Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Wullie goes belly-up
Show back on after actor’s illness forces cancellations
OOR Wullie fans looking forward to a Boxing Day trip to the theatre were left d isappoi nted a fter the show was cancelled at short notice.
Fans turned up to Dundee Rep yesterday afternoon for the first show only to find a notice saying that, due to illness, the two performances had been scrapped.
Despite a message posted on The Rep’s Facebook page, some ticketholders claimed they had not been informed of the cancellation before turning up.
One former Dundee man, Jimmy McLean, had travelled from London with his partner, sister and her partner plus two kids.
He said: “We are going back home today and the disappointing thing was that we arrived at the desk only to be told it was off. We didn’t get a phone call or an email.
“Of course, we are all sorry about the cast member’s illness. But no one told us and when we came out there were kids dressed as Oor Wullie but crying their eyes out.”
Director Andrew Panton said the show would be back on today and tonight and most of the people who missed out had been accommodated in other productions.
He said: “We had to cancel because of the illness of a cast member, but the good news is that we are ready to go today.
“The cast member had a gastric problem and thankfully they are feeling a lot better which is great.
“We don’t want to say who it was because it puts pressure on the person who was ill and because there is a lot of emotion at being the person whose illness caused the call-offs.
“It is disappointing for everyone. We have a structure that works well (with understudies) and there are some parts we have managed to cover with sore throats.
“But there are certain parts that we are not able to cover. We have managed to re-seat the majority of people and the late calloff for the first show was due to us trying to get around people who had booked and let them know, then re-book them.”