International theatre star Peter Karrie has apologised to a showgoer after a blunder with his show in Tenby last Friday.
Peter, whose unique talent has earned him a reputation as 'The World's Most Popular Phantom' was billed to perform his brand new touring show 'Peter Karrie's West End Stars - In Concert' live on stage.
However, the wrong press and publicity material was sent to the venue, Tenby's De Valence Pavilion, which had not been informed of a change in show between booking and performance. As a result, incorrect posters were displayed, advertising a different show, with the wrong tickets also issued. Concerned that the show had been marketed incorrectly, Peter, one of the world's top musical performers, offered to cancel, but De Valence officials requested that 'the show must go on' as they did not want to disappoint the waiting audience. Instead the show that was planned by the organisers, 'Peter Karrie and Friends', was staged.
Afterwards, one disappointed audience member contacted us to express his dismay at not seeing the advertised show and also criticised the De Valence for the lack of organisation on the night of the concert.
In a letter to the Observer, with a copy to the venue, Mr. B. Tooth, of Saundersfoot, claimed that the De Valence needed to 'get its act together'.
He was left disgruntled for a number of reasons, which included - no organised queueing system before the doors opened; a lack of attendants on the door of the venue, allowing people to walk in unrestricted; seat numbers had not been allocated for the audience; the show advertised was not performed; the performance was delayed and experienced a number of interruptions throughout as a result of the sound system.
Mr. Tooth also wrote that one person standing in front of him waiting to get in, described it as 'organised chaos' (see Letters).
On hearing of Mr. Tooth's woes, the show's star, Peter Karrie, offered his apologies and a full explanation on what had caused the mix-up.
"It's a very simple explanation for the problem that we had. Unfortunately, the wrong publicity posters were sent out to the venue advertising a different concert which we had now stopped performing," Peter told the Observer.
"But I can honestly say that we never intended to give a misrepresentation and having learnt of the mistake, I did offer to pull the show. However, the organisers said there had been such audience demand that they did not want to disappoint the waiting punters," he explained.
"I'll admit we did have a few technical problems, due to members of my usual musical production side not being available, but I was thrilled with the wonderful job on keyboards that Clive Raymond, of the Saundersfoot Footlights, did after being drafted in so late.
"I think the kind of concert we put on on Friday works well and appeals to local communities, as it gives a rare chance for local talent to audition on the day and be part of a unique one-off show, and it was great to rehearse and perform with all the local groups that took part on the night," continued Peter.
"These type of shows are often difficult to produce, as they are so spontaneous and not necessarily choreographed like a normal stage or musical production, but I felt that the concert went well and the audience's response was great, with everyone singing and clapping along. There's often a touch of madness to my shows, which I kind of like.
"One showgoer I spoke to afterwards said that they would have paid double to see it, which was very flattering, and it seemed that the majority of the audience joined in and were entertained.
"I can only apologise to Mr. Tooth, and have been passed his details so I can contact him personally," added Peter.
The De Valence Trust have also apologised profusely.
"In response to the seating at the De Valence we have taken on board the comments about non- allocated seating and there will be a seating plan for all theatre style shows in the future," said De Valence director, Claire Porter.
"The queue situation was beyond our control, as we were unable to open the doors to the auditorium as rehearsals were still happening on stage due to the late arrival of Peter Karrie's staff who had travelled from Lancashire. At all times, De Valence staff tried to keep the customers informed as to what was happening and we opened the doors as soon as it was humanly possible.
"The arrival of the wheelchairs at this point put pressure on the ushers, as they were attempting to seat these as the remainder of the audience were coming in, so were taken away from ticket checking on the door," explained Claire.
With regard to problems with the sound system, she also explained that it was a matter beyond the De Valence's control as the show's production team were using their own kit which they had brought with them.
"All in all, apart from the ushering and seating problems, I would like to stress that the issues raised are directly reflective to Peter Karrie's offices and I have discussed these matters with his manager and understand that Peter will be personally getting in touch with Mr. Tooth," added Claire, who again apologised on behalf of the Trust.