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Berlin opera house stage flooded

December 25, 2017

A Christmas mishap has poured cold water on Berlin's Deutsche Oper. A faulty fire sprinkler system flooded the stage, forcing the opera house to call off performances of "The Nutcracker" at the last minute.

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A performance of "The Nutcracker" ballet in the Deutsche Oper in Berlin on 7 October 2016
Last year's 'Nutcracker' performances at the Deutsche Oper took place with no reported problemsImage: picture-alliance/Eventpress Hoensch

A top opera house in Berlin had to cancel two Christmas Day performances of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker" ballet on Monday after its stage was flooded the night before.

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The Deutsche Oper announced the last-minute cancellations on Twitter, saying that a "technical defect" in the opera house's fire sprinkler system caused the stage to flood.

"Whether the performances from December 26 to 31 can take place — and in what form — cannot be determined at this time," the opera house wrote.

Ticket sales for performances taking place until New Year's Eve were put on hold as a precaution.

Read more: Double bill at the Berlin Staatsballett

Backstage at The Nutcracker

Water pumped out of opera house

Experts are currently working to assess damage to the stage, the head of the opera house's press office, Kirsten Hehmeyer, told news agency dpa.

The sprinkler system went off one day prior, on December 24, soaking the stage and causing a large amount of damage. The stage's extensive lighting system appears to have been damaged as well, Hehmeyer said.

Deutsche Oper opera house in Berlin
The Deutsche Oper in Berlin can seat around 1,860 peopleImage: CC BY-SA Manfred Brückels

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It was not immediately clear what caused the sprinkler system to malfunction.

The enormous amount of water had to be pumped out by the fire department and fans have been placed to dry out the soggy performance area. There were no injuries reported.

Read more: Homophobia at the Bolshoi? Russian theater cancels ballet about gay romance

The Christmas classic "Nutcracker" ballet isn't the only show to be impacted by the faulty sprinkler system.

Opera performances of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's "The Magic Flute" as well as Gioachino Rossini's "The Barber of Seville" were also scheduled to take place in the next few days.

rs/msh  (dpa, epd)