I posted this elsewhere as well... just looking for insight- see if anyone heard anything?
Last night was the first time I took my kids to see a "REAL" performance.. some of them have seen them because of school field trips, but my littlest had never gone to a show that wasn't put on at my high school. We did a family thing of it, all dressed to the 9's.. I had a maternity dress that was kind of black gauze and little heels.. We checked our coats in at coat check..
the show was going well until after intermission.. then some lights were flashing during the performance.. then some other lights start flashing during the performance and started buzzing.. then we realized the second set of lights were not part of the show- fire alarm. but the dancers kept dancing, the ushers didn't say a word..
My littlest has been through fire alarms at the house, but doesn't know the "rules" of fire alarms as well as the older boys- like no running for example.. we aren't THAT familiar with the Performing Arts Center, and we were on the Mezzanine floor.. I expected I would be taking 3 flights of stairs (the main stairs) to the ground floor..
NOPE.
Exited our row, and found the emergency exit sign.. 5 metal scary flights of stairs down (remember the little heels?) brought us to the basement. The whole way I am helping dp keep the kids together, concentrating on my balance, and trying to move briskly. Did I mention I am quite large at this point?
We cross the basement and find another flight of stairs.. this one going up, and they are outdoor stairs.. concrete and covered in ice. I am really questioning the sanity of this at this point.. and the sun is down so it is COLD.. my dress, of course, gauzy, is sleeveless as well.. my kids have no coats..
Dp dashes into the coat check area (really a few feet into the ground level of the building) but really dumb anyway, and demands our coats.. while we wait, a really nice gentleman offers one of his coats (he had the two layer kind on) while we are huddled together waiting..
When dp finds us, we leave.. I have to walk (snowy sidewalks) about a block up, cross a busy street, 3 blocks down into a parking garage before we can leave.. there were still people huddled outside the center when we left, but some others had decided to go home as well..
It was truly creepy.. the way everyone continued the show reminded me of that scene from Titanic where the band just continues to play.. and the massive flights of stairs made me think just a moment of the Twin towers and people trying to escape down those steps.. (not miminizing the tragedy of the Twin towers, but it felt reminiscent)..
In the end, I felt really bad for the dancers.. they had done a really great performance until that point.. (and it was TapKids, so I am assuming they were young performers but I don't know their ages) I was trying to find an article in the newspaper online about it, but no such luck yet..