London's Apollo Theatre May Reopen this Spring with John Tiffany's Stage Adaptation of LET THE RIGHT ONE IN

Nica Burns, co-owner of the Apollo Theatre in London, has confirmed that the venue on Shaftesbury Avenue is set to reopen later this spring following the theatre's ceiling collapsing in December.

Burns and Nimax Theatres executives are currently working on landing John Tiffany's stage adaptation of the vampire film LET THE RIGHT ONE IN, and should the deal go through, performances would begin March 26 at the theater, with "the upper gallery roofed in to allow further examination of the ceiling," she confirmed to the Evening Standard in a new interview.

Seven people were seriously injured and 80 others hurt in the incident caused by a thunderstorm, which occurred during a performance of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time on Dec. 19.

"You never forget something like that, and nor should you," Burns said. "It was just heartbreaking: it wasn't about the building, it was about the people. Everyone involved in that night - audience, staff, their families - went through a completely traumatic event. I haven't said very much but I am so sorry to all those people that they had to go through something like that. Sorrow is the word that sums it up for me. No one should be put through that and I am so sorry."

Burns said in an interview last year that it had a budget of a mere £2.45 million to restore its five West End playhouses. Speaking to Theatres Magazine, Ms Burns commented, "Before we could start on the improvements, we had to address the damp. Water attacks the building from above and below."

The 112-year-old building was shut down until January 4 to give investigators time to work out exactly how the accident happened as well as remove any remaining wooden beams and chunks of plaster which covered the fully packed house. According to the report, " Investigations are still ongoing into the cause, as is a compensation claim for injuries (including shattered vertebrae) and stress from a six-strong London family who were watching the National Theatre production of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time that evening."

Photo by REX USA/London News Pictures/Rex