Medical Emergency Interrupts Footlighters' Musical

An audience member suffered an unspecificed medical emergency Sunday during a performance at Footlighters Theater in Berwyn, bringing the production to a temporary halt.

The unidentified man, who witnesses said appeared to be in his 80s, suffered a medical event that left him visibly shaking. Theater personnel were notified of the problem and, following theater policy, called 911 and immediately stopped the performance. Medics from Berwyn Fire Co. ambulance attended to the man.

The incident occurred shortly after 3 p.m. Sunday just after intermission during a performance of Oliver!. An off-duty Berwyn Fire Co. volunteer who has a child in the cast of the musical helped first-responders treat the man, who was subsequently taken to Paoli Hospital.

Footlighters staff said that theater protocol for handling a medical emergency in the house (which seats about 100 for Oliver!) was followed, and that audience members' health and safety are always the first priority in any emergency.

Veteran theater members said they have heard of other emergencies in the theater's long history, but this was the first time anyone who was at the theater on Sunday had seen an emergency of this nature during a live performance. The show resumed shortly after medics transported the man out of the theater on a stretcher.

The theater is two blocks from the Berwyn Fire Co. station and medics were on scene within minutes. The man was taken to Paoli Hospital in unknown condition.