflows.
Also will anything really be able to open next winter if the risk is still there?
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Post by n1david on Jun 25, 2020 15:06:06 GMT
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Post by talkingheads on Jun 25, 2020 21:17:56 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jun 25, 2020 21:59:11 GMT
Sad News! Got lots of great reduced tickets from there over the years. Sadly I can see it being developed into some sort of cafe - food outlet given it's location and footfall. |
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Post by MrBraithwaite on Jun 26, 2020 5:42:05 GMT
Very sad.  |
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Post by jaqs on Jun 28, 2020 19:00:53 GMT
Has Cinderella been officially postponed/cancelled/anything yet?
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Post by Jon on Jun 28, 2020 19:04:08 GMT
Has Cinderella been officially postponed/cancelled/anything yet? I wouldn't be surprised if the Gillian Lynne ends up being the theatre which ALW's Palladium test is rolled out first to if it's a success due to it being a more modern building so Cinderella may go ahead as planned. |
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Post by jaqs on Jun 28, 2020 20:15:30 GMT
Thanks, was checking what tickets I still had and that was the only one I didn’t know the status of.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 28, 2020 20:39:08 GMT
What is happening with contracts for long running shows which have probably expired during lockdown?
Would an actor be expected to return to the role, expect to return to the role if they had say 3 months left on their deal when the theatres went dark?
Even with one metre rule, it would be a logistical nightmare to social distance everyone even if families have "bubbled". A group of 8 people might have booked tickets could be friends, family, friends and family, 4 couples etc. There must be Computer programmes which can do this but what if people want the loo mid performance etc.
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