Manchester theatre pauses Dolly Parton musical due to homophobic heckles

A Dolly Parton-themed musical, Here You Come Again, had to be paused mid-show due to homophobic heckles from the audience in Manchester.

Lead actor in the musical Stevie Webb posted a TikTok regarding last Wednesday’s incident.

“A woman was so disgusted that there was a gay character on stage, and she was shouting out. And then all the audience started shouting at her, and there was a massive, sort of, ruckus,” he said.

@thatsteviewebb #musicaltheatre ♬ original sound - Stevie Webb

The woman was removed from the theatre, but the production didn’t resume for approximately 15-20 minutes. According to Webb, a similar incident occurred on Saturday, when someone was removed for shouting homophobic slurs.

“It’s happening nearly every single week, and it just blows my mind,” he said.

At their London show, another man shouted a homophobic slur, saying, “I just want to see Dolly Parton!” ATG Entertainment, the company running the Manchester venue, told the BBC it has a “zero tolerance” policy for these disturbances.

@thatsteviewebb ✊🏻 #musicaltheatre ♬ original sound - Stevie Webb

Webb made a follow-up TikTok regarding the incidents, saying, “To those people who have had such an adverse reaction to seeing a gay person depicted on stage, in theatre, in a musical – God forbid – I’m sorry about your life, and we don’t do refunds.”