Theatre-goers and opera singers were left in the dark when an electrical fault force an Erith theatre to close mid-show - but not without a final tune.

The opening night of the Erith Operatic Society's 'A Musical of Musicals' was cut short on April 27 when an electrical fault at a substation caused a power cut at Erith Playhouse in High Street.

Mid-way through the show's first song, stage manager Ken Swan was forced to evacuate the venue.

Mr Swan said: "We only had two lights on stage, no lights in the foyer and no fire lights so we had to stop the show for safety reasons.

"Thankfully a lot of people rebooked for shows later in the week."

Enthusiastic members of the society refused to let the audience leave disappointed and serenaded them with 'Gun' - a parody of scenes from Chorus Line - as they left.

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Erith Operatic Society 

Jill Nichols, 73, a prompt for the Erith Operatic Society said: "It was nobody's fault but a real shame as we had people from Dimchurch, east London and Hartley.

"Christine Biggins stood up and said 'let's sing them out' - they were really going for it and the audience loved it.

"We also have to praise the efficiency of Ken Swan who behaved marvellously and got everybody out."

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A spokesman for UK Power Network said: "Following a fault on a piece of our equipment at a substation 33 customers in the High Street area of Erith would have seen an interruption to their electricity supply at around 8.30pm on April 27.

"Our engineers worked as quickly and safely as possible to get supplies restored and all customers had their power back by 11.40pm "We understand how difficult it is to be without electricity and apologise for any inconvenience caused."