MANILA — (UPDATED) In a confusing turn of events on Friday, ticket holders of the “Swan Lake” gala night were told the show had been cancelled, only to be informed half an hour later that the performance would proceed as originally scheduled.

On Facebook, at around 8 p.m., the public relations agency behind the Philippine staging of “Swan Lake” announced that the gala performance at the New Frontier Theater would no longer push through.

The announcement read, in full: “In behalf of Royal Chimes Concerts and Events, organizer and producer of Swan Lake Philippines represented by Beth Mercado and Yuri Mercado, it is with the heavy heart that we were instructed by the organizer to announce the cancellation of tonight’s show.

“Due to a major issue between the organizer and the Russian Group. We are not privey to disclose the reason as our PR agency was merely engaged to promote this show. We are truly sorry and apologize to everyone. Thank you so much.”

No further details were disclosed.

At the venue, a representative of the public relations group told ticket holders that the cancellation was due to a “miscommunication” between the Russian group’s promoter and its Philippine counterpart.

However, at around 8:20 p.m. on Facebook, the same official page said that “despite the earlier announcement of the cancellation, the gala performance tonight will proceed as scheduled.”

The show began shortly past 9:15 p.m.

ABS-CBN News understands that some ticket holders had already left the Quezon City venue when the second announcement was made. It was not immediately clear how many of the seats ended up vacant at the start of the show in light of the mess.

An estimated 1,400 people were expected to watch the gala performance.

LOOK: Moscow Ballet La Classique together with 35-piece Russian Symphony Orchestra rehearsing some scenes for the gala night of SWAN LAKE here at the New Frontier Theater. The ballet show will run from June 14 to 22. pic.twitter.com/zUlAishSPt

— MJ Felipe (@mjfelipe) June 14, 2019

Performers of “Swan Lake,” the Moscow Ballet’s La Classique and the Russian Symphony Orchestra, had been rehearsing five hours before the originally scheduled run of the gala show.

ABS-CBN News contacted the public relations group in charge of the production, but received no immediate answer.

A source, who is part of the joint project and who requested not to be named, said the “misunderstanding” stemmed from the alleged unsettled payments among the promoters.

The organizers said those who purchased tickets for the Friday, June 14 performance, but weren’t able to watch, can call Ticketnet or Ticketworld for a revalidation of tickets, instructions, and further announcements. — With a report from Jan Yumul, ANC