The Producers of THE MOUSETRAP in the West End, the Bridge Theatre's new season, and the new SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE musical will be amongst those breathing a sigh of relief at the government announcement that Indoor theatre with social distancing can officially now begin again.
Alas this won’t mean business as usual quite yet as the social distancing regulations mean many seats will still need to be removed to ensure households can sit 1m away from each other. This reduction in capacity and therefore potential ticket revenue means that most productions aren’t economically viable.
Potential Theatre makers also need to worry whether audiences will also feel safe attending whilst the news cycles are full of how the Covid 19 virus is escalating across Europe.
The Prime Minister Boris Johnson warns that the government "will not hesitate to put on the brakes if required, or to continue to implement local measures to help to control the spread of the virus". Which hardly inspires confidence.
And there are several areas of the country where people are suffering localized lockdowns because of high infection rates and where easing measures will not yet apply.
Separate rules for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are yet to be announced.
If your following developments in Government jargon this development counts as “stage four” of Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden's reopening plan.
Stage five, which will allow for normal seating arrangements, will be announced in November at the earliest.
As previously reported this will not give venues time to put on pantomimes and Christmas shows which, in normal years, generates make-or-break income for theatres across the nation.
Back in the 1980s most of the juggernaut hit musicals began life as concept albums. Theatre fans first got to hear soundtracks like EVITA and CHESS through listening to an LP (Long Playing Record) so that when the eventual show was launched they already knew and loved the score and booked enthusiastically.