NEW YORK -- Saturday’s performance of “Guillame Tell” at the Metropolitan Opera House was disrupted when an audience member sprinkled an unidentified powdery substance into the orchestra pit.

In a news conference Saturday night, investigators said the substance is still being tested but they have reason to believe it may have been someone’s ashes, CBS New York reports.

Police were called and the show was cancelled during the second intermission around 5:23 p.m.

A suspicious powder was sprinkled into the orchestra pit at NYC’s Metropolitan Opera on Oct. 29, 2016. Twitter / Dylanhayden

John Miller, the New York Police Department’s deputy commissioner in charge of intelligence and counterterrorism, said several audience members said a man told them he was there to sprinkle the ashes of a friend, his mentor in the opera.

Miller said the man was in front of the first row of seats when he sprinkled the powder into the orchestra pit during the second intermission when most of the musicians were not present.

He said the powder will be tested, but the possibility that it was in fact human ashes “is certainly an area that we are pursuing.”

Police know who the man is and are reaching out to him, Miller said, adding that the man does not live in New York.

Miller said the disposal of ashes at an opera house may violate city codes but, “I don’t believe at this point that we see any criminal intent here.”

Police initially said one person at the opera house requested medical attention. Miller said no one was injured.

Investigators said the audience member approached the orchestra pit with a bag and sprinkled the substance in two places.

They also said they spoke with some opera goers who reported speaking with someone who expressed interest in spreading the ashes of their mentor inside the theater.

“As it seems to be the case, obviously ashes of an opera lovers mentor being sprinkled into the pit, although certainly inconveniencing all of us, is a far cry better than anything else. You know we appreciate opera lovers coming to The Met, we hope that they will not bring ashes with them,” General Manager Peter Gelb said.

Chair of the Metropolitan Opera Committee Jessica Phillips released a statement, saying “While this incident is extremely troubling to say the least, we are grateful that no one was seriously injured and none of the priceless instruments which had to be abandoned in the orchestra pit, due to emergency evacuation, suffered any damage. I’m sure that on Monday morning the Met Opera be reevaluating it’s security protocols.”

“Someone who works for the opera house came out to say that the fourth act was being cancelled because of some problems,” one audience member said. “He did not elaborate, but he said everybody was healthy, there was no illness in the back, but whatever the problem was made it impossible to present the fourth act.”

“The audience was very unhappy, there was whistling, and yelling and screaming, but they had no choice but to leave,” he told CBS New York.

Audience members at “Guillaume Tell” described confusion as the intermission went on longer than usual.

A Met representative at first announced that a technical issue was causing the delay, then returned a few minutes later to announce that the fourth act would not be performed. The audience was told to go home.

“Everybody kind of slowly walked out,” said Dylan Hayden of Toronto. “As we were exiting the building, I noticed the counterterrorism unit going into the building.”

Hayden, who was seated in the 11th row back, added, “The idea that they said that it was a technical error, when I was maybe 15 feet away from a potential dangerous substance, that kind of irks me a little bit. But at no point did I feel an actual threat.”

Micaela Baranello, a musicologist at Smith College in Massachusetts, said some audience members booed when the cancellation was announced and one man chanted, “I want my money back, I want my money back.”

Gelb said people who had Saturday tickets to either opera should call the Met and make arrangements to see a later performance.

Baranello, who spoke by phone from a train headed back to Massachusetts, said that’s not so easy for opera fans who don’t live in New York. “It’s too bad because most of the best music in ‘Guillaume Tell’ is in Act 4, in my opinion,” she said.

“Guillaume Tell,” Rossini’s opera about folk hero William Tell, had not been performed at the Met in more than 80 years before this season. The opera’s overture is known to many Americans as the theme music to the 1950s TV show “The Lone Ranger.”</s>NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York City’s Metropolitan Opera canceled its Saturday afternoon performance of “Guillaume Tell” after an audience member sprinkled an unidentified powder, which police believe was cremated ashes, into the orchestra pit.

New York City Police officials said witnesses had heard a man say he was at the opera to spread the ashes of his mentor.

“An individual from out of town ... indicated that he was here to sprinkle ashes of a friend, his mentor in opera, during the performance,” John Miller, Deputy Commissioner for Intelligence and Counterterrorism told reporters at Lincoln Center.

The Met said on its Facebook page that it also canceled the Saturday evening performance of “L’Italiana in Algeri,” while police investigate the incident which happened in the second intermission.

