Theatre News

West End theatres see 'huge' surge in ticket sales following Adele concert cancellation

The singer was due to finish her world tour at Wembley this weekend, but a last-minute cancellation sent her fans flooding to theatreland instead

Adele
Adele
© Kristopher Harris/Creative commons
West End theatres saw a marked increase in ticket sales this weekend following Adele's last-minute cancellation of two sold-out concerts at Wembley Stadium.

This left thousands of fans who had travelled to London for the concert with a free evening, many of whom descended on the capital's West End. Ryan Woods of London Theatre Bookings said it was 'the busiest Saturday of the year', claiming that 90 per cent of tickets for West End shows had sold-out by 7pm. A video posted on his Facebook account showed vast queues at each the company's Leicester Square booths.

Box office staff at Motown the Musical said that demand for tickets was greater than usual, with premium house seats being snapped up as soon as they were released.

Many disappointed ticket holders – who are yet to be informed whether the concerts will be rescheduled – took to Twitter to say they had swapped a night with the "Hello" singer for shows including Annie, Bat Out of Hell and Half a Sixpence:

— Hayley Jayne (@hayleyjayne92) July 2, 2017

— Shannσn.ℓσuisε❤ (@ShannoonCxx) July 1, 2017

— Jo Free Radio (@JoFreeRadio) July 1, 2017

— Andrew Marsh (@APFM141) July 2, 2017

— Daniel Jackson (@dan1jackson) July 1, 2017

On Saturday morning the singer posted an apology to fans on her social channels, saying that she'd 'struggled vocally' during her concerts on Thursday and Friday night. She went on to say that a doctor confirmed she had damaged her vocal chords, adding 'on medical advice I am unable to perform over the weekend. To say I'm heart broken would be a complete understatement.'