STAGE

A musical without an orchestra? It happened in London on Wednesday night when the orchestra walked out on a performance of “Cabaret” at the Strand Theatre. The walkout protested the firing of five musicians accused of being drunk during a performance and throwing orange peels onto the stage. Ticket refunds were offered, five of the 28 actors refused to perform and producer Willie Hancock asked the audience in the 897-seat Strand Theater to support the “very brave” cast, who performed with no musical accompaniment whatsoever. And proving that in England there will always be an audience for theater if not an orchestra, 72 people stayed for the performance.