Tom Holland’s West End production of Romeo & Juliet sparked yet more chaos among fans on Wednesday, as a new drop of tickets lead to huge online queues.
30,000 fans clamoured to get one of 5,000 tickets on sale, priced at just £25 for under 30s and key workers, after missing out during the general sale in February.
Taking to social media to share their frustrations, fans complained that getting tickets for Tom’s play was proving to be ‘harder than Taylor Swift.’
The play will feature the Spiderman star and Francesca Amewudah-Rivers as the tragic lovers, joined by Freema Agyeman (Nurse), Michael Balogun (Friar), Tomiwa Edun (Capulet), Mia Jerome (Montague), Daniel Quinn-Toye (Paris), Ray Sesay (Tybalt), Nima Taleghani (Benvolio), Joshua-Alexander Williams (Mercutio), and Callum Heinrich and Kody Mortimer (Camera Operators).
The 12-week run kicks off on May 11 and will conclude August 3 at The Duke of York Theatre in London.
Tom Holland ‘s West End production of Romeo & Juliet sparked yet more chaos among fans on Wednesday, as a new drop of tickets lead to huge online queues.
30,000 fans clamoured to get one of 5,000 tickets on sale, priced at just £25 for under 30s and key workers, after missing out during the general sale in Februar.
Venting their annoyance at the lengthy queues for tickets, fans posted complaints including: ‘People were saying that Romeo & Juliet would flop and only sold because the rest of the cast wasn’t announce… well there’s at least 30 in the queue rn for 5k tickets.
‘I have tickets already, just wanted to see how the queue was today lmao;’
‘Can everyone leave the Romeo & Juliet queue so I can get my tickets thanks;’
‘This Romeo and Juliet queue is a joke omds; Me when I’m trying to get a ticket to see Tom Holland perform in Romeo & Juliet;’
‘Is there’s anyone who only needs one ticket for Romeo & Juliet with a good queue number. I’m at over 20,000;’
‘Joined the queue for the 5000 tickets for under 30s to see Tom Holland in Romeo & Juliet and I’m place 18k in the queue sorry WHAAAAT;’
‘Trying to get tickets for both Dua Lipa and Romeo & Juliet at the same time and there’s a 25-minute queue for one and 18k people in the queue for the other.’
The general sale had already sparked an internet meltdown back in February, with more than 60,000 scrambling to get tickets for Tom’s West End return.
Taking to social media to share their frustrations, fans complained that getting tickets for Tom’s play was proving to be ‘harder than Taylor Swift’
The general sale had already sparked an internet meltdown back in February, with more than 60,000 scrambling to get tickets for Tom’s West End return
Taking to X, formerly Twitter, Tom’s followers voiced their fears they may not be able to see him on stage as they waited in a virtual queue behind thousands of others for the priority access tickets.
One wrote: ‘now why are there 25,000 people in front of me in the queue to get these Tom Holland Romeo and Juliet tickets this isn’t the eras tour’.
Others said: ‘28,664 people in front of me. There’s no way I’m getting tickets am I… i just wanna see my man (Tom Holland)’, and: ‘l I thought I was being proactive with my priority access to Tom Holland Romeo and Juliet theatre tickets at 8am. Turns out 41,000 other people are doing the same.’
‘getting tickets to Tom Holland’s Romeo & Juliet is starting to feel like eras tour trauma’.
Other fans celebrated after managing to get through the queue and get tickets for the show.
They wrote: ‘Survived the war for Tom Holland Romeo and Juliet tickets. Tickets started at 80 and went up to £145 from what I saw, but may have been higher for the very front rows (all gone of course)’.
‘I DID IT! I just scored a ticket to see Tom Holland in Romeo & Juliet on stage in London!!!! On closing night! Not to mention, it’s an aisle seat 3rd row from the stage! I must be dreaming.’
Tom, who is best known for playing Peter Parker in the latest Spider-Man movies, will star in the Jamie Lloyd Company’s version of the romantic tragedy.
Director Jamie, 43, said: ‘Tom Holland is one of the greatest, most exciting young actors in the world. It is an honour to welcome him back to the West End.’
Tom made his stage debut as a child when he starred in Billy Elliot The Musical at the Victoria Palace Theatre in London in 2008.
Romeo And Juliet will mark his first West End role as an adult.
Romeo And Juliet is a story that has been staged hundreds of times on the West End and The Crown actor Josh O’Connor and Irish star Jessie Buckley appeared in a version of the play, filmed for TV inside the National Theatre in 2021.
It comes after it was revealed that the West End production has faced a ‘barrage of deplorable racial abuse’ after the diverse cast was announced.
It comes after it was revealed that the West End production has faced a ‘barrage of deplorable racial abuse’ after the diverse cast was announced
A statement from the theatre company on Friday denounced the shocking backlash as they vowed to ‘continue to support and protect everyone in our company.’
While the theatre company did not directly name who had received abuse, many fans believed it had been aimed at Tom’s co-star Francesca.
The Jamie Lloyd Company shared: ‘Following the announcement of our Romeo & Juliet cast, there has been a barrage of deplorable racial abuse online directed towards a member of our company. This must stop.
‘We are working with a remarkable group of artists. We insist that they are free to create work without facing online harassment.
‘We will continue to support and protect everyone in our company at all costs. Any abuse will not be tolerated and will be reported.’
It continued: ‘Bullying and harassment have no place online, in our industry or in our wider communities.
‘Our rehearsal room is full of joy, compassion and kindness. We celebrate the extraordinary talent of our incredible collaborators.
‘The Romeo & Juliet community will continue to rehearse with generosity and love, and focus on the creation of our production.’
Since then, Bridgerton actress Arséma Adeoluwayemi Hamera has called on Tom to speak out in support of his co-star Francesca.
Taking to Instagram on Sunday, Arséma, who played young Lady Danbury in Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, shared a plea from HBO actress Selina Jones urging Tom to speak up.
‘You lot need to put pressure pon @tomholland2023’s head top,’ the post read. ‘I need my guy to say something, ANYTHING, about the disgusting racial abuse being thrown at our angel Fran.’
The post urged people to encourage him to act in any way they could, and added: ‘Our power as a people and a community should never be underestimated. Avengers assemble.’
Several other people took to X, formerly Twitter, to voice their frustration at the lack of a statement from Tom.
While the theatre company did not directly name who had received abuse, many fans believed it had been aimed at Tom’s co-star Francesca (pictured)
They wrote: ‘Seriously though, he should’ve said something days ago. We got newcomers like Melissa Barrera, Renee Rapp, Ramy Youssef and Avantika speaking up for Gaza and he can’t step in against blatant racism? Spider-man would never;’
‘It is incredibly embarrassing and indicting that a dark skinned black woman who has nothing to do with your production is urging you to defend your own co-star. an incredibly useless and spineless man;’
‘Like how do you jump on stage and look your co-star in the eye knowing you sat idly by as she endured archaic forms of incessant racism. This is what infuriates me about celebrities not using their power and privilege. absolutely pathetic;’
‘What I do know is that his Black costar is receiving extreme racism & death threats because of her Race. I’m sure that hurts more. And Asking Tom Holland to speak out against the racism his costar is facing from some of his OWN fans is ASKING him to do the BARE MINIMUM.’
However while some fans agreed with the sentiment, they also jumped to the Hollywood actor’s defence citing that he rarely uses social media.