New health and safety checks ordered on The Wizard of Oz
A plan to build a real Yellow Brick Road outside the upcoming
West End musical adaptation of the Wizard of Oz is facing scrutiny
from health and safety inspectors.
Composer and executive producer, Andrew Lloyd Webber, wants the
pavements outside the London Palladium, on Argyll Street - where
the show is due to open on 1 March - to be painted yellow, to match
the show's iconic pathway.
The health and safety department of Westminster Council has
said, however, that more checks must be carried out by their
officials to make sure that theatre-goers and the general public
are not put in any danger by the paint. A complete risk assessment
has been ordered by the council.
The musical theatre mogul revealed a little of his frustration
with the matter in a recent interview, stating, "The Yellow Brick
Road we were hoping to get done has been bogged down by health and
safety... At the moment we are doing tests."
Argyll Street is one of the most congested areas in London,
linking the permanently busy tourist hub of Oxford Circus, with
Carnaby Street and Soho.
The Wizard of Oz is expected to be the latest in a long line of
hits for the theatre mogul, with advanced ticket sales already
valued at more than £10 million. The show will star the winner of
BBC1 talent show Over The Rainbow, Danielle Hope, as Dorothy, and
theatre legend, Michael Crawford, as the Wizard.