Man Sprinkles Ashes into Met Orchestra Pit; Opera Cancelled

By Laurie Niles: The Metropolitan Opera cancelled the remainder of a performance of Rossini's Guillaume Tell (aka "William Tell") before Act IV Saturday afternoon, when a man sprinkled what appeared to be ashes in the orchestra pit. Police said the man told other patrons he was there specifically to sprinkle the ashes during the performance, the New York Times reported. There was no criminal intent, police said, and the ashes were reportedly those of the man's mentor. The incident occurred around 4:30 p.m. and caused an immediate evacuation of the building. Musicians apparently had to leave their instruments in the pit initially. Here is a tweet from the MET Orchestra Musicians:

Saturday, October 29, 2016
Performance of Rossini's "William Tell" cancelled before Act IV. My viola case (black cover) is still in the pit! pic.twitter.com/89m17K3YjJ

— Vincent Lionti (@vinlionti) October 29, 2016

As are all of our instruments! ???????? https://t.co/nhn2VK4IMs

— METOrchMusicians (@METOrchestra) October 29, 2016

The incident also caused the cancellation of Saturday evening’s performance of L’Italiana in Algeri while the authorities investigated.