Well, let us hope that the opera house in Wretchard’s metaphor does not lead to a disaster like the fire in another opera house: the Ringtheater in Vienna in December 1881:

“On December 8, [the Ringtheater] was featuring the second night of Jacques Offenbach’s opera Les Contes d’Hoffman, which was proving popular with both the wealthy and middle class of Vienna. According to the custom of the time, the wealthy theater patrons who sat up front near the stage did not arrive until the last minute so the two balconies at the Ring filled up first. It was about 6:45 p.m. when a stagehand took a long-arm igniter to light the row of gas lights above the stage. He inadvertently also lit some prop clouds that were hanging over the stage.

The flames quickly hit the stage curtain, but the theater’s established fire procedures were not followed. The theater’s iron fire curtain, used to restrict fire, was not lowered, nor were available water hoses used immediately. Worse, the stage managers panicked and shut off the gas totally, cutting off light in the theater. At this point, the situation dissolved into chaos. The balconies became clogged as the exits jammed. A fire brigade brought ladders, but they were too short to reach even the first balcony. Despite an attempt to use a curtain to create a net, some people jumped from the balconies, not only killing themselves but also crushing people on the ground floor. . . . The estimated death toll was somewhere between 620 and 850 people.

The remainder of the structure was demolished and replaced with the Suhnhof building. This memorial was destroyed when Vienna was bombed during World War II. Today, a police station [per Wikipedia: 'the federal headquarters for police in Vienna and the general inspectorate of the federal security guards, and the new police commandos'] sits at the site.”

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/theater-fire-kills-hundreds-in-vienna

Wretchard can doubtless extract another morality tale from this incident too.