HUNDREDS of theatre-goers were left disappointed after Oxford's New Theatre was forced to cancel the first two performances of the musical Hello Dolly!

Staff at the New Theatre, in George Street, said the show's production company cancelled Monday and Tuesday's performances, the first two nights of the show in Oxford, because of technical problems.

But the two performances scheduled for yesterday went ahead as planned after the problems were resolved and staff said the rest of the week's performances would not be affected.

Sue Evans, marketing manager for the New Theatre, said staff had called hundreds of ticket holders over the weekend to offer them a seat for one of the later performances, or a full refund.

She said: "We got a call from the producers late on Friday evening saying they were having technical difficulties with the show.

"We contacted everybody who had booked for Monday and Tuesday to offer them the option of exchanging for a later date or a refund.

"They were disappointed but they understood it could not be helped and the vast majority were able to swap for a later performance."

A spokesman for Chris Moreno Ltd, the production company behind the show, said: "It was just basically technical difficulties fitting the stage in.

"Because of the bank holiday the performances were quite quiet anyway so we have just transferred everyone to the later part of the week."

"It is a big show. There is no point running a show that is not complete."

Hello Dolly!, starring Anita Dobson and Darren Day, will now run at the New Theatre as scheduled until Saturday, May 31.