A deeply moving ‘After Midnight’

WEDNESDAY NIGHT’S production of Broadway’s “After Midnight” nearly turned the Brooks Atkinson Theatre into the Great Wet Way.

Theater insiders tell Confidenti@l that just before the show was about to go on, a water main burst backstage and threatened to flood the joint. Management had no choice but to delay the start of the show as workers sprang into action and started pumping out the gusher. As the crowd grew anxious, the Jazz at Lincoln Center All Stars house band went to work, delivering an impromptu jam session.

“We’re going to play a few songs for you, and we’re going to make sure the bar stays open,” promised a quick-thinking bandleader. Singer Fantasia (above) and her castmates could be seen dancing in the wings as the All Stars played Duke Ellington hits “Take the ‘A’ Train” and “Jumpin’ at the Woodside.”

Finally, the leak was fixed and the show went on.

“Everyone handled the situation as efficiently as possible, and we managed to get the audience out in time to get home before midnight,” quipped a theater staffer.