Janos wrote:

>The fire alarm went off last night during the San Francisco Opera
>production of Verdi's "Don Carlos" just as the tenor sang about both a
>real fire he had wished for in the cool night air of Fontainebleau and
>the allegorical fire making his bosom heave.  (http://tinyurl.com/t0l8).

This reminds me of an amusing event that took place while I was
playing keyboard in the pit of a performance of the musical "Peter Pan"
at a little theatre in New Hampshire.  This was about the 20th performance
in a five-week run so we in the pit had just about every line memorized.
Peter Pan is describing Never Land to the children, and suddenly the old
theatre's fire alarms decided to trip.  As we cringed, thinking "don't
say it...  don't say it..." Peter Pan continued for a few lines,
unthinkingly continuing straight on through "And it looks as if the
whole island is on fire!" Fortunately, laughter, not panic, ensued.

Michael Cooper