There were no reports of any injuries or any bad reactions to the substance, though the theater was evacuated and the New York Police Department dispatched a special unit to investigate, Officer Tiffany Phillips said.

The suspect, a man who was not identified, had fled the scene and no arrests have been made, Phillips said.

The Metropolitan Opera has seen other bizarre episodes in the past, including one in 1988 when a patron died during a plunge from the top balcony during the intermission of a performance of “Macbeth.”</s>New York City's Metropolitan Opera canceled its Saturday afternoon performance of "Guillaume Tell," during the second intermission after an audience member sprinkled an unidentified powder into the orchestra pit, the opera said.

The Met said on its Facebook page that it also canceled the Saturday evening performance of "L'Italiana in Algeri," while police investigate the incident.

There were no reports of any injuries or any harmful reaction to the unidentified substance, though the theater was evacuated, and the New York Police Department dispatched a special unit to investigate the incident, Officer Tiffany Phillips said.

The suspect, a man who was not identified, had fled the scene, and no arrests have been made, Phillips said.

Police were still examining the powder to determine whether it was harmful or inert, she said.</s>NEW YORK — The Latest on the cancellation of an opera after someone sprinkled powder into the pit (all times local):

Police say a powdered substance that was sprinkled into the orchestra pit at New York's Metropolitan Opera may have been an opera lover's ashes.

New York Police Department Deputy Commissioner John Miller says a man attending Saturday afternoon's performance of "Guillaume Tell" told witnesses he was there to sprinkle his mentor's ashes.

Met officials stopped the performance after the man sprinkled the substance into the pit during the second intermission. They also an evening performance of a different opera.

Miller says police know who the man is and are reaching out to him.

He says disposing of ashes in an opera house may violate the city health code. But he says police don't see "any criminal intent here."

New York's Metropolitan Opera has stopped a performance after someone sprinkled an unknown powder into the orchestra pit.

Met spokesman Sam Neuman says Saturday afternoon's performance of "Guillaume Tell" was during the second intermission because of the incident.

A police spokeswoman says the person who sprinkled the powder fled and is being sought.

Police say one person at the opera house requested medical attention. No details on that person's condition are available.

The Met also Saturday night's performance of "L'Italiana in Algeri" because of the investigation.

Neuman says people who had Saturday tickets to either opera can make arrangements with the Met to see a later performance.</s>NEW YORK — A powdery substance a man sprinkled into the orchestra pit at New York’s Metropolitan Opera may have been an opera lover’s ashes, police say.

The incident during a Saturday afternoon performance of Rossini’s “Guillaume Tell” forced Met officials to cancel the rest of the show as well as an evening performance of a second opera.

John Miller, the New York Police Department’s deputy commissioner in charge of intelligence and counterterrorism, said several audience members said a man told them he was there to sprinkle the ashes of a friend, his mentor in the opera.

Miller said the man was in front of the first row of seats when he sprinkled the powder into the orchestra pit during the second intermission when most of the musicians were not present.

He said the powder will be tested, but the possibility that it was in fact human ashes “is certainly an area that we are pursuing.”

Police know who the man is and are reaching out to him, Miller said, adding that the man does not live in New York.

Miller said the disposal of ashes at an opera house may violate city codes but, “I don’t believe at this point that we see any criminal intent here.”

Met general manager Peter Gelb said, “We appreciate opera lovers coming to the Met. We hope that they will not bring their ashes with them.”

Police initially said one person at the opera house requested medical attention. Miller said no one was injured.

The Met canceled Saturday night’s performance of “L’Italiana in Algeri,” another Rossini opera, because of the investigation.

Audience members at “Guillaume Tell” described confusion as the intermission went on longer than usual.

A Met representative at first announced that a technical issue was causing the delay, then returned a few minutes later to announce that the fourth act would not be performed. The audience was told to go home.

“Everybody kind of slowly walked out,” said Dylan Hayden of Toronto. “As we were exiting the building, I noticed the counterterrorism unit going into the building.”

Hayden, who was seated in the 11th row back, added, “The idea that they said that it was a technical error, when I was maybe 15 feet away from a potential dangerous substance, that kind of irks me a little bit. But at no point did I feel an actual threat.”

Micaela Baranello, a musicologist at Smith College in Massachusetts, said some audience members booed when the cancellation was announced and one man chanted, “I want my money back, I want my money back.”

