Ticket sales slumped after Little Britain star quit

West End play Prick Up Your Ears has been scrapped after grieving Matt Lucas pulled out of the show.

The production, about playwright Joe Orton, had been due to run until December 6 – but ticket sales slumped after the Little Britain star quit, and now it will close on November 15.

Lucas withdrew from the role of Orton’s suicidal lover Keith Halliwell after his ex-partner Kevin McGee killed himself just days into the show's London run.

Con O'Neill was drafted in to replace him at the Comedy Theatre, but did not have Lucas’s box-office draw.

Producers said: ‘Despite very good feedback and notices for Con O'Neill's performance, the box office sales have not been sufficient to keep the show going.

‘So the producers have taken the difficult decision to close the show three weeks prior to its scheduled end date.’

• Matt Lucas yesterday visited Sir Elton John in hospital, where he is suffering severe flu and E.coli food poisoning. Hem ade the trip, with Sir Elton's partner David Furnish.

Published: 4 Nov 2009