Michelle's cross at last-minute Superstar cancellation

Michelle Tubb said she was “heartbroken” when her mum’s birthday treat to see the sell-out production at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre turned sour on Monday evening.

Fans saw stage-hands working to attempt to fix a 35ft cross which was supposed to rise up above the stage.

The crowd, who had arrived for a 7.45pm start, were left waiting outside the theatre for more than an hour before the plug was pulled as engineers finally admitted defeat at around 9pm following a backstage power outage.

Michelle was critical of the lack of updates from staff, and the fact that the crowd weren’t offered drinks – particularly the elderly or disabled.

She said: ““It was absolute chaos. A lot of people were getting quite annoyed and were shouting at staff.

“There were technicians and stage managers working hard but the lack of communication was the most frustrating part. There weren’t many people to ask questions to once they cancelled the show either. Just a tannoy voice saying we could check online to rebook tickets.

“It was just heartbreaking seeing the disappointment on my mum’s face as she was so excited to see her favourite show for her birthday.”

Theatre bosses have apologised and said tickets can be exchanged for another date.

A spokesman for the theatre said: “Despite every effort to fix the problem Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre made the difficult decision to cancel the performance due to a power failure backstage occurring shortly before the start of the performance.

“Everyone at the theatre would like to thank the audience for their patience whilst they tried to find a solution.”