Despite the disruption brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, musical theater icon Andrew Lloyd Webber says he's happy to still have his health.
The playwright tells 710WOR's Len Berman and Michael Riedel that it's important to keep things in perspective during this time. In particular, he applauded the essential workers fighting the virus every day.
"We've got to remember the incredible sacrifices ... that are being made by so many people, particularly working in the hospitals. I mean, the bravery of some of the people here," he said. "I sit here moaning about the fact that my workshop is not happening ... [Now] I'm thinking how lucky I am because I'm fine!"
COVID-19 has already impacted the Webber family. He says two of his sons were sick with the coronavirus within the past few week and he had reason to be concerned for himself.
"Interestingly, my two sons both have had the virus," he revealed. "They were down — one of them was staying with me two and a half weeks ago — and I haven't picked it up. I got tested and I'm fine."
He said he took to steam inhalation three or four times a day when he learned that he might have been exposed to the virus. There's no telling if it worked, but it made him feel like he was being proactive.
While he's stayed safe so far, he adds that he's worried for the future of the theater. Broadway's hopes to reopen at the end of May might be too optimistic.
He noted that theaters in Seoul, Korea, took extreme precautions to stay open (going as far as screening audience members for symptoms), but they had to shutter indefinitely after some cast members tested positive for the virus.
"Korea pretty much thought that they'd got in pretty much under wraps, [but] nobody really knows," he said. "If you want me as a guessing person to say when I think everything's going to open, I would say I'd be surprised if it got open much before September. That's my honest guess. But you never know."
Everyone involved in Broadway wants to get back to work, but it's up to health experts, not playwrights, to determine when it's safe to do so, he said.
Listen to the full interview in the audio player above of here via iHeartRadio.
While he's confined to his home, Webber is releasing a series of performances of his musicals via his YouTube channel, The Shows Must Go On.
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