A Met show was cancelled Saturday afternoon at the Lincoln Center in New York during intermission after an audience member spread a powdery substance that turned out to be human ashes into the orchestra pit during the break, sparking a police investigation.
Roger Kaiser, 52, a self-described opera buff from Dallas, confessed to police later that he spread the ashes of a friend there during the second intermission of "Guillaume Tell" and departed, The New York Times reported.
"I've done this before," a source quoted Kaiser telling investigators, according to the New York Daily News. "I've gone to other opera houses to do this. I just wanted to leave something in his memory."
The incident prompted an immediate police investigation and cancellation of the show and evening programs. The Metropolitan Opera posted a message about the incident on its Facebook page.
Kaiser was identified though surveillance footage at the Lincoln Center and tracked down at a Manhattan bed-and-breakfast for questioning, the Times noted. Kaiser told police he had been traveling the country spreading the ashes of a friend at different opera houses.
Kaiser told police, according to the Times, that he tried to scatter the ashes discreetly so as not to cause alarm. After spreading them, he left for dinner, and had hoped to return for the evening performance, the official told the Times.
"He poses no threat," a police source told the Daily News. "He didn't mean anything malicious by it. He said he did it 'ceremoniously.'"
New York police decided not to file any charges against Kaiser after talking with Met officials, the Times said.
Kaiser displayed his excitement for attending the show on his Facebook page, posting a picture of him with a red apple on his head, an homage to William Tell, wrote the Daily News.
"I am excited," Kaiser said on Facebook, according to the Daily News. And on Instagram: "Next Saturday: #NYC #LincolnCenter," per the Daily News.
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