New York City’s Metropolitan Opera was forced to cancel its Saturday afternoon performance after unidentified powder, allegedly human ashes, was sprinkled into the orchestra pit.
Investigators said the man, whose name has not been disclosed, was in front of the first row of seats when he scattered a dust-like substance into the orchestra pit during the second intermission of Rossini’s William Tell opera on Saturday. Luckily, no musicians were in the pit at the time.
New York Police Department Deputy Commissioner John Miller said witnesses heard the man say he came to the opera to honor the death of his friend and mentor – by spreading his ashes inside.
“An individual from out of town… indicated that he was [there] to sprinkle ashes of a friend, his mentor in opera, during the performance,” Commissioner Miller told a press conference. He said the performance did not resume after the incident as the man’s actions were perceived as a threat.
“As a safety precaution, the Met canceled the remainder of the performance to err on the side of appropriate caution,” Met spokesman Sam Neuman said in a statement.
Scene outside #METopera currently. 7 vehicles and ambulance on site. pic.twitter.com/BeU5O33ZQf
— Dylan Hayden (@Dylanhayden) October 29, 2016
Police were called and the audience was told to go home.
Apart from some booing, no disturbances were reported while spectators were evacuating the opera house. The evening performance of L’Italiana in Algeri was also cancelled.
Update #METOpera: Stretcher brought in and out with inflated suitcase device at 17:40. 7 police vehicles onsite pic.twitter.com/K5ZO4KZRKI
— Dylan Hayden (@Dylanhayden) October 29, 2016
Police took the substance for lab tests, but there has not been any information yet whether it proved to be cremation ashes.
The man behind the bizarre action has been identified, but fled the scene shortly after the incident. Police are currently trying to contact him.
Commissioner Miller said that the disposal of ashes at an opera house may violate city codes, but added that he does not “believe at this point that we see any criminal intent here.”
Two people who may have had contact with the substance have been examined by medics, but no one was injured.
At the news conference following the incident, the Met’s general manager Peter Gelb stressed that the theater’s concern for the safety of its patrons and performers is the organization’s top priority, adding that the Met would appreciate it if opera lovers refrained from bringing their ashes with them.
https://www.rt.com/usa/364736-evacuated-ashes-metropolitan-opera/
A bit of an overreaction, don’t you think? They’d probably shut the place down for good if he lit up a cigarette in there.
Whew. That was a close one. It’s a good thing we have the authorities show up for things like this. All that deadly assault ash could have been irritating. There could have been some seriously deadly occasional sneezing.
Glad to see that the paramedics were able to resuscitate that tuba case. I heard it was almost a goner.
The Met is going to have to put itself in debt to a bank in order to purchase several dustbusters and a quality shopvac.
Guillaume Tell sucks a$$ anyways.
“… he does not “believe at this point that we see any criminal intent here.”
They’ll think of something.
The dead guy can still ‘vote’ if he’s a Democrat, however. 🙄