Staying on Top of the Shake-Up : Mother Nature’s Rumblings Punctuate Southland Shows

In Act II of Mozart’s “Die Zauberflote,” a dejected Papageno contemplates suicide because he feels that without the woman he loves, his world will crumble.

New York City Opera’s Papageno had the entire Orange County Performing Arts Center audience momentarily convinced that was exactly what was happening when a 5.0 earthquake struck Wednesday night.

“Right in the middle of the suicide solo--what a way to go!” a slightly shaken Stephen Dickson said after the performance.

“At first I thought people were moving sets backstage. Then I thought it was an airplane flying very close to the building. Actually, earthquake never entered my mind. . . . In this case, ignorance is bliss.”

Audible gasps and chatter rippled through Segerstrom Hall as people realized that the rumbling was a quake, not a special effect. Everyone remained in their seats until the temblor subsided.

When the building began to shake at about 10:55 p.m., Dickson was singing Papageno’s baritone solo in which the comic bird-catcher decides to hang himself because he has been separated from Papagena, the woman he loves. He postpones a decision, pleading with the audience to talk him out of it. As he waited for a response, the hall began shaking and audience members whispered and nervously checked with neighbors to verify that it was an earthquake. There was no break in the music, and after the disturbance ended, Papageno sang his next line in German: “All is quiet.”

After the performance, center president Thomas R. Kendrick said no damage to the center was reported. He said the building was designed to withstand earthquakes: “This is a rugged building. . . . The worse that could happen is that the house lights would go on and the standby systems would activate.”