I have always been interested in the hauntings of theaters (theatres for the more artsy among us). Unlike hauntings in houses (and perhaps toy stores) they are considered good...a theater isn't really worth much unless it's haunted.

The theater in my home town was reputed to be haunted. I have to admit it sometimes gave me the creeps. The old dressing rooms underneath the stage were used to store extra props and if you keep following the pathway, you shouldn't get lost, but once my best friend found me down there in a complete panic because I thought that I couldn't find my way out. I was actually only in a corner, but I could have sweared that I was boxed in by four wallls and that I couldn't get out!

There have been two deaths in the theater. The first was when a young man committed suicide by hanging himself from the rafters. The legend goes that he was playing Romeo and fell in love with the girl playing Juliet. Well, one night her heard Juliet talking to her real life boyfriend and telling him how gross it was to kiss her stage lover, Romeo. The heartbroken actor hung himself before the next performance, so that she would never have to kiss him again. The second death is a bit less melodramatic. A man was carrying props to the basement when he suffered a heart attack.

There have been many mysterious things happen. The most intriguing is a picture that shows up in some very strange places and than vanishes again. It's the picture of a bearded man and it's shown up everywhere from the rafters to the basement to the seats to the ticket office. Everyone is afraid to touch it and even if they do...it will return or disappear. During a dress rehearsal once, a circuit breaker was triggered. A man was sent down to fix it. While he was downstairs the stage lights came back on and all was thought to be fine. Until the man came back upstairs to say that the main fuse had went and had to be replaced. The only lights that can come on when the main breaker is tripped are the aux. houselights! The stage lights aren't supposed to work! Finally, one night while a janitor was cleaning the stage he saw a man in black in the balcony. when the janitor told him that the theater was closed. The man got up and just faded away while a voice filled the air, "I never leave."

As in the case with many theater ghosts, everyone believes that the spirit is good luck and to have an occurance during a show is the highest honor. In fact, we've even nicknamed him and when something goes wrong, you can guess on whom the blame falls.