Theatre kids 'heartbroken' after admin error axes shows

Young theatre performers have been left "heartbroken" and "devastated" after a licence breach forced their shows to be abruptly cancelled halfway through a week-long run.

Matilda Jr was due to be performed at the SEC in Glasgow from Tuesday until Saturday, using two different groups of children.

However, performing arts academy GAMTA only had rights for the show in venues with a capacity under 400 - but the SEC's Lomond Suite seats 497.

The rights holders - understood to be Music Theatre International Europe - then revoked the licence, meaning a group of young performers suddenly learned their three weekend shows were scrapped.

One group of children handled shows from Tuesday to Thursday, with the second cast to start their run on Friday.

The disappointment, first reported by Glasgow Live, prompted parents to post on social media that it resulted in tears from young cast members.

Caroline Hendoe's daughter Scarlett, 12, was one of the second group of students who only performed once in the show, which is a slimmed down one hour adaptation of the successful stage musical, based on Roald Dahl's book.

She told BBC Scotland News she felt the rights holders should have made an exception for the sake of the children.

Carloline said: "While they may be technically right, the emotional cost of their decision is immeasurable.

"These young performers have spent months rehearsing, pouring their hearts into this production, only to have their dreams shattered.

"The right thing to do would have been to find a resolution that didn't punish the children for an administrative mistake - the kids deserved better."

Ms Hendoe added that her daughter was taking part with GAMTA for the first time and had spent three months rehearsing and preparing for the show.

Several parents critisised GAMTA, using the academy's social media pages to say the company - established in 1994 - was an "absolute disgrace" and a "shambles".

Others demanded their money back, saying they had spent hundreds of pounds on lessons and tickets.

GAMTA founder Shaaron Graham told BBC Scotland News she was "deeply sorry" about the mistake and was looking to find a "solution" to make it up to the children.

The performing arts academy takes children as young as five for their junior section, as well as offering a BA honours degree in musical theatre for older students.

She said: "We are proud of both casts of Matilda, all of whom excelled throughout the rehearsal period of three months and both of whom performed on stage.

"We are deeply sorry that the second cast had a shorter run than the first and we feel deeply their disappointment in not participating in the remaining shows.

"All children performed and were outstanding and we could not be prouder of them.

"We accept responsibility for our error and respect fully the license holder's decision to revoke the license for the remaining shows. The event was not oversold.

"We would ask the small number of parents driving the media campaign to allow us the time we requested to rectify our error for the children involved who performed only one of four shows."

Music Theatre International Europe licences over 5,000 shows a year, with Matilda Jr listed among them.

The website entry for the show states it can only be performed in venues with a capacity of under 400 people.

MTI Europe were contacted for comment.