'Cinderella' will not open, according to Andrew Lloyd Webber

The new Andrew Lloyd Webber musical was due to open this week.

UPDATE: Cinderella performances will resume at the Gillian Lynne Theatre from 18 August. Find out more about Cinderella in London here.

We're not going to the ball just yet. The world premiere of Cinderella at the Gillian Lynne Theatre has had to postpone performances tonight and tomorrow. Cinderella was due to officially open this week, after previews began last month. A new opening date for Cinderella at the Gillian Lynne Theatre is to be announced.

The statement from Andrew Lloyd Webber reads:

"Today, on this "Freedom Day", I have been forced to take the heart-breaking decision not to open my Cinderella.

At Cinderella, from the outset, we have employed a rigorous testing system for all the cast and backstage crew before they begin work. On Saturday, as part of this process, we identified one positive case in a member of our cast who has a cameo role in the show. As a precautionary measure, we cancelled two shows on Saturday while we carried out further tests on everyone backstage, which were negative. Any of those who were identified as a close contact of the positive case were given additional PCR tests. These tests too were negative. This morning we carried out additional tests on those due to perform tonight. Every one of them was negative.

Despite this, the impossible conditions created by the blunt instrument that is the Government's isolation guidance, mean that we cannot continue. We have been forced into a devastating decision which will affect the lives and livelihoods of hundreds of people and disappoint the thousands who have booked to see the show.

Cinderella was ready to go. My sadness for our cast and crew, our loyal audience and the industry I have been fighting for is impossible to put into words.

Freedom Day has turned into closure day."

Performances of Cinderella, starring Carrie Hope Fletcher, began at the Gillian Lynne Theatre last month. A concept album was released on 9 July, which you can listen to here. 

Future performance dates for Cinderella are to be confirmed.

If you have booked Cinderella tickets with LondonTheatre.co.uk, our guest services team will reach out with next steps about your booking.

^{Photo credit: Cinderella cast (Photo by Tristram Kenton)}