Story highlights Roger Kaiser writes an apology letter to Met Opera officialsKaiser jumped onstage during intermission to sprinkle mentor's ashes in orchestra pitNEW YORK (CNN) What one Dallas opera enthusiast thought to be an innocent tribute to his late mentor quickly turned into a terrorism scare at the Metropolitan Opera House on Saturday, and he felt bad about it. Roger Kaiser, identified as the audience member who ran onstage during an intermission to sprinkle his friend's ashes in the orchestra pit, wrote a letter of apology addressed to "Mr. Gelb and the entire Metropolitan Opera community." "A sweet gesture to a dying friend that went completely and utterly wrong in ways that I could never have imagined," Kaiser wrote in the letter. The rest of the performance of Rossini's "Guillaume Tell" was canceled as a safety precaution, and the opera house was ordered evacuated when witnesses reported seeing Kaiser sprinkle a white, powdery substance into the pit. The evening performance of Rossini's "L'Italiana in Algeri," conducted by James Levine, was canceled as well.

Source: CNN November 03, 2016 18:46 UTC