London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Jul 22, 2025

Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Cinderella to close in the West End

Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Cinderella to close in the West End

Shock news that show will end in June at London’s Gillian Lynne theatre brings heartache for company and those who had been due to join cast

The curtain is to come down on Andrew Lloyd Webber’s new West End musical Cinderella, just under a year after opening, with its final performance set for 12 June.

In a statement released on Sunday by Lloyd Webber’s Really Useful Group, the composer said “mounting a new show in the midst of Covid” had been an “unbelievable challenge” and that a new production of Cinderella would open on Broadway in 2023.

There was astonishment at the way in which news of the show’s closure reached current and future members of the Cinderella company over the bank holiday weekend. Summer Strallen, who had been due to join the cast, said that she had found out about it from reading a news story online and that her agent had received an email. Appearing on Instagram Live, Strallen said she had been due to start rehearsals in June and that she had been for a wig fitting three days earlier for her role as the Queen, which she was expecting to play for one year.

Luke Latchman, who had also been due to join the show, tweeted: “Imagine – planning in your head 100 times what you’re going to say when it’s announced. Telling your friends and family you have something coming and can’t wait to tell them about it. Knowing that career-changing West End lead was coming. Then you see a tweet and it’s all gone.”

Daisy Twells said that she had been due to join rehearsals next month and was set to make her West End debut in the ensemble of Cinderella. She had the next year “planned out financially and logistically” before she got the “devastating” news. “This was a dream come true for me and yesterday it was all taken away in seconds,” she tweeted on Monday. She said that she had “found out through a press release that the show is closing”.

Carrie Hope Fletcher, who plays Cinderella, tweeted on Sunday night: “I don’t think I have the words … Sending love to all impacted by today’s news and by how that news was delivered.”

A spokesperson for the Really Useful Group said on Monday: “Everyone involved in Cinderella was contacted by call, email or in person (some through agents) before the news went live in the evening. Every effort was made to ensure people were notified before it went live, while trying to manage how quickly it would move on social media once people were informed.” Paul Fleming, the general secretary of Equity, the UK trade union for creative practitioners, tweeted that the way some people had learned about the closure amounted to “a callous attack on the dignity of the Cinderella company”.

Carrie Hope Fletcher as Cinderella and Gloria Onitiri as the Godmother.


The Great British Bake Off winner and Strictly Come Dancing finalist John Whaite revealed on social media that he had been due to join the cast for Cinderella in July in the role of Prince Charming. He said that his “heart went out” to those working on the show. Cast member Victoria Hamilton-Barritt, who plays the scheming, sharp-tongued stepmother in the show and brought Cinderella its only Olivier award nomination, tweeted that the role “has been a thrill and an experience I needed … From Monday morning June 13th I’m your women in your rehearsal room.”

No specific reasons for the show’s closure were given by the Really Useful Group but Cinderella has suffered heavy losses during its run, particularly when performances were suspended from late December to early February to avoid disruption and “protect the quality of the show” while the Omicron variant spread rapidly across the UK.

The show’s arrival at the Gillian Lynne theatre in the West End was delayed by a year because of the pandemic. Government restrictions meant that Cinderella played at reduced capacity during its previews, at an estimated weekly loss of £100,000. Its official opening night was cancelled at the 11th hour last July because of a Covid case in the cast. When the show finally opened, in August, it received glowing reviews but its online booking system reveals that there are many empty seats for the remaining performances.

In his statement, Lloyd Webber said: “I am incredibly proud of Cinderella. Not only did it get some of the best reviews of my career, but we led the charge to reopen the West End, ensuring that theatre and live entertainment remained relevant and in the news.”

The composer – who in 2017 quit as a Conservative peer, saying he was entering the busiest ever period of his career – has been outspoken about the government’s handling of the pandemic. “We held the Government’s feet to the flames throughout their changes of heart during the pandemic,” he said in the statement. Last summer he even declared himself ready to risk arrest and open for full audiences when theatre capacities were restricted for social distancing. His total fortune, according to the Sunday Times Rich List for 2021, plummeted by £275m to £525m.

Theatregoers with tickets for performances after 12 June are to be contacted by the box office or their ticket agent to discuss their options. Broadway previews for Cinderella, presented with the production company No Guarantees, are set to begin in February 2023.

Rebecca Trehearn, centre, in Cinderella.


A fairytale’s ending: Cinderella’s troubled timeline



10 January 2020
News announced that Andrew Lloyd Webber is creating a new version of Cinderella with writer Emerald Fennell and lyricist David Zippel.

14 February 2020
Carrie Hope Fletcher announced in lead role for musical, set to open in August 2020.

5 March 2020
As Covid causes disruption, announcement made that the first preview will now be delayed to 9 October owing to “current global circumstances”.

8 July 2020
Opening night delayed to March 2021. “The show will absolutely go on, just a little later than I’d hoped,” says Lloyd Webber.

4 June 2021
Far Too Late song released for musical, which is now due to open in July.

8 June 2021
Lloyd Webber says he is determined to open Cinderella at full capacity and ready to risk arrest in doing so.

18 June 2021
Composer slams “government delay and confusion” and says Cinderella will not be part of a pilot scheme for reopening theatres, as suggested by the prime minister.

25 June 2021
First preview takes place at the Gillian Lynne theatre.

19 July 2021
Press night cancelled at short notice owing to a Covid case in the cast; Lloyd Webber criticises “impossible conditions created by the blunt instrument that is the government’s isolation guidance”.

18 August 2021
Cinderella finally opens to critics, receiving five stars in the Guardian.

21 December 2021
Cinderella performances halted because of Omicron and will restart “as soon as this wave is licked”, says Lloyd Webber.

3 February 2022
Cinderella reopens.

1 May 2022
Closure announced. “Thank you very much to everyone involved, particularly our UK audiences who have loved and supported the show,” says Lloyd Webber.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
South African Police Minister Suspended Amid Organised Crime Allegations
Nvidia CEO Claims Chinese Military Reluctance to Use US AI Technology
Hong Kong Advances Digital Asset Strategy to Address Economic Challenges
Australia Rules Out Pre‑commitment of Troops, Reinforces Defence Posture Amid US‑China Tensions
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
U.S. Resumes Deportations to Third Countries After Supreme Court Ruling
Excavation Begins at Site of Mass Grave for Children at Former Irish Institution
×