Dolly Parton-Themed Musical ‘Here You Come Again’ Suspended Multiple Times Over Homophobic Abuse From Audience Members

A Dolly Parton-themed U.K. musical has been suspended multiple times after the cast walked off stage in protest after audience members hurled slurs at a gay character.

Stevie Webb, an actor in the production of Here You Come Again, recently spoke about the homophobic abuse directed at the cast of the musical nearly every week. Last week, a show at the Opera House in Manchester was delayed after a woman shouting homophobic slurs caused frustration among audience members. A previous incident involving a man in London resulted in the audience member being ejected after he yelled slurs.

“The amount of audience members that we have had to eject from our show due to homophobia is insane,” Webb said in a video posted on TikTok. “Just this week, in Manchester alone, we had to eject someone who was shouting slurs. On Wednesday, we had to stop the whole show because a woman was so disgusted there was a gay character on stage.”

“She was shouting out, and then all the audience started shouting at her, and there was a massive ruckus; she was eventually ejected, and we could start again. But we had to stop for 15 or 20 minutes. It is crazy. It is happening nearly every week, and it just blows my mind,” Webb continued. “This is a Dolly Parton musical. It is just me and Dolly Parton on stage, my character and Dolly.”

“London was the worst, which is crazy to me. I remember one guy who was shouting the f-slur. He said, ‘I’m not here to watch some f-ing f—– talk about his boyfriend; I’m just here to see Dolly Parton.'”

“It’s just like listening to what you just said; you’re gay. It’s a Dolly Parton musical, mate; You’re gay. It’s going to be a little gay. But the amount of people has opened my eyes because we are in such a bubble in this industry, but traveling the country and seeing how many people legally cannot bear to see a gay person depicted on stage is wild.”

Directed by Gabriel Barre, Here You Come Again tells the story of a diehard fan of Parton whose fantasy version of the iconic singer helps him through life’s difficulties.