Dolly Parton musical actor speaks out as show derailed by anti-gay abuse: ‘One guy was shouting the f-slur’
Steven Webb, a comedian and theatre performer who currently stars in Here You Come Again, a musical about Dolly Parton, has revealed the show has repeatedly been interrupted by homophobic incidents in the audience.
Speaking on TikTok, Webb, who is currently touring the show around the UK, said: “The amount of audience members we have had to eject due to homophobia is insane.”
“Just this week, in Manchester alone, last night we had to eject someone who was shouting out slurs,” he revealed. “On Wednesday we had to stop the whole show, because a woman was so disgusted there was a gay character on the stage.”
The show features classic songs by the country legend such as ‘I Will Always Love You’ and ‘Jolene’. Webb stars as an enthusiastic fan of Parton, who was recently announced to be collaborating with pop princess Sabrina Carpenter.
Webb told the story of one woman who was removed from the audience recently for shouting “slurs”.
“She was shouting out then all the audience started shouting at her and there was a massive ruckus,” he revealed.
“This is a Dolly Parton musical, first of all. It’s just me and Dolly Parton on stage, my character and Dolly Parton.”
The performer expressed his incredulity at the situation, saying: “Like, ‘It’s a Dolly Parton musical, mate. It’s going to be a little bit gay, obviously’.
Webb also revealed that the nation’s capital was particularly bad for these incidents. “London was the worst which is crazy to me. I remember one guy who was shouting the f-slur, he was like: ‘I’m not here to watch some fucking faggot talk about his boyfriend, I just want to see Dolly Parton’,” he recalled.
“It has really opened my eyes because we are in such a bubble in this industry”
“It has really opened my eyes because we are in such a bubble in this industry. But travelling the country and seeing how many people cannot bear to see a gay person depicted on stage, it’s wild.”
In an attempt to relate to the bigoted audience members, Webb said: “It would be like if I had that reaction to the colour blue. It exists, it’s not going anywhere but I could not escape it.
“I feel really bad for them because I’d be like: ‘Oh f**k, the sky’. Eventually I’d probably just realise it’s not actually hurting me, it’s not affecting my life, it’s just blue and it’s just not my favourite colour.”
Parton herself has been a longtime advocate fort he LGBTQ+ community.
The post Dolly Parton musical actor speaks out as show derailed by anti-gay abuse: ‘One guy was shouting the f-slur’ appeared first on Attitude.
