FIVE PERFORMANCES OF RTE’S Toy Show: The Musical have been cancelled due to cast and crew illness.

The show has proved controversial after most of its performances failed to sell out, and the Dáil’s public spending watchdog asked RTÉ to explain how much money it has spent on the production.

A statement said: “It is with deep regret that due to illness in the cast and crew that RTÉ Toy Show the Musical had to cancel its afternoon and evening shows today and its three shows tomorrow. The team did everything possible to avoid this situation and are truly sorry for the inconvenience caused.

“We will announce any changes to planned shows from Tuesday as soon as we have more information on the impact of illness on the cast and crew. Again very sincere apologies for the inconvenience caused.”

People who have tickets for the cancelled performances will be contacted by Ticketsolve regarding rescheduling or refunds.

Toy Show: The Musical is running through December in the 2,000-seater Convention Centre in Dublin.

RTÉ previously confirmed that one scheduled day of shows was to be replaced with a rehearsal day.

The Irish Independent reported last week that just one of the musical’s 30 shows had sold out prior to opening night.

The production has also been criticised for having an unfair advantage over smaller pantomime shows, which were largely cancelled over the last two years due to the pandemic.

Late Late Show host Ryan Tubridy is not involved in Toy Show: The Musical, which is the brainchild of Late Late Show producers Jane Murphy and Katherine Drohan.