Opera singer again faces bump during performance at Met

Gary Lehman of Niles will not sing the lead role in the MetSSRqs live telecast Saturday.

staff and wire report

NEW YORK — First, Gary Lehman’s debut at the Metropolitan Opera was halted in mid-performance when his co-lead got sick. Tuesday night, it was Lehman — a Niles native and Youngstown State University graduate — who almost had to leave the stage, because of a scenery malfunction.

It seems the Metropolitan Opera’s revival of Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde” can’t seem to make it through a performance without turmoil.

In Tuesday’s show, the bedlike part of the raked set Lehman was stretched out on slid at the start of the third act, and the tenor slid into the prompter’s box, Met spokesman Brent Ness said.

The opera was stopped while Lehman was examined by a doctor, who cleared him to continue. The performance then resumed.

Trouble with the six-performance run began when tenor Ben Heppner came down with a virus, canceling his first four performances. Heppner was to play the lead role of Tristan. John Mac Master, his cover singer, replaced him in the March 10 opener and received mostly negative reviews, and Lehman made his Met debut last Friday opposite Deborah Voigt, who sang Isolde.

Voigt felt ill with a stomach ailment during the second act of Friday’s performance, which was stopped so she could be replaced by Janice Baird, her cover singer, who made her Met debut.

Robert Dean Smith will make his Met debut as Tristan for Saturday’s matinee, which will be telecast in high-definition to theaters worldwide, including Boardman's Tinseltown.

Heppner hopes to return for the final two nights, on Tuesday and March 28.