Dolly Parton speaks to the audience at the Music City Center Fan Fair X Close Up Stage during the CMA Fest Thursday, June 6, 2024 in Nashville, Tenn.
The team behind a Dolly Parton jukebox musical is telling homophobic theatergoers to stay home.
Here You Come Again, co-written bytwo-time Emmy-winner Bruce Vilanch along with director Gabriel Barre and star Tricia Paoluccio, is currently touring the U.K. The show, which has been adapted to U.K. audiences by playwright Jonathan Harvey, centers on a gay Parton fan whose imaginary version of the singer (Paoluccio) helps him through trying times. But according to English actor Stevie Webb, performances have been repeatedly marred by homophobic disruptions.
Related:
As LGBTQ Nation sibling site Queerty noted earlier this week, Webb, who stars as the show’s protagonist opposite Paoluccio, shared a February 9 TikTok post recounting several recent incidents in which members of the show’s audience have had to be ejected for shouting anti-LGBTQ+ slurs at the stage.
Global perspectives delivered right to your inbox
Our newsletter bridges borders to bring you LGBTQ+ news from around the world.
On February 11, the show’s producers released a statement apparently in response to the attention Webb’s post had received.
“In light of homophobic comments and abuse directed at our company, the producers of Here You Come Again condemn this abhorrent behavior in the strongest way,” they wrote in an Instagram post. “Individuals making such comments are not welcome at our show. They have been – and will be – ejected from the theatre immediately. We stand against all forms of prejudice and are extremely proud of the inclusivity and respect which Here You Come Again celebrates.”
In his TikTok post, Webb described the number of audience members the production has already had to eject from performances due to homophobia as “insane.”
“Just this week in Manchester alone, we had to eject someone who was shouting out slurs,” Webb said. “On Wednesday, we had to stop the whole show. We had to do an entire show-stop, leave the stage, because a woman was so disgusted that there was a gay character onstage.”
Webb said the woman began shouting at the actors during the performance, leading other audience members to begin shouting her down. “There was a massive sort of ruckus, and so she eventually was ejected, and we could start again. But we were, like, stopped for 15 or 20 minutes,” he said.
Similar disruptions, Webb said, have been happening “nearly every single week.” But he described show’s recent run at London’s Riverside Studios as “the worst,” with one many shouting slur “fa***t” at the stage.
Webb has been particularly shocked that a musical about Dolly Parton, long-time vocal LGBTQ+ ally and camp icon, has inspired so many hateful outbursts.
“It’s really opened my eyes, ‘cause we’re in such a bubble in this industry. But traveling the country and seeing how many people literally cannot bear to see a gay person depicted onstage — it’s wild. I feel very sorry for them,” Webb said. “It’d be like if I had that reaction to the color blue, because it exists, it’s not going anywhere.”
The following day, Webb posted a follow-up clip in which he described the “outpouring of support and shock and disbelief” in response to his previous video as “overwhelming.” He also noted that while many of the comments on TikTok have been supportive, he’s had to filter out many containing “slurs and the most hateful stuff.”
“That’s just part of it, isn’t it?” he said. “That’s part of the way we have to f**king live.”
He also responded to comments questioning why he’s chosen to highlight the comparatively small number of homophobic audience members when “99.999999% of the audience are up on their feet crying and cheering and clapping and absolutely loving” the show, citing an analogy used by out British actor and writer Stephen Fry.
“If there’s a pristine, beautiful, tranquil swimming pool in front of you and you get in, but there’s just a little tiny turd bobbing up and down at the other end, you’d hyperfocus on that,” he said. “So, that’s why it does irk me. And that’s why it does pull focus. Because there are little turds bobbing around in the pool.”
He also noted that his primary concern is for the show’s wider audience. “It disturbs our audience and it affects their enjoyment,” he said, closing with a message to homophobes upset by the show: “I’m sorry about your life, and we don’t do refunds!”
Subscribe to the LGBTQ Nation newsletter and be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.
