Mackintosh Unveils Multi-million Theatre Rescue PlansDate: 10 January 2003
Cameron Mackintosh (pictured) has revealed his multi-million pound plans for refurbishing seven of his theatre and has called on the Government to appoint a theatre "tsar" to oversee the fortunes of the West End as a whole (See The Goss, 6 Dec 2002).
The impresario, through his company Delfont Mackintosh, currently operates two major West End houses - the Prince Edward (home to Mamma Mia!) and the Prince of Wales. Of the £30 million Mackintosh has pledged for renovations, £7 million will go to the Prince of Wales alone for extensive refurbishments of the 1,100-seat auditorium and the front-of-house facilities as well as an updating of the building's Art Deco frontage. Work will start this summer, when the theatre will close after the run of Cliff - The Musical, reopening in 2004.
Over the next four years, ownership and operation of five other West End venues - the Strand, Albery, Wyndham's, Queen's and Gielgud - will also revert to Mackintosh and plans are being developed for improvements to them as well.
The Society of London Theatres (SOLT), the marketing body for the West End, and other industry figures have long bemoaned the state of theatreland, with recent estimates putting the figure at anywhere from £90 million to more than £200 million necessary to ensure long-term survival.
Mackintosh said yesterday that he hoped the refurbishments would "bring a sense of pride back to theatreland and some of the original glory to the theatre it contains". He challenged the Government to match his commitment.
He went on to criticise the current state of affairs in the West End, saying mayor Ken Livingstone lacked the power to make any substantial contributions and that catchment splits between Westminster and Camden Councils and the mayor's office meant no one took overall responsibility for the area. Mackintosh's suggestion is that, as with other special interest matters, a dedicated government 'tsar' should be appointed.
"I don't care what the person's title is, but someone needs the authority to bring everything together - the shopkeepers, the councils, the police and the transport authorities," he said.
Mackintosh has made no secret of his dissatisfaction with mayor Livingstone's handling of the West End's problems over the past few years, both before and after the dramatic post-September 11th downturn in trade (See News, 1 Mar 2001 & 18 Oct 2001). Yesterday, he once again reiterated the point: "London is the gateway to the UK, and one of its great attractions has always been the quality of our actors, productions and the historic theatres which house them. Recent reports have valued the direct and indirect contribution to the British economy at over £1 billion. The size of this contribution is not evident in a walk around London or a trip to the theatre."
- by Terri Paddock
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