Dozens of Suffolk theatre-goers have been left disappointed after a last-minute cancellation of a Sound of Music performance.

The “Sing-A-Long Sound of Music” show at the Theatre Royal in Bury St Edmunds was due to start at 7pm tonight.

But ticket-holders have been told the show will not go on.

A tweet from the theatre’s Twitter account was published around an hour ago which said: “We regret to announce that tonight’s @singalonga is cancelled. Our Box Office will contact all bookers shortly.”

Carole Lorking, from Great Livermere, was due to go to the show. She said: “It was a bit short notice. The performance was due to start at seven and they only let us know at five.

“They wouldn’t say the reason for the cancellation either because they said they had so many people to ring there wasn’t time to explain.

“I’m just so disappointed as I’d been really looking forward to it.

“I expect there will be a lot of people in Bury this evening who are all dressed up with nowhere to go.”

There were reports that many of ticket-holders had dressed up as nuns for the performance.

A spokesman for the theatre said: “The Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds and National Trust have taken the joint decision to cancel tonight’s Sing-a-long-a Sound Of Music performance.

“We have taken the decision whilst we investigate a possible concern surrounding an area of non-structural original brickwork and the decision has been made, due to time restrictions, to close this evening.

“Further investigations and any work will be undertaken first thing tomorrow to enable the theatre to continue business as usual from Saturday.

“We would like to apologies for inconvenience caused.”