So there you are, you've sat through almost all of Verdi's Requiem, you're into the final movement, the singing is incredible, the music, also.
The audience is preparing to experience the final moment of revelation and catharsis and... the fire alarm goes off.
Perhaps the very worst thing that could happen?
This was the nightmare scenario faced by the York University Choir and Orchestr
a, performing the Requiem at the city's Minster earlier this week.
Apparently there were around 12 minutes to go when the alarm sounded and the audience trooped out. The one saving grace was that the fire engines were on site sharpish, arriving before the audience even had a chance to get out, perhaps still constantly aware of the enormous damage of the York Minster fire of 1984.
Apparently the performance was so good that every member
of the audience waited the half hour before they were allowed back in and sat patiently through the rest of the work.
You can almost hear those rich, plummy tones and who would dare not obey?
Aleksei Kiseliov is a 23-year old cellist from Belarus who is coming to play a concert at Queen Elizabeth Grammar School in Wakefield in a couple of weeks time. The international prize-winning cellist will play a concert on July 1.
And while he is not visiting Yorkshire by Royal Appointment, he might as well be.
None other than Dame Judi Dench is encouraging the good folk of
the Broad Acres to snap up tickets.
"Absolutely sublime! Please tell our friends in Yorkshire from me, that this concert is simply not to be missed!" demanded Dame Judi.
In theatre there is sometimes thought to be an "Oxbridge Mafia".
When you realise the number of directors working in theatre who went to either Oxford or Cambridge, it does seem to be a little more than a coincidence, and it is little wonder that there are many who suspect the work of the "old boys network" in the world of the stage.
And it seems there might even be a similar "Bradford Mafia" being created in the world of Yorkshire theatre.
The West Yorkshire Playhouse's current production of Monkey! is being directed by Dominic Leclerc, Bradford-born and educated at Woodhouse Grove.
In the smaller space at the Playhouse there is a production of Mela written by Taj Hayer, an old boy of Bradford Grammar School; as is Mela cast member Jag Sanghera. Secret handshakes, one wonders...
With the festival season in full swing and artists of all types descending on Yorkshire, there are sure to be some strange sights around town.
But perhaps none quite so amusing as one which may be seen up at the Harrogate International Festival.
Buddy Greco is set to visit the small spa town where he will appear alongside Clare Teal and the Ronnie Scott Jazz Orchestra.
The one thing Greco, a legend of the music scene, wants to
do while he is in Harrogate, is visit Bettys.
According to an insider Greco has heard so much about the famous tea rooms he wants all his interviews to be conducted there.
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