At the height of the Celebrant’s breakdown in Leonard Bernstein’s “Mass,” the congregation trashed the altar, shredded flowers, guzzled wine and groveled on the stage. The May Festival Chorus did a kind of striptease of their choir robes, throwing them to the floor.
The Celebrant, who also shed his own vestments, shrieked “Pacem!” as he threw down the large cross monstrance, and the decibel level in Music Hall grew to a din.
