Ticket-holders will have fingers crossed that the lavish musical production of Disney's Beauty and the Beast will go ahead this week following the cancellation of further shows due to Covid.
The run of the musical at the Sunderland Empire was brought to an abrupt halt on Sunday due to what Disney referred to as "Covid-enforced absences".
The initial hope was that the show would resume this Tuesday and it was not confirmed until the morning of the sell-out evening performance that this would not be the case.
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In an update on social media, Disney apologised and said it now hopes to restart the run on Wednesday.
Disappointed theatregoers first learned there was an issue on Sunday when it was announced the planned January 30 matinee was being cancelled "due to Covid-enforced absences within our cast and crew".
That statement from Disney, posted on social media, apologised to audiences for the disappointment and any inconvenience caused.
The touring show, which is running at the theatre until February 19, had not been due to have a performance on Monday and the hope had been to resume performances on Tuesday. This evening show was said online to be sold out.
One Twitter user responded to the statement asking if the Wednesday show would be on while another wrote: "Argh!! Eek I'm supposed to be finally coming again on Wednesday and am sooo excited plus all my travel booked from Leeds."
She added it had been a long since she she attended the "fab" Sunderland Empire and that it is "so sad" that Covid is still affecting theatres.
She said she knew cancellations had to be happen to protect people but would be "gutted" to miss her favourite show and her chance to see Alyn Hawke, who plays the Beast, adding "but of course safety comes first".
Another, who responded to the post on the theatre's Twitter account, thought two hours' notification of the cancellation was "crazy" .
And one audience member, who said she had seen the musical on Friday, tweeted that she had been "pinged" following the performance.
Posting a picture of her negative lateral flow test result she added: "They were all amazing. So far so good here for now."
In its updated statement Disney said "we will provide further information as soon as possible".
Sunderland Empire and Disney are due to make a comment this Tuesday.
