Occupy the Met!

An old friend of mine went to the Met on Saturday night to see Des McAnuff's updated version of "Faust," which turns the leading man into an aging nuclear physicist who worked on the atomic bomb. Apparently, the show was even more contemporary than intended. Here's my friend's report:

"Met Opera got Occupied tonight. A guy started shouting "Occupy Wall Street!" at top of his voice just before start of act 3. To my amazement, loads and I mean loads of the audience started applauding enthusiastically. Then he was chucked out. But still if Met crowd clapping that then something is happening here."

As it happened, I was also at Lincoln Center on Saturday, with my brother and daughters, for New York City Ballet's seasonal (and splendid) staging of Balanchine's "The Nutcracker." No sign of O.W.S. demonstrators, I can report. But there were lots of snow fairies, giant mice, and dancing candy canes.