I was in the audience the first night that the Met performed The Makrapulis Case. The opera starts in a lawyers office. Vítek, the clerk, climbs on a ladder, fetches a file and sings about the case of Gregor Vs. Prus, about which the verdict is going to be given today, almost after 100 years of legal fights between the two families.
After singing his line "Well, nothing lasts forever", the singer, tenor Richard Varsalle, suddenly fell from the ladder - and died - really died.
Needless to say, they closed the curtain, made an announcement and everyone went home (5 minutes into the show). Ironically the second performance was also cancelled, because of a snowstorm if I remember correvtly. It was the only time the MET has cancelled a show due to weather.
A Healthy NO C-A-R-B Diet for 2004
NO C-heney
NO A-shcroft
NO R-umsfeld
NO B-ush
and "Absolutely NO RICE!"