THE West End debut of a much anticipated new musical was called off at the last minute after a power cut plunged the theatre into darkness.

Staff at the Leicester Square Theatre had to turn away almost 400 people less than an hour before Hit Me! The Life and Rhymes of Ian Dury was due to start. It meant that instead of playing to a packed house, the two-man cast of the sold-out show were forced to spend the night rehearsing in the dark.

David Burns, spokesman for the show, said: "The actors were all dressed up, psyched up and ready to go but we had to pull it. The power went off at about 5pm and at 6.45pm we made the decision that we wouldn't be able to run the show.

"We were very disappointed but there comes a point when there is nothing you can do.

"The actors actually rehearsed in the dark because they wanted to make use of their time.

"At some point last night passers-by would have seen a man dressed as Ian Dury smoking a cigarette on the street." He said the 380 people who bought tickets to the show were offered refunds or new tickets.

Mr Burns added: "We were sold out, but the crowd outside was quite stoical and people showed their British spirit. Only two people told us it was our fault."

The show's six-week West End run comes after a successful stint at the Courtyard Theatre in Hoxton.

The musical is a warts and all portrait of late punk rocker Dury and his tour manager and friend Fred "Spider" Rowe.

EDF Energy said the power cut was caused by a fault on the high voltage underground network.

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