THERE was drama at one of the south's leading theatres tonight when it had to be evacuated after an alarm sounded.

Hundreds of people poured out into the street outside The Mayflower in Southampton on the opening night of the musical Evita.

The cast were just 30 minutes into the first act of the production when the performance was halted at 8.06pm.

A production assistant appeared on stage and told everyone to leave their seats because an alarm was sounding.

The musical stars Wet Wet Wet's Marti Pellow and the interruption occurred during a scene featuring a charity concert starring leading lady Eva Peron and President Juan Peron.

But within 15 minutes customers were called back in from Commercial Road after it was discovered to be a false alarm.

The previous scene featured an earthquake in Argentina which included flashing lights which it is throught could have set off the alarm.

Click here for last night's review of the show.