Audience Gives Standing Ovation for West End Theater's First Show in Months
A performance of the musical Songs for a New World received a socially distance standing ovation at the London Palladium on October 11, as the audience showed their appreciation for the first live West End show in months.
The owners of the Palladium, LW Theatres, said that they had reconfigured seating at the venue “to ensure that audience bubbles are seated at least 1m apart.” The stall rows were also reconfigured, they said, “to guarantee a 1m distance in front and behind and beside each group.”
Ava Delaney, who recorded this video, told Storyful: “It was spectacular, being back in the theatre again for the first time in seven month. It felt like heaven, the whole room was electric and couldn’t stop cheering and clapping the whole time. The cast was on fire and the show was exactly the message we need right now.”
On the COVID-prevention measures that were in place, Delaney said she felt really safe. “Everyone kept their masks on the whole time. Theatres everywhere should use this as an example because it was so uplifting,” she said.
Lambert Jackson Productions, who produced the show, said on Instagram that the response proved “how passionate we all are for the arts and that we WILL be back bigger and better than ever!” Credit: Ava Delaney via Storyful
