Andrew Lloyd Webber Sues UK Government to Release COVID-19 Events Research Results

Andrew Lloyd Webber and artists within the theatre and music industries in the UK are launching legal action against the UK Government to release the results of their COVID-19 Events Research Programme.

The government has yet to reveal the results of the program, which was established to study the risk of transmission of COVID-19 at events.

Variety reported that the first phase of the program, which ran through April and May, explored how a combination of testing and non-pharmaceutical interventions could inform decisions on lifting COVID-19 restrictions at events.

The U.K. was set to reopen fully on June 21, but the reopening date has now been pushed back to July 19 due to the spread of the Delta variant of the virus. This has resulted in theatres, cinemas, and more to continue to operate at reduced capacity. Andrew Lloyd Webber's new West End production of Cinderella is set to begin previews on June 25, and officially open on July 14, but would only be able to do so at a reduced capacity as of this time.

Now, Andrew Lloyd Webber and more have launched legal action against the government to release their findings of the Events Research Programme.

"Last week I rejected the government's invitation for 'Cinderella' to be singled out as a last-minute part of the Events Research Program," stated Webber. "Today, with a range of voices from across the theater and live entertainment industries, we are forced to take it further. We simply must now see the data that is being used to strangle our industry so unfairly."

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