The Stage

Raymond Gubbay latest to warn of Olympic threat for London theatre

Published Monday 13 February 2012 at 11:15 by Alistair Smith

Opera impresario Raymond Gubbay has become the latest Theatreland figure to express his concerns about the potential effect of the London 2012 Olympics on theatre attendance in the capital.

Gubbay has said that he will not be staging any shows over the summer because of the Olympics, claiming that “90% of the regular bookings aren’t coming”.

He told The Daily Telegraph: “There is a lot of concern about what will happen to theatres this summer. The traditional audience isn’t coming. We’ve planned accordingly. We’re not doing anything at all during the Olympics, because it is not a good thing to do. We are putting on Porgy and Bess at the Coliseum at the beginning of July then battening down the hatches until the end of September.

“The history of the Olympics elsewhere indicates that people who do come to watch the sport aren’t necessarily going to fill the theatres. We decided to play safe and opt out.”

His warnings echo similar concerns voiced by composer, producer and theatre owner Andrew Lloyd Webber, who had warned of a “bloodbath” for London theatre during the Olympics.

Other producers, though, have been more upbeat about Theatreland’s prospects.

Society of London Theatre president Mark Rubinstein told The Stage: “Shows that have looked at their bookings - this is the long-running shows that you’d expect to do well in the Olympics - are significantly up in the Olympic weeks. Of course we know that the strong titles, the core shows, are going to be the ones that people are going to book, because they have a reputation. It’s going to be different - some shows are going to do well, some aren’t. But I think some shows are going to do very well.”