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Dolly Parton West End musical plagued by homophobic hecklers
(L-R) Steven Webb via TikTok; Dolly Parton.
Actor Steven Webb is calling out the intense homophobic response he's gotten while starring in the new Dolly Parton musical Here You Come Again.
Steven Webb, currently starring in a new Dolly Parton musical titled Here You Come Again on the West End, is speaking up about the homophobic response he as an actor and the overall theater production is receiving from homophobic audience members — prompting one show to be "suspended" and getting called an f word slur during a performance.
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Webb shared a social media video discussing his experiences with these homophobic remarks while starring in Here You Come Again. "The amount of audience members we've had to reject from our show due to homophobia is insane," he said. "Just this week, in Manchester alone… Last night, we had to eject someone who was shouting out slurs. On Wednesday, we had to stop the whole show."
Webb added, "We had to do an entire show stop [and] leave the stage because a woman was so disgusted that there was a gay character on stage. She was shouting, and then the audience started shouting at her; there was a massive sort of ruckus. She was eventually ejected so we could start again."
"We were stopped for, like, 15 or 20 minutes. It's crazy. It's happening nearly every single week and it just blows my mind," the actor remarked.
The Here You Come Again musical only features two characters: Kevin (played by Webb) and Dolly Parton (played by Tricia Paoluccio), which Webb also pointed out in his video. "This is a Dolly Parton musical!" he said. "It's just me and Dolly Parton on stage; my character and Dolly Parton."
The actor added, "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 effing talk about his boyfriend, I just wanna see Dolly Parton.' And it's like, listen to what you just said."
"It's a Dolly Parton musical, mate. It's gonna be a little bit gay, obviously," Webb went on. "It's really opened my eyes. We're in such a bubble in this industry. But traveling the country and seeing how many people literally cannot bear to see a gay person depicted on stage…it's wild. I feel very sorry for them."
He explained, "It'd be like if I had that reaction to the color blue. I mean, it exists. It's not going anywhere. I could not escape it. So I feel really bad for them because I'd be like, 'Oh, fuck the sky.' Eventually, I'd probably just realize that it's not actually hurting me; it's not affecting my life. It's just blue, and it's just not my favorite color.
"But no, they don't come to that sort of realization," Webb lamented. "It's amazing. Also, read the synopsis. It's a Dolly Parton musical. You're gay. Anyway, bye!"
Webb's video has already surpassed 350,000 views on TikTok, and it's also been shared on Instagram.
For tickets and more information about the Here You Come Again musical, you can visit the West End show's official website.
@thatsteviewebb #musicaltheatre
Bernardo Sim is the deputy editor of Out. He's also a staff contributor to The Advocate, PRIDE, and other equalpride publications. Born in Brazil, he currently lives in South Florida.
You can follow Bernardo Sim on Instagram. Otherwise, you can find him on Bluesky, Threads, X/Twitter, and TikTok.
Bernardo Sim is the deputy editor of Out. He's also a staff contributor to The Advocate, PRIDE, and other equalpride publications. Born in Brazil, he currently lives in South Florida.
You can follow Bernardo Sim on Instagram. Otherwise, you can find him on Bluesky, Threads, X/Twitter, and TikTok.
