Sound of Music likely to replace Chitty at Palladium

Published Wednesday 18 May 2005 at 15:50 by Jeremy Austin

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang has posted closing notices at the London Palladium, fuelling speculation that Andrew Lloyd Webber is about to announce that his long-awaited production of The Sound of Music will follow it.

Costing £6.2 million, Chitty became one of the most expensive West End shows when it opened at the Really Useful Theatres venue in April 2002. It covered its costs within 18 months and went on to take £70 million at the box office. It will finish on September 4 and is scheduled as the Christmas show at the Sunderland Empire as part of a nationwide tour.

At the time of its opening, producer Michael Rose said: “The flying car was by far the biggest production cost and Anthony Ward’s set is just one visual feast after another. I like the audience to be able to see where the price of their ticket has been spent.”

The show opened on Broadway less than a month ago at the Hilton Theatre and has been nominated for five Tony Awards.

Lloyd Webber, meanwhile, whose Really Useful group owns the Palladium, is thought to be lining up The Sound of Music for the venue, possibly to open before Christmas. It is a project that the producer and composer has been working on for many years but has waited for the right venue before bringing it to London.