The Australian production of hit Broadway musical Waitress has been cancelled months ahead of schedule, cutting short a national tour featuring Tasmanian performer John Xintavelonis.
Xintavelonis, from Bellerive, who plays diner manager Cal in the show, said the cast were told officially on Sunday between performances.
“Some of us had … have had an inkling it was coming, but you know, to be told officially … it was a bit of a bummer,” he told Pulse.
“It’s the first time I’ve ever had a show cancellation.”
The musical opened at Her Majesty’s Theatre in Melbourne on May 1, starring Natalie Bassingthwaighte, Rob Mills and John Waters alongside Xintavelonis.
The production had been contracted to run until November, with a Sydney season at the Lyric Theatre due to open on August 1.
That planned move to Sydney has now been scrapped entirely, with the show’s final performance set for July 19 in Melbourne.
Xintavelonis said the show had been a hit with audiences who did attend, but high costs made it difficult to sustain large-scale musicals.
“People don’t understand how expensive it is to put these shows on,” he said.
“The theatre costs and the mounting of these shows, and the set comes from overseas, from the States.”
He pointed to cost-of-living pressures and a lack of public awareness of the show as contributing factors.
“Once they come and see it, they’ve been loving it,” he said.
“Our audiences have been screaming the place down.”
Since the cancellation was announced, ticket sales have surged, with Xintavelonis saying Sydney audiences were booking to fly to Melbourne to catch the final performances.
Xintavelonis said the cancellation reflected broader challenges facing the performing arts industry, with Back to the Future: The Musical also closing after only a few months.
He warned Waitress would not be the last production to suffer the same fate.
“We won’t be the last show that closes unfortunately,” he said.
After the Melbourne shows, Xintavelonis will return to Tasmania to produce a professional staging of Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None at the Theatre Royal in Hobart, followed by Wind in the Willows in the Botanical Gardens.
He urged audiences to support live theatre by buying tickets early rather than waiting until the last minute.
