Following four more canceled performances of the touring production of “Burlesque the Musical” this week, partner ATG Entertainment has said it is “working closely” with producers of the beleaguered musical to ensure the show will go on.
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“ATG Entertainment is working closely with the producers of the tour of ‘Burlesque the Musical,’ and it will move from Sunderland Empire to the Regent Theatre Stoke-on-Trent this weekend ahead of its full national tour running until May 2027,” a rep for ATG said, confirming that tomorrow and Saturday’s shows in Sunderland are set to go ahead as planned.
This week’s cancelations are the latest calamity to befall the touring production after it was forced to postpone the first leg of its tour last month.
The touring production of the show, which is based on the 2010 film starring Christina Aguilera, Cher and Stanley Tucci, was due to kick off in Woking in July before abruptly canceling the performances (a spokesperson for the production said this leg was moved to the end of the tour due to technical issues). At the time, a source told Variety trailers with sets hadn’t arrived to fit the stage leaving the cast to rehearse on an empty stage despite the opening night being just days away.
A new launch date, of Aug. 6, was set in Sunderland, which previously was supposed to be the tour’s second leg. This was then pushed back by a week, to Aug. 13, but that performance was also canceled. The show finally opened, albeit with a 30-minute delay, at the Sunderland Empire on Friday, Aug. 14. Two further performances took place on Saturday, Aug. 15 before the next four performances, scheduled for this week, were again abruptly canceled.
The Monday show was canceled hours before curtains up. When Variety contacted the show’s rep to ask about that cancelation and query whether the Tuesday night performance was going ahead, the rep replied at 12.30pm local time to say it was. But just a few hours later the Sunderland Empire announced that performance as well as the next two were being scrapped, apparently due to cast illness.
“Unfortunately performances of ‘Burlesque the Musical’ are canceled tonight, Tues 18 August, Wed 19 Aug and Thu 20 Aug,” the venue posted on Instagram. “This is due to several principal cast members falling ill to a virus. We are bolstering the company with additional covers who have performed in the show previously to ensure we open on Friday. Customers affected will be contacted via email regarding next steps and we sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused.”
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The touring production sees “Coronation Street” star Fay Brookes lead the show as club owner Tess (played by Cher in the film) while Gracie O’Brien takes on Aguilera’s role of Ali and Ryan Carter steps into Tucci’s shoes as Sean. It is unclear if it was the leading trio who were sick or other members of the cast.
In a statement, one of the show’s producers Adam Paulden told Variety: “It was unfortunate that physical illness meant that three cast members were unable to perform and we wish them all a speedy recovery. We swiftly arranged for other talented performers to take their place to ensure future shows remain unaffected.”
“All payments are up to date, and the production has sold over 100,000 tickets with shows scheduled across the country until the very end of May next year,” he added. “This is ahead of a global tour, with performances set to take place across multiple countries on the back of strong ticket sales and audience feedback.”
A source confirmed to Variety that the tour’s cast are up to date with pay but said of the cancelations: “It’s just not the news we want to hear.”
The off-stage drama has even inspired an Instagram account called Burlesque the Podcast, which claims to be run by someone close to the production, documenting the production’s woes.
Last month Variety exclusively reported that a West End production of the show, which was set to launch on Sept. 12 in London, had been postponed until next year.
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