Rowdy audience members removed by police from performance of Grease

London theatregoers escorted from Grease the Musical by police

 

Rest of audience applauds after people causing ‘disturbance’ removed from Dominion theatre on Saturday

 

Charlie Moloney

Sun 27 Aug 2023 19.07 BST

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/aug/27/theatregoers-escorted-from-grease-the-musical-in-london-after-disturbance

 

Theatregoers were escorted from a London performance of Grease the Musical by police on Saturday night, to cheers of approval from the rest of the audience.

 

Footage posted online shows eight police officers and staff from the Dominion theatre lining the stairway in the balcony as audience members chant “out, out, out!”.

 

One officer could be seen stooping down to speak to a man and a woman in the audience, while another gestured at a different couple, apparently asking them to leave.

 

A Metropolitan police statement said: “Shortly before 8.40pm on Saturday 26 August, police received reports of two men and two women causing a disturbance at a theatre in Tottenham Court Road, W1.

 

“Officers attended and the group were escorted from the premises. No arrests. No injuries reported.”

 

The incident reportedly took place during the interval and continued such that it delayed the second half of the show.

 

Police were called about 70 minutes into the evening performance, which stars Jason Donovan of Neighbours fame.

 

In the clip, loud jeering is heard while the people involved are apparently being escorted out of the premises by police officers, while staff are following behind.

 

A police officer is then seen turning around and giving a royal wave to the audience, prompting further applause.

 

Two cars and a police van had been photographed parked outside the theatre as the incident unfolded.

 

Cast members were later seen exiting the venue, with Allana Taylor, who is in the ensemble covering Sandy and Marty, being picked up in a Range Rover by boyfriend Gareth Gates. Gates is appearing in the SpongeBob SquarePants musical in September.

 

Donovan, who played Scott Robinson in Neighbours, before beginning a career in music in 1988, reportedly left by a side exit.

 

Grease the Musical returned to the West End in June for a limited run, with the last performance scheduled for 28 October.

 

Grease was originally a 1971 musical harking back to the 1950s, before it became a 1978 hit film starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John.

 

Based on the stage musical by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey, which had starred actors including Richard Gere and Barry Bostwick, Grease the film swapped the original’s grittier Chicago setting for the steamy heat of the west coast.

 

The Dominion theatre has been contacted for comment.