Andrew Lloyd Webber Says His Comments Were Misunderstood After Fans Booed Him at 'Cinderella' Closing Show

Andrew Lloyd Webber was not in attendance at the final performance of Cinderella, so he had director Laurence Connor read a speech he wrote.

Variety reports that the speech read, “I am hugely sorry not to be able to be with you today, but I want to thank everyone from our fabulous cast, crew and musicians, the superb creative team… I keep thinking if only we had opened three months later, we wouldn’t have had to postpone our opening twice because of COVID… I promise you we would have been here for a very long time to come.”

The statement continued, “My huge thanks to everyone. We kept the government’s feet to the flames and led the charge to the West End opening again. It might have been a costly mistake, but I am proud of what we did and will forever be grateful to everyone who supported me.”

The “costly mistake” comment drew boos from the audience and Variety reports there were “looks of visible confusion from the production’s ensemble as they stood on stage.”

The speech concluded, “Cinderella got some of the best reviews of my career and I am immensely proud of it and it’s hugely due to you all. All my love, Andrew.”

After the speech was finished, there was a “brief pause” and then “a score of jeers engulfed the auditorium,” according to Variety.

In a statement on Twitter on Monday (June 13), Lloyd Webber clarified the comments.

“I am devastated to have been reported to have said that my beloved production of Cinderella was a ‘costly mistake.’ Nothing could be further from the truth, and I am very sorry if my words have been misunderstood,” he began the letter.

“I adore this production and I am incredibly, incredibly proud of Cinderella and everyone who has been involved in our show. We were desperate to support the West End after 2 years of a devastating pandemic and the mistake we made was trying to open too early, meaning we had to postpone twice. Everything we did was to try and support the West End and get everyone back to work after the worst period in our history. For now, I want to say thank you to everyone involved in Cinderella for all you have done,” he concluded.