- The Guardian,
- Friday September 15 2000
The composer, whose Really Useful Company was once in the running to stage the dome's show, said in a letter to the Daily Telegraph "the public likes nothing more than a good blaze" and setting light to the place was the only way it was ever going to give some decent entertainment.
A giant bonfire would provide a "profitable exit route for all concerned", he declared, after the collapse of the £105m Nomura deal to buy it. "Torching the dome would attract a vast crowd, probably in the millions, who could be charged handsomely to view the conflagration. There would be hugely profitable worldwide TV, satellite and pay-per-view sales for the event," he said.
Lord Lloyd-Webber said it could become as iconic as the burning of the Hindenburg airship in 1937, providing inferno footage for disaster movies for years to come.
"All those involved in the saga could act in this sequence. Whether they should be in Hollywood stuntmen's fireproof asbestos suits is a matter for those who are experts in health and safety legislation," he added.
Lord Lloyd-Webber's musical The Beautiful Game, set against the backdrop of the Northern Irish troubles, is previewing at the Cambridge Theatre.
