Special concert to celebrate Olivier Awards 40th anniversary

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Olivier Awards, the Society of London Theatre are organising a concert which will take place on 25th January 2016 at the Royal Festival Hall. 

Featuring some of the biggest West End stars (TBC), the concert will also be broadcast live on BBC Radio 3. The line-up will perform numbers from musicals and be accompanied by the BBC Concert Orchestra who will be led by principal conductor Keith Lockhart.

Society of London Theatre reports record Box Office attendances and revenue for 2013

The Society of London Theatre’s 2013 Box Office figures, published today (29th Jan 2014), show record ticket revenue and attendances. Overall attendances increased 4% to 14,587,276 and gross sales of £585,506,455 were up 11% compared to 2012, generating VAT receipts for the Treasury of £97,584,409.

The increase in revenue can be largely attributed to a markedly improved 72.7% seat capacity achieved across the year (increased from 69.21% in 2012) and strong advance sales up by an average of 21%, peaking at over £70 million in December. Despite slightly fewer performances than the previous year, almost 600,000 more people attended theatre in 2013 at an average ticket price of £40.14. Greater parity between price asked and price paid also suggests increased demand and a reduction in discounting, both evidence of the growing popularity of London theatre.

The Society of London Theatre release statement regarding Apollo Theatre roof collapse

The Society of London Theatre have released a statement to the press regarding last night's roof collapse at the Apollo Theatre during a performance of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time:

On behalf of London’s theatre industry, our thoughts and sympathies go out to everyone who was injured and affected by last night’s incident at the Apollo Theatre. We would like to praise the emergency services for their calm and rapid response and all the theatre staff on Shaftesbury Avenue for their professional and compassionate handling of the situation.

The exact cause of the incident is still being investigated and the theatre owners, Nimax, are working closely with the relevant authorities to establish exactly what happened. Our theatres entertain over 32,000 people in central London every night and all theatres take the safety of their audience, performers and staff very seriously. Every theatre undergoes rigorous safety checks and inspections by independent experts, and incidents like last night are extremely rare.