Blow: The Royal Albert Hall had to cancel performances of The Nutcracker
The iconic Royal Albert Hall is on the verge of securing a £20million lifeline from the Government after having to cancel its first show with an audience since closing its doors due to the pandemic.
The London concert hall – which is hoping for a loan from Arts Council England – missed out on getting financial help through the £1.57billion arts sector rescue package.
Chief executive Craig Hassall told The Mail on Sunday that the loan would help to put the venue’s finances on a sounder footing.
The pandemic has cost the Albert Hall £30 million in lost income and it also had to refund £7.5 million for tickets after shows were called off. It had planned to reopen to socially distanced crowds on Thursday, but the event and several other performances including The Nutcracker, were cancelled as Tier 2 restrictions limit audience numbers to 1,000.
The venue, which is owned by a charitable trust, still plans to put on several Christmas shows with small audiences, while charging for live streaming.
Hassall said: ‘We want to start building public confidence in going out to shows because people have been really knocked by this.’
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