{"id":691857,"date":"2026-07-14T21:43:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T21:43:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/691857\/"},"modified":"2026-07-14T21:43:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T21:43:09","slug":"andrew-lloyd-webber-says-broadway-in-dire-danger-as-cats-musical-announces-early-closing-andrew-lloyd-webber","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/691857\/","title":{"rendered":"Andrew Lloyd Webber says Broadway in \u2018dire danger\u2019 as Cats musical announces early closing | Andrew Lloyd Webber"},"content":{"rendered":"

Andrew Lloyd Webber<\/a> has spoken out about the precarious state of Broadway in the wake of the early closing of his revival Cats: The Jellicle Ball<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cBroadway is more than a street or a collection of buildings. It is an idea \u2013 and one of the greatest cultural ideas America has given us,\u201d the composer wrote in a lengthy X thread<\/a> on Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat idea is now in dire danger. I beg everyone with the power to protect it: come together before it is too late.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yesterday, it was announced<\/a> that despite receiving three Tony awards this year, Lloyd Webber\u2019s Cats: The Jellicle Ball would close after just five months on Broadway, with its final performance slated for 8 August.<\/p>\n

The show cost a reported $18m to create, but failed to recoup despite audience popularity and about $1m in weekly grosses due to the high costs of running a musical in New York\u2019s theater district.<\/p>\n

In a four star review, the Guardian praised the \u201crevolutionary verve\u201d of The Jellicle Ball, adding that it was \u201ca mighty testament to what is possible when producers look past the traditional scope of Broadway<\/a> and bring in fresh talent to widen the aperture of commercial theater\u2019s gaze\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe painful truth is that, with things as they are, bringing almost any new show to Broadway makes little financial sense,\u201d said Lloyd Webber.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe costs are immense. Creators, writers and directors are often forced to accept minimal royalties simply to get work staged.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Since the Covid-19 pandemic, 46 musicals have opened on Broadway per a New York Times<\/a> report last year, with a total cost of about $800m to bring to the stage. New musicals such as Tammy Faye, Boop! and Smash opened with big budgets and huge fanfare, but were all cancelled within four months of opening.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany now survive on a fixed weekly fee rather than sharing properly in the success of the work they helped to create,\u201d said Lloyd Webber. \u201cHow can the next generation build a life in theatre under those conditions? Young creatives cannot live on goodwill alone.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe situation is scarcely better for investors. Many count themselves fortunate if they recover even part of their money. Without investors willing to take risks, and artists able to make a living, where will Broadway\u2019s next generation of shows come from?\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the instability recognized by Lloyd Webber, Broadway\u2019s 2025-2026 season grossed a record $1.91bn in ticket sales, led by popular new productions such as Every Brilliant Thing<\/a> starring Daniel Radcliffe.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Lloyd Webber\u2019s Evita revival starring Rachel Zegler recently announced a Broadway transfer<\/a> after a successful run in London\u2019s West End. The show will open at New York\u2019s Winter Garden theatre in spring 2027.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, Broadway\u2019s established hits remain profitable,\u201d wrote the composer. \u201cBut Broadway cannot survive creatively or commercially on three old shows. New and daring work must have a future \u2013 whether on Broadway itself or in new forms such as Masquerade<\/a>, now nearing a year in New York.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lloyd Webber ended his thread with a heartfelt statement about his hope for the future of the New York stage. \u201cI am still as in love with Broadway as I was as a teenager,\u201d he said. \u201cI want future generations to experience that same sense of possibility.<\/p>\n

\u201cTheatre owners, unions and producers must come together urgently,\u201d he added. \u201cEvery part of the industry has a stake in finding a solution.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout action, Broadway risks rivalling Hollywood\u2019s empty soundstages: increasingly dark theatres where bold new work once lived.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Andrew Lloyd Webber has spoken out about the precarious state of Broadway in the wake of the early…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":691858,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[96,59,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-691857","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-entertainment","tag-gb","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/691857","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=691857"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/691857\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/691858"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=691857"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=691857"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=691857"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}