The SW1 party season is currently in full swing. Ahead of The Spectator’s own shindig last night, Mr S hopped in a cab over to the sumptuous surroundings of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, opening up for the first time after a two-year £60 million renovation. Laughter, music and the popping of champagne corks echoed around the Georgian building, which Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall toured last month.
But while the stage itself was stunning, all is not well behind the scenes. The theatre industry is in crisis at the moment, with Andrew Lloyd Webber – Drury Lane’s owner – forced to cancel the opening of his long-awaited musical Cinderella this week due to a Covid case. Lloyd Webber, ennobled by his friend John Major, told Steerpike of his anger at the government’s response to the plight of his industry and confirmed that were he still in the House of Lords, he would resign the Conservative whip in protest.
Despite invitations to meet, no one from the current administration was scheduled to attend the reopening when Mr S spoke to the composer. He
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