Carol Lawrence's memorable opening night experience

She mesmerized me on a talk show. And I still get a thrill thinking about her story. She told about the opening night of "West Side Story" on Broadway.
I'll relate it as best as I can.
Seems there had never been such a subject for a musical; i.e. gangs, before.
Everyone was on the edge wondering how the audience would react.
When it came time for the curtain to fall, one of the characters was being dragged off stage as it darkened.
It was quite a nervous time! She described the dead silence when the curtain fell. They all wondered if it was a failure. But only for a few moments,(which seemed like an eternity!)before the theatre erupted with the sounds of a lengthy applause!

Question: Do you have a similar story/anecdote you can share?