#1
Posted: 10/30/16 at 10:13am
How disgusting.
Met Opera performance cancelled when a man sprinkled mentor's ashes into orchestra pit
#2
Posted: 10/30/16 at 12:36pm
What.
#3
Posted: 10/30/16 at 12:49pm
omg
#4
Posted: 10/30/16 at 12:52pm
Hopefully his mentor also left him a large inheritance as he'll need it for his legal bills!
#5
Posted: 10/30/16 at 4:58pm
Oh my
Keeping BroadwayWorld Illustrated
#6
Posted: 10/30/16 at 5:00pm
What an asshole.
#7
Posted: 10/30/16 at 7:00pm
Maaaan, so this is why our night performance of L'Italiana in Algeri got cancelled??? What an epic jerk. Can I get my $15 in non-refundable fees taken out of that inheritance too......? :P
#8
Posted: 10/31/16 at 12:17pm
So apparently this wasn't some random person. He was known to and a friend of the Met and to some of the performers (apparently even on the backstage list for after the show).
#9
Posted: 10/31/16 at 12:27pm
The smarter thing for him to do since he is connected to The Met would have been to ask if a small amount of the ashes could be placed in a container and placed in the pit as a memory to his friend. JMO
Just give the world Love. - S. Wonder
#10
Posted: 10/31/16 at 12:38pm
Tag said: "So apparently this wasn't some random person. He was known to and a friend of the Met and to some of the performers (apparently even on the backstage list for after the show).
"
It was Rene Barbera -- the star tenor in L'Italiana in Algeri -- who wrote on Facebook that he knew the man and had put him on the receiving list for the evening performance. Barbera wrote that although the actions of the man were stupid, the public should be compassionate towards him, and that "the only people who have the right to be upset right now are the people at William Tell, the people who were supposed to be at L'italiana in Algeri, The Met and my Colleagues."
Of course, many people disagreed with Barbera, and there is a thread on the opera site Parterre (linked below) where Barbera himself and others argue their points.
http://parterre.com/2016/10/30/parterrian-makes-national-news/#disqus_thread
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body
#11
Posted: 10/31/16 at 12:57pm
That parterre.com thread is CRAZIER than any thread we have ever had here on BWW.
Oh--and let the perpetrators pictures be a lesson to all of us who think it's cute to post crazy-looking pictures online: There will come a day when YOU too will have your face splashed all over the tabloids and the Internet. Is THAT really how you want to be seen?
#12
Posted: 10/31/16 at 12:59pm
When it comes to internet crazy, Parterre makes Broadway World look like child's play on a regular basis.
Personally, I feel like Barbera comes off a little too testy in his comments -- he seems to push back a little too aggressively on anyone who doesn't agree with him. But that could just be my reading of it; as we know, the internet isn't the best place to ascertain tone.
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body
Updated On: 10/31/16 at 12:59 PM
#13
Posted: 10/31/16 at 1:07pm
You're absolutely right. Barbera and poster Seth Chodosh seem to be berating people for being upset by this, when clearly the cancellation of two performances and the summoning of the NYPD Anti-Terrorism Squad are legitimately upsetting.
Not to mention that sprinkling of human remains in someone else's work space is (1) and invasion of privacy and (2) disgusting.
Also, a possible violation of an orchestra member's religious beliefs: Cremation is forbidden in Orthodox Judaism and "haram" in Islam.
#14
Posted: 10/31/16 at 1:14pm
Seth Chodosh is a legendary troll in opera forums and I wouldn't give him the time of day. I'm kind of surprised La Cieca/James hasn't banned him or placed him on moderation yet.
Barbera's insistence that 1) only those who were personally affected by this act or 2) only those who know the perpetrator personally are allowed to have an opinion is reductive and myopic -- not to mentioned misinformed. Why shouldn't those who love the Met be concerned that this could happen so easily?
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body
#15
Posted: 10/31/16 at 3:22pm
What a bizarre story. I hope everyone involved got replacement tickets and can use them.
Could you imagine if this happened at Hamilton? Lord...
https://newplayexchange.org/users/99643/amanda-delalla
#16
Posted: 10/31/16 at 3:30pm
The difference is, HAMILTON will be running for years. Those holding tickets for L'ITALIANA IN ALGERI cannot get replacement tickets -- the cancelled performance was the last of the opera's run. There are only four remaining performances of GUILLAUME TELL, and out-of-towners may not be able to reschedule.
I imagine that the Met will have to offer refunds or allow those holding tickets to L'ITALIANA to switch their tickets to another opera this season.
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body
#17
Posted: 10/31/16 at 3:49pm
I'm curious to know if the performers will be getting paid!
#18
Posted: 10/31/16 at 3:55pm
Tag said: "I'm curious to know if the performers will be getting paid!
"
Of course they will -- soloists, chorus and musicians will all be paid for the aborted performance. All in all, it was an expensive day for the Met.
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body
#19
Posted: 10/31/16 at 4:09pm
Because the soloists are paid per performance, I'm just wondering. Anyone know the Met's rules for a cancelled performance?
#20
Posted: 10/31/16 at 4:19pm
It varies by each collective bargaining agreement. The show was canceled so late that most of the staff was already reporting to work, so whoever actually reported to work will be paid. Some of the groups with later calls times will not.
Updated On: 11/1/16 at 04:19 PM
#21
Posted: 10/31/16 at 4:41pm
^Yes but paying a crew's weekly fee vs. a soloist's 10k/show (for instance) is very different!
#22
Posted: 10/31/16 at 11:04pm
It's not a weekly fee. You're talking about staff that is paid on a show call.
#23
Posted: 11/1/16 at 12:41pm
Yep, we had tickets for the cancelled L'Italiana in Algeri, and they couldn't be replaced, since it was the last performance. The box office offered to exchange for a different show, but we opted for the refund. Big shame, and you should've seen all the sad faces of those who showed up at the Met that night only to hear of the cancellation... I wish they could throw the book at this guy, for all the reasons already mentioned in this thread. Gross, and extremely inconsiderate, at the least.
I imagine the Met has legal recourse against this guy in civil court, but isn't there any criminal complaint that can be filed for this kind of case? Seems like an act like that must be illegal on some level...
#24
Posted: 11/1/16 at 12:59pm
The NYPD stated they were looking into whether or not it was a potential health code violation that he could be charged with.
The Met could sue him for damages in civil court, but honestly it would bankrupt this man (I'd imagine) and I cannot imagine the Met gaining any sort of good press from suing a man who was attempting to honor a lost friend (however misguided he may have been.)
#25
Posted: 11/1/16 at 1:47pm
Lol what a moron. It's not like the orchestra pit is some magical place, the ashes would be swept up / vacuumed at some point.
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