Shaky start for Blessed show

Brian Blessed said the show could not go on

A top West End theatre pulled its badly-received new musical half-way through the third-night performance, after one of the show's stars said he could not continue because of throat problems.

Hard Times, starring Brian Blessed and Roy Hudd, has suffered poor reviews since opening at the Theatre Royal in London's Haymarket on Tuesday.

Hard Times is based on Dickens' gritty novel

Just before the interval on Thursday night, Blessed turned to the audience - of about 100 people - and, after praising his co-star at length, announced that Hudd was suffering from laryngitis and could not continue.

"Roy Hudd is a phenomenon," said Blessed, "When he is feeling fully fit he is a true star and puts on a sublime performance full of melodrama and pathos.

"But his voice it about to give up on him, the understudy is not ready to take over and so we have to stop the show."

He then offered the audience their money back or tickets for another night, adding: "Please come back."

Reviews

Hard Times, based on the novel by Charles Dickens, centres around the acrobats and clowns of a circus who go on to perform their version of the book.

Hudd plays the circus boss and Blessed the big, beaming Dickens. Both go on to adopt different music hall personae as the action demands.

Roy Hudd: Seeing a specialist

Critics' appraisal of the adaptation - a 30-year project by journalist Christopher Tookey - has been largely uncomplimentary. Most seem perplexed by Tookey's pantomime-like interpretation of the gritty novel.

On Thursday, Hudd - a great stalwart of farce - was clearly having difficulty at the start of the show. But as it progressed his voice seemed to improve.

The show's meagre audience - the Theatre Royal can hold up to 890 - greeted Blessed's stalling of the show with surprised silence.

Outside, one man said: "Frankly I couldn't believe my luck - It is a merciful release. It has to be one of the worst things I have ever seen - they have absolutely no idea how to put on a musical."

Others complained the show was "confusing" or "banal". However, there were others who were eager to gain tickets for another night.

A spokeswoman for the show's public relations company said Hudd was being treated by a doctor and hoped to be back on stage soon. In the meantime, she added, the understudy would stand in.

Asked why he had not taken Hudd's place on Thursday, she said he was not yet "up to scratch" and denied as "rubbish" suggestions that the show had been stopped because of the poor attendance or bad reviews.