Families out of pocket after Dublin Beauty and The Beast Musical shows cancelled

Parents and children were among the ticket holders who had booked non-refundable hotel rooms and travelled to Dublin ahead of the show.

“Unfortunately, due to cast illness, both performances (2.30pm and 7.30pm) of Beauty and The Beast are cancelled, today Saturday 10 December 2022,” said the Bord Gais Energy Theatre on its Facebook page.

“We will update all customers shortly with further information and we appreciate your patience. We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience this will cause.”

Ticketholders told how they received an email at 12.45pm today that the show had been cancelled due to cast illness. They said a follow up text message was sent to ticket holders at 1.10pm ahead of the 2.30pm show.

The theatre said tickets will be valid for a new date for the show.

One mother told how she had spent €300 on four tickets for her family and had booked a hotel for today’s show.

“Kids are very upset and we could not cancel the hotel after 12pm so it was too late for cancelling, which cost us €180. Trains were €100 return. Absolutely ridiculous,” she said.

“Had they informed us last night, we would have been able to cancel the hotel. Leaving us now out of pocket stuck in a hotel room two weeks before Christmas and now costing more money to pay for something else for the kids to do this evening,” she said.

Another mother told how she arrived in Dublin at 1pm today from Waterford for the 2.30pm show and said the lack of notice was “absolutely disgraceful”.

“There are three adults in my group, two of us are mothers who were treating ourselves to a much needed day off and our friend who has international travel commitments tomorrow.

“It’s just not good enough. Toll costs and fuel costs are enough to be at the loss of now.”

Another theatre-goer told how she had travelled to Dublin by train for the early show with her sister, mother and six-year-old daughter.

“Arrived in Dublin at 1pm, went to get something to eat and received a text message at 1.10pm. Pure utter raging. Our train home is not till 7pm tonight and because it's such a busy period they were unable to facilitate us on an earlier train,” she said.

In the email to customers Ticketmaster said: “The event organisers are working hard to arrange a new date and as soon as we get any update on this, we’ll be in touch to let you know. Your tickets will be valid for this new date.

“Please understand that our fan support teams are incredibly busy at the moment, so we encourage you not to contact us. Instead you can find lots of information and answers to your question in our information portal.”

It added: “We’re sorry for any disappointment caused.”

Bord Gais Energy Theatre has been contacted for comment.