I was mixing FOH for a ballet. Just as the first act started, someone backstage decided that the power amp on the rear speakers didn't need to be plugged in. So I cranked up the mains to compensate, and rushed backstage to troubleshoot. When I got back, I cranked them up to match the front. Before I knew it, I was up at 95 to 100dBs, and some old creep behind the console got up and asked me why it was so loud, so I told him what was going on. He said he'd leave if I didn't turn it down. So, I ever so slowly started to turn it down, and out of the corner of my eye, I noticed him leave. I didn't think much more would come of it. But no. He didn't leave. First, he cursed out the people in the lobby. Then he stayed to complain to my manager and the dance company's director. After arguing with him, my manager and the director for most of the intermission, somebody threatened to call the cops if he didn't take his seat. So he sat down, and we started the third act. As the main curtain went up, it banged into something. It was a fire sprinkler head and that bump broke it off. Picture the worst rain shower you've ever seen multiplied by three on a stage.
I jumped up and ran up to the grid as fast as I could in hopes of finding a valve. No luck. The manager and I went to the basement to look for a valve. We found it. We turned it off, and it sounded like there was no water flowing through it anymore. We walked back upstairs, expecting it to be off. Nope!
We did not take into account the backup system–great idea in case of fire, bad idea when trying to turn the deluge off. The system in our part of the theatre was off, but the sprinkler system in the other wing was replenishing the stage system and the downpour continued. We were totally stumped– where else we could possibly turn it off?–and we were wondering where the fire department was, as the fire alarm had been going off for at least 15 minutes. We later found out that somehow, they'd gotten the word that somebody was playing badminton on stage and they took it as a prank call. So we called them again.
Then, two guys showed up with a little pipe patch thing expecting to put it on a pinhole on a sprinkler pipe. After almost an hour, they found the valve to turn it off. The main curtain was ruined, and the first teaser was very wet. We'd all been pushing water out the back door, so not too much water had accumulated on stage. Miraculously, we got a new main curtain hung, and everything else dried out enough to have the evening performance that night. I've never seen teamwork like that before.
Ian Dunn
Los Alamos, NM
