Getting recreation and leisure up and running again.

ALW planning for Cinderella, Phantom and Joseph to all open in July.

www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-9310467/Andrew-Lloyd-Webber-starts-Cinderella-rehearsals-spending-1m-month-theatres-afloat.html

If he puts on sing along performances once a week I'm all for it. Any other performance people should be chucked out.

By the end of June, when the theatres re-open and social distancing ceases, it's said that everyone will have been vaccinated and all the high risk groups 1- 6 would have had their second jab and we'll be well on our way with the rest too. The current target timeframe for everyone to be vaccinated is way out just to be safe, it will all be done by the start of June if everything carries on going smoothly according to analysis.(so a big if to be fair). If you think about it that's why the opening up date is set when it is.

So really if everyone has high protection I honestly don't see the issue with full venues and returning to life as normal, though I'm sure that there will still be things in place to keep everyone as safe as possible and of course there is still a question mark over masks, which Id be fine with.

As for the non vaccinated people, well that's up to them if they want to put themselves at risk. They only have themselves to blame.

Taxi drivers will be less than impressed as well.

It will also make it harder for those with mobility issues to reach a large number of venues.

Closing 60 roads is made to sound idyllic. But for many with a wide range of disabilities, it can make things much more restricted.

Councils are not doing adequate Impact Assessments under the Equality Act for many of these schemes round the country. They are not doing full consultations with all affected groups.

Most are driven by a rush for cheap headlines and anti-car dogma.

Sunday performances have been discussed previously somewhere on the board, but it sounds like the industry is taking the pause as an opportunity to really revise performance schedules and embrace Sunday shows.
Some big West End shows looking at it already and ATG have mailed out a survey discussing this.

It's a long standing over approach in the US on Broadway. I'm 100% in favour of a Sunday afternoon show rather than a Monday evening.

I think this has the potential to affect touring shows for the better too. Currently shows on the touring circuit run their final performance on a Saturday night, then overnight productions de-rig and move overnight, this often leaves production staff working overnight Saturday then driving 100-300 miles without sleep to get to the next venue, sleep and then start the fitup the next day. Exhausting!
If UK receiving houses in unison accept Sunday performances, this could shift to a final performance Sunday afternoon and a much easier schedule for production movement. Completely in favour of this.


Edit: overzealous use of the word 'overnight' apologies!

I've liked this post but that isn't enough to say how much I 1000% agree with it.

I used to be crew in a receiving house and we were knackered after finishing at 1 or 2 am and then starting again Sunday morning for another 11-12 hours for the next show and that was being able to go home in between. The touring staff had to do that but be in a different city. It isn't a method of working that should be acceptable in this day and age. Especially given the hazards encounted doing a get-in and get-out.

Now I'm just a punter that lives further from London than I'd like Sunday shows would get money from me as I'd travel down on a Saturday do a matinee and evening and stay overnight and see another show on Sunday. It would also mean I didn't have to worry about the early finish of trains on a Saturday night.

Along with Sunday performances I love a varied matinee day - always great to be able to do a two show day Tues-Thurs (and very occasionally a Friday).

I'm at odds with the general consensus here. On the rare occasions I have been to a Sunday matinee I haven't enjoyed it at all, London feels all wrong, without its usual buzz (I'm talking pre-Covid, of course). I'm a midweek matinee gal through and through (OK, I'm retired, so that helps). On Sundays, though, I have travel issues, usually rail replacements and then the buses have stopped running when I finally reach my home station. Saturdays are better, apart from having to contend with football fans on my way home. I'm usually a lone theatregoer, so don't stay on for an evening show.

London is full of tourists/shoppers on a weekend, I’ll agree that I much prefer a midweek matinee for that reason (fortunate not to work a fixed pattern and often have days off midweek). Saturdays of course tend to be more expensive too.

I've been to quite a few Sunday matinees over the last few years, because Mischief have been doing them since 2014. I also sometimes attend mid-week matinees when I'm between temp jobs. My overall impression is that in the West End there's not much difference in atmosphere between weekday & Sunday matinees. The most "dead" performances I've been to have been weekday matinees at my local theatre for less popular shows, where the auditorium has been about a quarter full & I've been one of the very few audience members under pensionable age!

Surely working Sundays would mean they scrap one of the weekday performances in lieu. I'd vote Monday evening, especially if people now have four opportunities to see a show over the weekend.