There was disappointment for hundreds of theatre fans on Saturday night when a performance of Jersey Boys in Newcastle was cancelled suddenly, due to illness in the cast.
The hit West End and Broadway musical, based on the story and songs of Frankie Vallii and the Four Seasons, is a strong success everyone it arrives in the North East and, months after earning rave reviews at the Sunderland Empire, it’s enjoying a run at the Theatre Royal. However, having delighted audiences earlier in the week and at a matinee that same day, there was no show on Saturday night, with the capacity crowd told just two hours before curtain up that it wouldn’t be going ahead due to i’ll health in the company.
A statement posted on the Theatre Royal’s Facebook shortly after 5.30pm read: “We are sorry to advise that due to extensive illness within the Jersey Boys company, unfortunately tonight's performance (Saturday 3 September 2022) is cancelled.
“We understand that this is disappointing and we apologise for any inconvenience caused.” The post added: “We never take the decision to cancel a performance lightly and will only do so in exceptional circumstances when all other options to enable the show to go ahead as planned have been explored.”
Jersey Boys is set to run at the Theatre Royal until September 10 and offering assurances to those with tickets to see it this week the statement said: “If you have tickets for next week, at this present time, these performances are scheduled to go ahead as planned.”
Having been looking forward to hearing classic songs like Beggin’, Oh What A Night and Let’s Hang On, ticket holders were understandably disappointed, with one replying to the Facebook to write: “ Gutted !! Cost us a fortune on travel, accommodation n restaurant!!!!! Oh, n taxi from hotel to be told CANCELLED ( n we can book next week for more money !!! ) WTF.”
Another reacted: “Not sure how the afternoon show can go ahead but then cancel the night show? Illness is unfortunate and hope they recover soon, but wow £250 down the drain on my hotel”
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