It must have been a shock for the cast of “Dreamgirls” to hear that their show was to be cancelled, just weeks before it was to debut in Cape Town, as a result of poor ticket sales.

The production launched at Montecasino in March, and ended two weeks earlier than planned. Ticket sales for the Cape Town show also did nothing to inspire carrying through with their performances. In Johannesburg, 50 000 people saw the “Dreamgirls” at work, but only 35 000 of those were there without complimentary tickets.

The production, which featured an impressive cast, failed to attract the attention organisers had predicted and hoped for. Although it involved 80 people and the set was large enough to fit into eight 12m trucks, there seemed to be no interest.

Former “Scandal” actor Aubrey Poo and Bjorn Blignaut, two of the show’s impressive cast members, have managed to find new inspiration, however.

Poo has appeared on the 13-episode IEC- and SABC Education-funded democracy education game show “The Right To Win”, while Blignaut has started to shoot a new sitcom for the SABC called “Colour TV”.

Blignaut said of “Dreamgirls” that the marketing for it should have been aimed at the black market more intensively, as the film was successful in SA.