Gelb said people who had Saturday tickets to either opera should call the Met and make arrangements to see a later performance.

Baranello, who spoke by phone from a train headed back to Massachusetts, said that’s not so easy for opera fans who don’t live in New York. “It’s too bad because most of the best music in ‘Guillaume Tell’ is in Act 4, in my opinion,” she said.

“Guillaume Tell,” Rossini’s opera about folk hero William Tell, had not been performed at the Met in more than 80 years before this season. The opera’s overture is known to many Americans as the theme music to the 1950s TV show “The Lone Ranger.”</s>NEW YORK (AP) — New York’s Metropolitan Opera has stopped a performance after someone sprinkled an unknown powder into the orchestra pit.

Met spokesman Sam Neuman says Saturday afternoon’s performance of “Guillaume Tell” was canceled during the second intermission because of the incident.

A police spokeswoman says the person who sprinkled the powder fled and is being sought.

Police say one person at the opera house requested medical attention. No details on that person’s condition are available.

The Met also canceled Saturday night’s performance of “L’Italiana in Algeri” because of the investigation.

Neuman says people who had Saturday tickets to either opera can make arrangements with the Met to see a later performance.</s>NEW YORK — A powdery substance a man sprinkled into the orchestra pit at New York's Metropolitan Opera may have been an opera lover's ashes, police said Saturday.

The freakish incident during an afternoon performance of Rossini's "Guillaume Tell" forced Met officials to cancel the rest of the show as well as an evening performance of a second opera.

John Miller, the New York Police Department's deputy commissioner in charge of intelligence and counterterrorism, said several audience members said a man told them he was there to sprinkle the ashes of a friend, his mentor in the opera.

Miller said the man was in front of the first row of seats when he sprinkled the powder into the orchestra pit during the second intermission when most of the musicians were not present.

He said the powder will be tested, but the possibility that it was in fact human ashes "is certainly an area that we are pursuing."

Police know who the man is and are reaching out to him, Miller said, adding that the man does not live in New York.

Miller said the disposal of ashes at an opera house may violate city codes but, "I don't believe at this point that we see any criminal intent here."

Met General Manager Peter Gelb said, "We appreciate opera lovers coming to the Met. We hope that they will not bring their ashes with them."

A Met representative at first announced that a technical issue was causing the delay, then returned a few minutes later to announce that the fourth act would not be performed. The audience was told to go home.

"Everybody kind of slowly walked out," said Dylan Hayden of Toronto. "As we were exiting the building, I noticed the counterterrorism unit going into the building."

Hayden, who was seated in the 11th row back, added, "The idea that they said that it was a technical error, when I was maybe 15 feet away from a potential dangerous substance, that kind of irks me a little bit. But at no point did I feel an actual threat."

Micaela Baranello, a musicologist at Smith College in Massachusetts, said some audience members booed when the cancellation was announced and one man chanted, "I want my money back, I want my money back."

Baranello, who spoke by phone from a train headed back to Massachusetts, said that's not so easy for opera fans who don't live in New York. "It's too bad because most of the best music in 'Guillaume Tell' is in Act 4, in my opinion," she said.</s>An audience member at the Metropolitan Opera sprinkled a powdery substance - what the police said might have been the ashes of his mentor - into the orchestra pit during an intermission of a performance Saturday, setting off a police investigation and causing the cancellation of the rest of that opera and a production that evening.

The police said at a news conference Saturday night that they had identified the audience member, a man, through surveillance footage and interviews with witnesses he spoke to before the afternoon performance of Rossini’s Guillaume Tell.

John J Miller, the deputy police commissioner for intelligence and counterterrorism, provided few details about the man or his mentor other than to say that the man was from outside of New York and that the police were trying to contact him.

The man told other patrons he was there to sprinkle the ashes during the performance, the police said. Miller said that the act might have been a violation of the city’s health code but that there was no criminal intent.

The episode, which unfolded around 4.30pm during the second intermission of the opera at Lincoln Center in Manhattan, prompted the company to cancel the rest of the show and Saturday night’s performance of L’Italiana in Algeri. The Met will reopen Monday.

The man was observed reaching into a black bag and sprinkling the contents into two places in the orchestra pit. The performance did not resume because the action was perceived as a threat Mr Miller said. Tests were being done to identify the powder.

