Steinbrenner falls ill while watching play in North Carolina

Wednesday, November 1st 2006, 6:25 am

By: News On 6

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) _ New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner is back at work after being hospitalized Sunday when he became ill while watching his granddaughter perform in a play.

Steinbrenner's spokesman says the 76-year-old is just fine.

Spokesman Howard Rubenstein (Roo-ben-styne) says Steinbrenner and his family were watching his granddaughter perform in ``Cabaret'' on Sunday at the Playmakers Theatre on the University of North Carolina campus. He was taken to a hospital and released Monday morning.

Rubenstein said there was no air conditioning, and the windows were shut inside the old theater, making it very hot.

Danny Coles, the production's assistant music director, said he noticed some commotion in the audience near the end of the second act. At intermission, the theater was evacuated as a precaution, an ambulance called and the performance canceled because the severity of the incident wasn't known.