Theatre

Audience members ejected from Dolly Parton musical in Manchester due to homophobic heckling

'It’s happening nearly every single week and it blows my mind.'

Daisy Jackson - 10th February 2025

The Manchester run of Here You Come Again, a new Dolly Parton musical comedy, has been repeatedly disrupted by vile homophobic heckling from the audience, its star has revealed.

Actor and West End star Steven Webb shared a video addressing the issue on TikTok, saying that audience members had to be ejected from the Manchester Opera House.

The star of the lively new musical, which tells the story of a diehard Dolly Parton fan and is packed with the country star’s biggest hits, said the cast had faced an ‘insane’ amount of homophobia.

Steven said they once had to do a full show stop in Manchester and leave the stage after one audience member was ‘disgusted that there was a gay character on stage’ and began shouting mid-show, causing ‘a ruckus’ in the audience.

He said: “It’s a Dolly Parton musical, it’s gonna be a little bit gay, obviously.”

Steven also said: “Travelling the country and seeing how many people literally cannot bear to see a gay person depicted on stage, it’s wild. I feel very sorry for them.”

The Manchester Opera House stressed that it has a ‘zero tolerance’ policy to ‘bullying, harassment, or any form of abusive behaviour towards our cast, crew, or staff’.

The theatre, and its sister venue the Palace Theatre, said: “Our theatre team is committed to creating a safe, inclusive, and welcoming environment for everyone – both on and off the stage.

“Whilst these incidents are rare, we have a zero-tolerance policy to bullying, harassment, or any form of abusive behaviour towards our cast, crew, or staff. Anyone engaging in such conduct will be removed from the venue immediately.

Actor Steven Webb stars in Here You Come Again, a Dolly Parton musical, in Manchester. Credit: TikTok, @thatsteviewebb

“Thank you to all our theatre goers who continue to act with respect and kindness towards others.”

Steven said in his video: “The amount of audience members we have had to eject from our show due to homophobia is… insane. It is insane.

“Just this week in Manchester alone, last night we had to eject someone who was shouting out slurs, and on Wednesday we had to stop the whole show.

“We had to do an entire show stop and leave the stage, because a woman was so disgusted that there was a gay character on stage, and she was shouting out and then all the audience started shouting at her and then there was a sort of massive ruckus. So she eventually was ejected and we could start again, but we were stopped for 15 or 20 minutes.

“It’s crazy. It’s happening nearly every single week and it blows my mind. This is a Dolly Parton musical, first of all.

“It’s a Dolly Parton musical, it’s gonna be a little bit gay, obviously.

“It’s really opened my eyes, because we’re in such a bubble in this industry. But travelling the country and seeing how many people literally cannot bear to see a gay person depicted on stage, it’s wild. I feel very sorry for them.”