Lloyd Webber on the hunt for new venue

Published Thursday 25 January 2007 at 15:40 by Alistair Smith

Andrew Lloyd Webber is seeking a new-style performance space to add to his portfolio of London venues, fuelling claims that traditional West End theatres may be losing their appeal for younger audiences.

The composer, producer and theatre owner revealed to The Stage that he had alerted his company the Really Useful Group to be aware that he is keen to find a new site, one which would allow him more scope for adaptability than his current crop of listed theatres. He owns seven West End venues, six of which are listed and whose latest builds date from the 19th or early 20th centuries, while the New London is the only site less than 50 years old.

“It would be interesting to have a space somewhere which would be completely flexible,” he commented. “I put a shot across everyone’s bows at the company that we should keep a look out for it. If The Master and Margarita is finished in 2008, where will we put it? The future of theatre could very much go that way with flexibility very much being the key.”

He explained that if his next musical, an adaptation of Mikhail Bulgakov’s classic novel is ready by the end of 2008, he is concerned that none of his buildings will be suitable or available - with potential long-runners such as The Sound of Music and Monty Python’s Spamalot bedded in and shows such as Phantom of the Opera still running.

According to the composer, the new show is set to be highly technically advanced and will employ a range of special effects, which could prove problematic in some of the sites, whose listed status limits the amount of work which can be carried out.

“There are difficulties with these old buildings,” he added. “For example at Drury Lane, we need air conditioning, but how do you do it? It is Grade I listed. It’s a big problem and one that I really am going to get my hands quite dirty with next year.”

Theatre architect Tim Foster, who recently oversaw the transformation of the Whitehall Theatre into its recent incarnation as the Trafalgar Studios, confirmed there were signs of a movement to look for spaces other than conventional West End theatres.

“I think there is a trend towards staging shows in more informal environments than the conventional West End proscenium houses,” said Foster. “I think it is the informality and intimacy of these types of venues which attracts both the artistic teams and audiences, rather than flexibility, per se.

“There will always be a place for the many beautiful historic theatres in the West End and elsewhere but there is a growing need for spaces which give audiences a different experience. It is often the temporary and provisional nature of these type of theatres which makes them so appealing, particularly to younger audiences.”