Dallas man’s bizarre homage leaves ashes in the mouths of Met staff and audience
Roger Kaiser preparing to attend Rossini’s “Guillaume Tell” at the Met. Photo: Facebook
It was the one possibility that no one had considered.
The Metropolitan Opera cut short Saturday’s matinee of Rossini’s Guillaume Tell after a man sprinkled an unidentified white powder in the orchestra pit at the second intermission. The evening performance of L’Italiana in Algeri was also cancelled, while New York police investigated the matter, fearing some sort of terror incident.
It turns out that a Dallas man was spreading the ashes of his deceased friend and “mentor,” who was also an opera fan, into the pit, according to the New York Post.
The Post reports that Kaiser left the theater immediately after the performance was cancelled. Police were able to track him down since he told fellow audience members of his mission. On Sunday authorities were unsure whether Kaiser would be charged with an offense since it was unclear what statute he may have violated.
Kaiser provides little personal history or employment background on his Facebook page, apart from calling himself a “Crafty Guy,” who likes to make jewelry. He is a regular traveler, with several photos and videos of trips to the mountains and pilgrimages to various opera houses.
Kaiser also says “I am undescribable” on his page, but it’s likely that Met management and staff, singers, orchestra musicians and thousands of disappointed opera fans have plenty of words to describe him.
2 Responses to “Dallas man’s bizarre homage leaves ashes in the mouths of Met staff and audience”
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Posted Oct 30, 2016 at 4:16 pm by Jack Firestone
I am one of those disappointed fans who looked forward to both Act IV of Tell and James Levine conducting L’Italiana in Algeri. I have a few choice words for him which I shall not publish here. This was National Patrons Weekend at the Met and a lot of us traveled from far and wide to hear these special performances. Not a happy camper.
Posted Oct 31, 2016 at 3:35 pm by ash
He did this elsewhere so why was he not denied entry.