Is there a ghost at the Ahmanson Theatre? James Joyce's The Dead died, at least temporarily, Aug. 5 at the Ahmanson in Los Angeles, when a power shortage of unknown origin forced the cancellation of the Saturday night performance, The Los Angeles Times reported.

The Mark Taper Forum staging of Expecting Isabel in the same complex was interrupted briefly but continued because the smaller theatre.

The cancellation was the first in the theatre's history, the paper said.

A few minutes before the 8 PM Saturday performance of the Irish-themed Broadway musical, which is now in a limited engagement at the Ahmanson, house lights flickered; a power loss affected sound system equipment.

The audience was told at 8:45 PM that the show would have to be cancelled due to the sound problem. Because box office computers were also affected, refunds and ticket exchanges were not immediately possible.

-- By Kenneth Jones