Police ID Man Who Shouted at ‘Fiddler,’ Say He Was Intoxicated — Baltimore Fishbowl

November 15, 2018 Ethan McLeod

Built in 1914 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000., the Hippodrome Theatre is located at 12 N. Eutaw Street. (Photo by David Stone, via Flickr)

A man who stood up during intermission Nov. 14 at the performance of “Fiddler on the Roof” at the Hippodrome Theater downtown was escorted out of the building, and was permitted to walk away free after police made contact with him.

The incident, reported by The Sun late Nov. 14, happened during intermission for the play, which is based on Yiddish tale about a poor Jewish family facing persecution in Tsarist Russia in 1905. Baltimore Sun sports stringer Rich Scherr was there, and posted footage to social media of a tense crowd reacting to the incident. He told The Sun some fellow crowd members began running. He and others were anticipating gunshots.

Det. Chakia Fennoy, a spokeswoman for the Baltimore Police Department, told Baltimore Fishbowl Nov. 15 that officers responded to a disorderly conduct call at the theater in relation to the anti-Semitic shouting.

Police made contact with the suspect, but he then “left the location without incident,” she said. “No arrest was made.”

Police identified the man on Nov. 15 as Anthony Michael Derlunas, 59. The department blurred out his address in a police report released to the public, but court records matching Derlunas’ name and birthday indicate he lives in Joppa.

Here’s the Hippodrome statement:

We do not tolerate behavior like we saw last night during intermission at “Fiddler.” Security handled the situation swiftly. Our venue has a proud tradition of providing shared experiences to people from all walks of life and we will continue that tradition.
— Hippodrome Theatre (@HippodromeBway) November 15, 2018

Read the full story at Baltimore Fishbowl: Police made contact with, but did not detain man who shouted ‘Heil Hitler! Heil Trump!’ at ‘Fiddler on the Roof’