Open-air performance of Jesus Christ Superstar cancelled after technical glitch downs giant wooden cross

Cancelled: More than 1,000 people were left waiting outside the Regent’s Park theatre for more than an hour
@george.beard

Theatre bosses today apologised after an open-air performance of Jesus Christ Superstar was cancelled at the last minute when a technical glitch downed the set’s giant wooden cross.

More than 1,000 people were left waiting outside the Regent’s Park theatre for more than an hour before the plug was pulled on the sell-out show last night.

Fans told the Standard they saw stage-hands working to attempt to fix a 35ft cross which is supposed to rise up and tower above the stage before the scene in which Christ is crucified. A backstage power outage was later blamed for the failure.

The 1971 show, written by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber and starring EastEnders and Once actor Declan Bennett in its 45th anniversary performance, opened in preview last week before its official launch on Thursday.

It has been billed as the highlight of the popular outdoor venue’s summer season.

Audience members arrived expecting a 7.45pm start but many claimed they were left waiting with little information.

Shortly before 9pm it was announced that the show had been cancelled and the disappointed crowd offered tickets to future performances.

Michelle Tubb, 24, from Leighton Buzzard, said: “It was absolute chaos. At 7.50pm the girl at front of house said there was a delay with the cross on the stage – it wasn’t working. They were trying to fix it.

“They kept saying it would only be a minute. A lot of people were getting quite annoyed and were shouting at staff.

“Apparently the cross still wasn’t working. They didn’t communicate things well. They didn’t offer drinks or anything like that and there were elderly and disabled. The trip was a present for my mum’s birthday so it was a bit of a downer.”

Malcolm Levitt, 77, from south east London, said: “We were standing around in the heat for an hour not being told a damn thing. Every few minutes someone would go up to ask and they would say it would take ten minutes.

“We were given no information whatsoever. We were standing by the gates for over an hour. It was meant to be a treat for us and our grandchildren.

“Some people gave up and started to go home. At 8.45pm we were told there had been a major power failure. It’s a great shame as we love Regents Park Open Air Theatre and these things happen but to keep us in the dark is unforgivable.

“It will damage the reputation of the theatre which is a shame as it’s a lovely place.”

A posting on the theatre’s website last night said: “We apologise for the inconvenience and hope that you may be able to return.”

A spokesman for the theatre added: “Despite every effort to fix the problem Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre made the difficult decision to cancel the performance due to a power failure backstage occurring shortly before the start of the performance.

“Everyone at the theatre would like to thank the audience for their patience whilst they tried to find a solution.”

Last night’s audience can exchange their tickets by emailing boxoffice@openairtheatre.com with dates when they may be able to return to see the production.

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