The person who was closest to the substance was examined, but no one was injured. “As a safety precaution, the Met canceled the remainder of the performance to err on the side of appropriate caution,” Sam Neuman, a Met spokesman, said in a statement. Audience members were first aware that something was wrong as the second intermission dragged on longer than scheduled. An announcement was made from the stage that there was a delay, said Micaela Baranello, a musicologist who was in the audience. Another audience member, Alexandra Sherman, said as the delay continued, security guards took up posts by the orchestra pit.

A little later, there was a second announcement: The final act was canceled. “There was some booing, and someone shouted, ‘I want my money back!’” Baranello said. The Met said two porters who used gloves and might have handled some of the substance were taken onto the Lincoln Center plaza, where they were checked by medical technicians and then released. The orchestra pit became a crime scene. Vincent Lionti, who plays viola in the orchestra, posted a picture on Twitter noting that the performance had been canceled and that his viola case was still in the pit. “As are all of our instruments!” a Twitter account run by the orchestra replied, followed by emojis of instruments and a frowny face.

The Met, like other performing arts organizations in New York, has increased security in recent years. Members of the audience are asked to open their bags when they enter the opera house, and security guards at the front doors use hand-held metal detectors.

After the performance was canceled, the audience filed out calmly, said Dylan Hayden (27) an opera fan from Toronto, who said he had been standing in the lobby during the intermission and did not see the episode.</s>NEW YORK (AP) — New York’s Metropolitan Opera halted a performance Saturday after someone sprinkled an unknown powder into the orchestra pit.

Met spokesman Sam Neuman said the afternoon’s performance of “Guillaume Tell” was canceled during the second intermission after the person sprinkled the powder into the pit from the orchestra section.

“As a safety precaution, the Met canceled the remainder of the performance,” Neuman said in a statement.

A police spokeswoman said the person who sprinkled the powder fled and was being sought.

Police initially said one person at the opera house requested medical attention. They later said no one was injured.

The Met also canceled Saturday night’s performance of “L’Italiana in Algeri” because of the investigation.

Audience members at “Guillaume Tell” described confusion as the intermission went on longer than usual.

A Met representative at first announced that a technical issue was causing the delay, then returned a few minutes later to announce that the fourth act would not be performed. The audience was told to go home.

“Everybody kind of slowly walked out,” said Dylan Hayden of Toronto. “As we were exiting the building, I noticed the counterterrorism unit going into the building.”

Hayden, who was seated in the 11th row back, added, “The idea that they said that it was a technical error, when I was maybe 15 feet away from a potential dangerous substance, that kind of irks me a little bit. But at no point did I feel an actual threat.”

Micaela Baranello, a musicologist at Smith College in Massachusetts, said some audience members booed when the cancellation was announced and one man chanted, “I want my money back, I want my money back.”

Neuman said people who had Saturday tickets to either opera should call the Met and make arrangements to see a later performance.

Baranello, who spoke by phone from a train headed back to Massachusetts, said that’s not so easy for opera fans who don’t live in New York. “It’s too bad because most of the best music in ‘Guillaume Tell’ is in Act 4, in my opinion,” she said.

“Guillaume Tell,” Rossini’s opera about folk hero William Tell, had not been performed at the Met in more than 80 years before this season. The opera’s overture is known to many Americans as the theme music to the 1950s TV show “The Lone Ranger.</s>The rest of the performance of "William Tell" was canceled as a safety precaution, and the opera house was ordered evacuated.

Police are investigating the substance and are looking at the possibility it may be human ashes, said John Miller, New York police deputy commissioner of intelligence and counterterrorism.

"We have spoken to more than one witness, who said they spoke to an individual from out of town who indicated he was here to sprinkle ashes of a friend, his mentor in opera, during the performance. That is certainly an area which we're pursuing," Miller said.

He said police know the man's identity but won't release his name.

Officials at the Met appeared relieved at the prospect that the substance could have been ashes. "This was taken very seriously by the Met," said Peter Gelb, general manager of the Metropolitan Opera. "Ashes of an opera-loving mentor being sprinkled into the pit, although inconveniencing all of us, is a far cry better than anything else," he said. The Met is offering refunds to those forced to evacuate from the performance and will be open for business again Monday. "We appreciate opera lovers coming to the Met; we hope that they will not bring their ashes with them," Gelb said.
The New York City Metropolitan Opera cancels its Saturday performances as a man, during an afternoon intermission, sprinkled an unidentified powder, suspected to be cremated ashes, into the orchestra pit. One person was exposed and requested medical attention.