Paul Laverick and his wife travelled from Brigg to see Strictly star Nikita Kuzmin, but ended up sitting through half of a completely different show at the wrong venue
Hull New Theatre, where the couple were admitted for the wrong show(Image: Submitted – Hull New Theatre)
When Paul Laverick attended a night at the theatre with his wife, he thought they’d enjoy a latin and ballroom dance show performed by one of TV’s biggest dance stars. But they were dismayed to learn they’d sat through the first act of the wrong show at Hull New Theatre, realising they should actually have been half a mile away at Hull City Hall.
Hull City Council is investigating how Paul and his wife were admitted to The New Theatre when they had tickets for a completely different venue. Paul raised safety concerns over security at Hull City Council-run venues after the mix up.
On Tuesday, June 30, Paul made his way to Hull from Brigg with his wife to see Strictly Come Dancing star Nikita Kuzmin on his touring show, Supernova. The couple bought the tickets back in December and were looking forward to the event.
But when the show’s interval at the Hull New Theatre came around and there was still no sign of Kuzmin, Paul realised something was wrong. The couple stayed for around 10 minutes of the second act, only to realise they had been admitted to the wrong theatre.
Kuzmin’s show was actually taking place at Hull City Hall. The pair were dismayed to realise not only had they missed the show, but felt there’d been a significant security breach by letting them into the venue without valid tickets.
They had in fact ended up seeing Matthew Bourne’s “The Car Man”. Billed as “a dance thriller set in a greasy 1950s American garage-diner”, it was a far cry from the ballroom spectacle Paul was expecting.
Paul said: “In the end we just got up and walked out. My partner said ‘Paul, I’ve read the reviews on Nikita’s show and it was spectacular’. We realised we’d been let into that theatre with our QR code. We should’ve been in the City Hall.
“When I got through to the theatre the next day they couldn’t’ve cared less. The security guard must’ve had it turned on to scan both of the arenas. How on earth has he scanned my QR code to allow me in? In today’s world – with lunatics about – I shouldn’t have been allowed into that theatre.”
Hull New Theatre and Hull City Hall are both run by Hull City Council, under the guise “Hull Theatres”. Paul says he called the box office but has not received an apology for the mix up. He is concerned about security if patrons continue to be let into the wrong theatre with tickets for other shows.
A spokesperson for Hull City Council said: “Hull Culture and Leisure is carrying out an investigation and will provide a response to the customer through its established official complaints process. No further comment will be made at this stage.”
He said: “You buy these tickets – I bought them in December – and it just said Hull Theatres. I just dropped it onto my wallet on my phone and never looked at them again.
“It was my mistake that I thought we were at the New Theatre but they should’ve picked it up. How on earth does it scan? I used to do a lot of event management and they wouldn’t have let me in without a ticket.
“It’s laughable and I told friends about it who laughed and said ‘you sat through half a show’. If it was a play, we’d have instantly realised we were in the wrong theatre. How we didn’t have someone sit in our seats I don’t know. I’ve had no apology, no nothing.”
Paul complained to Hull City Council, but feels his complaint has gone into “the abyss”. “I feel embarrassed because we ended up sitting in the wrong theatre. We’ve been brushed to one side.
“I paid a lot of money for those tickets for my partner’s birthday and it’s been an absolute waste of time. They know we did it and they’ll know the guy that scanned us in, it’s absolutely bizarre. We are so embarrassed about it but we shouldn’t be embarrassed, they should’ve told us.
“There were no posters outside and because there was this huge queue of people, we had to walk through it. We had ample time to go from the New Theatre to the City Hall. It does say on the top of the ticket ‘City Hall’, but their guys made a bigger mistake. They’ve given me no apology for the guy not doing his job. I feel totally let down.”
Paul says he plans to write to Kuzmin to tell him they missed his show, which they’d been looking forward to for over six months. He is most concerned about security risks at the theatres, and believes he should be refunded for his tickets.
He said: “They should just take responsibility for this and give us a voucher,” he said. “But to treat me as if it doesn’t matter is unbelievable.”
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