Theatre change of cast

[tigerpants800]

Bought expensive tickets to the Playhouse Kitkat club cabaret last year. Eddie Redmayne and Jessie Buckley were leads.

Turned up this week and discovered they'd left in March. Replaced by two unknowns. And the show ended up being weak- we left at the break.

On complaining, ATG tickets gave me a generic response about their right to make a 'material' change. But how, how can this be okay when the price paid is predominantly for the actors you're expecting to see on stage?

Am I alone in thinking this is a misleading sale?

It depends what's in the terms & conditions

Are you sure this information wasn’t available at booking? I remember looking at Cabaret tickets when they first went on sale and it was very clear that ER and JB were only doing a limited run.

I feel your pain. I bought expensive tickets to a show purely on the basis that Rebel Wilson was in it. They announced a change with no refund option so I went with it assuming the replacement would be good, it was totally shit, left at the interval.

I think almost every West End Show I've ever been to has had the understudy in the main role. I do wonder how many shows per week the stars actually do.

I suspected this was the show you were talking about. Just to rub salt in the wound I saw the opening night with ER and JB and it was amazing.
However they made no secret of the fact the cast was changing. It was definitely on the website and the new leads were listed ( no
I had never heard of them either) . Such a shame that the performance was so diminished by the change but I do feel it had been well
Sign posted.

It’s always such a gamble but I’ve always been aware that it’s largely a question of luck whether you get the actors you’ve booked to see or not. Booked to see David Tennant and Catherine Tate in Much Ado years ago and had my heart in my mouth arriving at the theatre in case they had one of those “In tonight’s performance the role of Benedick will be played by…” announcements. But fortunately they were both there. Went to see My Fair Lady on one of the (many many) night Martine McCutcheon was replaced by her understudy, on the other hand, and the understudy was fab!

Your situation is a bit different though - I’m sure when I’ve booked shows with famous cast members like that, the small print has always been really clear about how long they’ll be playing those roles if a change is planned during the run. Were they definitely supposed to be playing the roles on the date you booked for?

With Cabaret, it was widely publicised from the start that ER & JB were in for a limited run.
But with all theatre, you pay for the show and not the cast. That is why there is an understudy system - it has been the same for decades. If Eddie Redmayne had broken his leg, the understudy would perform..... hence the famous theatrical motto "the show must go on". You would be very unwise to complain.

This is pretty normal on two levels. First for them to do a limited run only and/or for any given cast member to be sick or indisposed and an understudy in role. The cost of tickets isn't really aligned to who is in it, they cost what they cost generally. It is obviously disappointing when it happens, but you just need to take it on the chin I am afraid. When I went to see Romeo and Juliet the guy from Game of Thrones was in the lead alongside Lily James, he was sick on the day - many, many disappointed teens in the audience.

I've been to plenty where the 'stars' are in the role, but I go a lot. Usually I am seeing the show for the show though - e.g. when I saw The Lieutenant of Inishmore with Aiden Turner at peak Poldark time I really wanted to see the play and him being in it was a bonus (and he was great).

You can never guarantee who will be performing on the night, so it's best not to book tickets to see specific actors. Book for the show which will be the same.

Cast changes of this kind (i.e not emergency ones) are usually advertised at time of booking. If they weren't then I think it is misleading. If they were and you didn't research it fully then it's on you.

They have been very clear that ER and JB were leaving in March.

I was desperate to see it, but then I realised that what I really really wanted Liza Minelli and Joel Grey in the same costumes etc, and I was hankering after the 1972 set up. So I have saved myself quite a bit of money by reasoning it out.

And just for the record and just in case it is any help, I am reliably informed that Eddie Redmayne was drowned out by the orchestra on occasion. HTH

I went to see Cabaret with Will Young in it and hated it

@TheOnlyLivingBoyInNewCross

I went to see Cabaret with Will Young in it and hated it