Ill stars miss third performance of South Pacific

Theatre-goers who were expecting to see former EastEnders stars Samantha Womack and Alex Ferns perform in hit musical South Pacific in Birmingham last night said they were disappointed after both performers again pulled out due to ill health.

It was the third performance the pair have missed, as they also failed to appear on the opening night on Tuesday and at yesterday's matinee performance at the New Alexandra Theatre.

Womack, aged 39, who played Ronnie Mitchell in the BBC soap, is starring in the lead role of Nellie Forbush in the show, but has been unable to perform so far at the Birmingham theatre due to a chest infection.

Ferns, aged 43, who played Trevor Morgan in the soap, has also been too unwell to appear in his role as Luther Billis because he is suffering from lower back pain.

Lisa Walsh aged 36, from Haswell Road, Halesowen, who arrived to watch the performance with friends said she was very disappointed not to see the EastEnders stars.

She said: "It is disappointing. We had been looking forward to the performance, and one of the reasons was because we are going to see Samantha Womack. We watch EastEnders, so one of the reasons we thought to come and see it was because she was in it."

Vicky Churchill had travelled to Birmingham from Warwick with a group of friends.

She said: "We didn't know they were ill. It is very disappointing as we paid to see those stars.

"They should offer us a discount or a offer us another ticket. They are expensive tickets."