There was a shocking start to the American Ballet Theatre’s fall season when its gala performance had to be halted Tuesday night when a theatergoer collapsed — not once, but twice.
Guests at Lincoln Center’s David H. Koch Theater, including Mick Jagger, Katie Couric, Annette Bening, Molly Ringwald and Zac Posen, had a nervous wait while medical staff attended to man who had suffered a suspected heart attack midway through the program.
The drama began when an unidentified man got up to exit during a short performance from “Romeo & Juliet” — but passed out in the middle of the aisle, leaving patrons to scurry over to assist him. The performance continued, the dancers apparently oblivious to the emergency, as an audience member shouted, “We need a doctor!”
When the brief excerpt from the Prokofiev ballet came to an end, another stunned person in the audience yelled for the house lights to be turned on.
“This is priority!” they shouted.
A staffer announced over the speakers that an in-house medical team was assisting the gentleman and he eventually stood up and walked on — but collapsed again. A woman in the crowd who tended to the emergency was overheard telling guests, “He had a heart attack.”
Eventually, the ailing balletomane appeared to walk out of the auditorium with the assistance of the medical team, and the show continued.
A rep for ABT did not comment.
The famed ballet company honored Couric and the Shubert Foundation at the start of the evening for their dedication and commitment to ABT. Jagger attended with his ballerina fiance Melanie Hamrick.
Unsurprisingly, it was the new “Real Housewives of New York” cast, who were also at the performance, who were the life of the party at the gala’s dinner.
Guests were eager to mingle with Ubah Hassan, Brynn Whitfeld and Jessel Taank, who attended as a guest of Bloomingdales’ Kevin Harter. Meanwhile, Hassan made a splash by hitting the red carpet for the first time with her secret Connecticut boyfriend, Oliver Dachsel. We also spotted the “RHONY” newbies chopping it up with — or perhaps getting reality TV tips from — “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” stars Crystal King Minkoff and Sutton Stracke, who serves on the ABT board.
Other attendees included Ivy Getty, Brandon Maxwell, Carly Cushnie, Morena Baccarin, Jean Shafiroff, Tommy Dorfman, Amy Astley and Jordan Roth.
