Tours Cancelled: Altman Popstar & Wife After 40

Producers have pulled the plug on Popstar The Musical, which boasted its own pop and TV star cast, featuring Sam Kane, EastEnders’ John Altman, Hollyoaks’ Ciara Janson and Sarah Jane Buckley and former Blue boy band member Antony Costa.
The “ultimate feelgood musical comedy” launched a UK-wide tour from Epsom Playhouse on 5 April 2010 and was due to continue to more than 20 further venues through to 10 July at the Lighthouse Theatre in Kettering. However, producers at Theatre Productions Ltd, who have declined to comment to Whatsonstage.com, have cancelled this week at Swansea’s Grand Theatre and all subsequent dates.

The interactive, X Factor-inspired show – in which the audience were invited to vote for winners via text message – centred on a reality TV competition in which six wannabe pop stars will stop at nothing in their fight for their chance to hit the big time. It promised to capture the “real-life elements of reality TV shows” in which “secrets are revealed, relationships are formed and, of course, enemies are made”.

Another major tour, the 25th anniversary revival of Ray Cooney farce Wife After Forty, has also been cut short due to “unforeseen circumstances”.

The production – starring more familiar TV faces, Mark Curry, Vicki Michelle and Trevor Bannister – was opened late at Blackpool Grand Theatre at the end of April. It was due to continue to 14 further venues, concluding on 31 July 2010 at Rhyl’s Pavilion Theatre, but all subsequent dates have since been cancelled.

Playhouse Entertainment Group producer Paul Milross told The Stage newspaper that he hoped to “resurrect” the Wife After Forty tour at a later date.