Former Pussycat Doll singer and The Bodyguard musical star Melody Thornton has broken her silence over the disruption that occurred at Manchester's Palace Theatre during a performance of the show which took place - and was forced to stop early - on Good Friday.
The disturbance in question saw Melody, who is currently playing Rachel Marron in the hit musical, unable to finish the final track, I Will Always Love You as a result of several audience members stealing the limelight and singing their own version at the top of their lungs, despite the act of singing along having been banned from performances. This resulted in the show being halted before it was finished and police interfering removing two ticket holders wreaking havoc.
However, despite the scene and uproar caused within the musical community, Melody, 38, took to social media to say she had received "nothing but love" from the people of Manchester and supported the statement with a clip of her singing the famous hit.
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She wrote: "Manchester has shown me nothing but love over the years! Some of my favorite memories I’ve made in Manchester… here’s one of them! #iwillalwaysloveyou Manchester."
Fans and supporters of the musical star soon flooded her comments, apologising for the crowd she faced on Friday, April 7.
One user stated: "So sorry you had to experience something like this. Such a bummer for all the cast and polite theater visitors. Hope the rest of the tour will go smoothly," while another added: "Shame the audience from that performance couldn't have been at Friday night's one instead, far more respectful!"
A third commented: "Manchester loves you!! so sorry to you, the rest cast of the cast, and all the respectful audience members because of a small minority who let Mancunians reputation down. So excited to see the show on Friday!"
Soon after the incident happened, Melody took to her Instagram stories too to tell fans how "very, very sorry" she was that they were unable to finish the show.
She said: "I wanted to send a really special message to people in Manchester who came to the show tonight, to say 'thank you so much'.
"I respect that you paid your money and I am so grateful to everyone who respects the people on stage who want to give you a beautiful show. For everything that happened tonight, I can't say, I don't have all of the details.
"I just am very very sorry that we couldn't finish the show. I fought really hard, it feels awful. I just hope that we see you again.
"The Bodyguard is a great show, it's a wonderful story, love story. And I know people were out just to see a really beautiful show and I think everyone who was respectful of the performers, I am very sorry for those who weren't.
"Hopefully we see you soon. That's it, thank you, love you."
Melody's message to Manchester comes just hours before Alison Hammond and Dermot O'Leary were forced to apologise for comments they made on this new rule - with many in the musical theatre community blasting them. Read more on that here.
The pair discussed the new rule on their show This Morning on Wednesday, April 5, which caused severe backlash from viewers. Later in the week, after police were forced to break up a "mini riot" amongst the crowd during the performance - read more on that here - Alison and Dermot took to social media respectively to sincerely apologise.
Alison wrote on Twitter and Instagram: "After reflection and the comments I made on Wednesday's show I want to apologise to anyone who I offended especially the incredibly talented theatre performers, who I have the upmost respect for."
However, this apology didn't slide with choreographer and theatre director Arlene Phillips - famed for her appearance as a judge on Strictly Come Dancing - who thanks the 48-year-old host from Birmingham but told her: "I would just like to say , you have no idea what it is really like for those performers in the shows where the songs are popular hits and certain members of the audience feel entitled to join in.
"Performers are unsure what to do. They are not trained when audiences get out of control and arguing with each other. It’s so distressing. Let’s hope this behaviour stops and normality returns." Read more on that here.
Speaking to The Mirror, the Palace Theatre, at which the riot broke out, explained: "The performance of The Bodyguard at The Palace Theatre, Manchester was stopped at 9.40pm last night and not continued. We are disappointed that the last 10 minutes of the show needed to be cancelled due to disruptive customers refusing to stay seated and spoiling the performance for others.
"We are grateful to our venue teams for dealing with these difficult circumstances in a professional and calm way, and to Greater Manchester police for their assistance.
"Future performances will continue as planned and we ask that customers are considerate towards the cast, fellow audience members and theatre team so that everyone can enjoy the wonderful entertainment on stage."
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