Cynthia Erivo is facing backlash from disgruntled fans after a matinee performance of her one-woman show Dracula was quietly cancelled, just one week after she halted a show to call out a disruptive audience member. The award-winning actress, who already holds a Tony, Emmy, and Grammy, is currently portraying 23 roles in the production at London’s Noel Coward Theatre.
Matinee Cancellation Sparks Outrage
The show, which began in February, has 27 remaining performances scheduled before it closes on May 30. However, a matinee set for tomorrow afternoon was abruptly axed with no official explanation. Tickets for the performance were removed from sale, leaving ticket holders frustrated and out of pocket.
“The whole thing has become an absolute farce,” a theatre source told The Sun. “Last week there were concerns about this show going ahead, and now it has been axed. It’s disgusting because people have spent money on tickets, not counting travel and probably hotels, and now it’s been scrapped.”
The source added that ticket holders were offered exchanges for another day, but many feel this is insufficient. “People could still lose money,” they said.
Audience Frustration Mounts
One theatregoer complained that this was the second time a performance of Dracula they had tickets for was cancelled, calling it “unacceptable.” “At this point, I’m not even going to try and rebook. I’m pretty disgusted with how this has been handled, and I don’t want to keep paying for a production that clearly isn’t reliable,” they said.
Another declared: “Shocking. What a mess this production has been. Contempt for audiences.”
Despite the cancellation, tomorrow evening’s show is still scheduled to go ahead, with most seats sold out but 52 still available. Cynthia herself re-shared two posts from the show’s official Instagram page last night promoting tickets for the final weeks.
Behind-the-Scenes Issues
The Sun reported last week that there were issues behind the scenes of the critically acclaimed show, with one insider describing it as an “endless headache.” “Cynthia is a big Hollywood star, so you could forgive her for having some diva moments. But there has been so much chaos behind the scenes. Cancellations at the last moment put so much stress on the people working to put the show on that it’s causing migraines. No one knows from one day to the next whether a performance may or may not go ahead. To work with that level of uncertainty is difficult,” they said.
Previous Disruptions
The cancellation follows two Saturday performances that were axed earlier this month, one day before Cynthia ran the London Marathon. Ticket holders were reportedly told only three hours before the matinee was due to begin. After completing the marathon in an impressive 3:21:40, she returned to the stage the next day. However, about an hour into the show, she stopped to reprimand an audience member who was filming her on their phone.
“She straight up called the guy out! Put her hand up and said, ‘Excuse me, are you filming right now?’ And the person said ‘sorry’ and she said, ‘Did you just say sorry?’ And was immediately surrounded by crew and walked off,” one attendee explained. The audience member was then ejected by security, and the show paused for about 10 minutes while Cynthia left the stage.
Her actions were praised by many who said she was helping to “bring back theatre etiquette.” Metro has contacted the production company for Dracula, the Noel Coward Theatre, and representatives for Cynthia Erivo for comment.
