A festive pantomime in Glasgow has been compared to the infamous Willy Wonka Experience after disappointed families walked out of performances and demanded their money back.
Families Storm Out of 'Woeful' Performance
The Wicked Wizard of Oz: Cirque Spectacular, staged at the city's OVO Hydro arena, has been slammed by attendees as "inappropriate, overpriced and falsely advertised". The show, which took place on Saturday 27 December and Sunday 28 December, was billed as a "brand-new, breath-taking, Cirque staging" by organisers The World's Biggest Productions.
However, audience members told a different story. A Facebook group named 'The Woeful Wicked Wizard of Oz - A Not-So Cirque Spectacular' was quickly established and had attracted 1,200 members by Sunday, filled with complaints from across the UK.
'Better School Shows' and a Rapid Exit
One mother, Carol-Ann Henderson, described the production as a "shambles" to Glasgow Live. "It has been completely mis-sold and advertised as a cirque spectacular," she said. "If I said it was an amateur production that would be a lie, I've seen better school shows."
Another anonymous attendee remarked on the speed of the exodus, stating they had "never seen the Hydro empty so fast". Criticisms extended to poor sound quality, unconvincing props—including a witch on a bike attached to a golf cart and munchkins on stilts—and a lack of coherent storyline.
The financial sting was sharp for many. One father revealed he paid £297 for tickets for his family of five, calling the performance "embarrassing" and claiming it "blows the Willy Wonka Experience right out of the water".
Production Company Defends the Show
In response to criticism reported by the Manchester Evening News, a spokesperson for The World's Biggest Productions defended the production. They stated the show, "Wicked Wizard Of Oz", opened in Blackpool in October to a "fantastic response".
The company argued that promotional videos featured acts from workshop rehearsals or live Blackpool performances. They clarified that the descriptor "cirque spectacular" was in smaller typeface, indicating circus elements within a panto format, and stressed it was never marketed as a Cirque du Soleil production.
"Our show, like all pantomimes, contains some jokes in the pantomime tradition of being silly," the spokesperson said. "Over 150,000 people attend our shows annually and if maybe 0.1% do not appreciate one joke in the show, it feels rather unbalanced reporting against the mass who enjoy a form of humour that has survived two hundred years."
Both The World's Biggest Productions and the Scottish Event Campus, which operates the OVO Hydro, have been contacted for further comment regarding the Glasgow complaints.
