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So...do ya think you're theatre is haunted?

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jempage:
I think the Uni theatre's 'ghost' is simply a product of a combination of stress and lack of sleep!

Jessie_K:
I used to live in a haunted house.  I lived there for 2 years and during that whole time we were never able to hang a mirror.  We would hang one (numerous attempts with numerous mirrors and numerous methods) and within a day it would fall down.  It usually wouldn't break, but it would always fall down.

philimbesi:
Definitely and I've experienced it first hand.    I was stage managing The Last 5 Years and we were in rehearsals, I always got there early and set up my stuff, started water for tea, swept out the space, etc etc, etc.   I never was able to shake the feeling that I was being watched... by a few sets of eyes.   

When you enter the theater there are four big white rocking chairs in the lobby next to the snack area that were used as props and are now put there for the patrons to sit on before the house opens.  I arrived 45 minutes prior the start of rehearsal, starting turning on lights, firing up the heat, put the water on for tea, put my stuff down on the table by the stage and then go back up to the snack bar to pour myself some tea and one of the rocking chairs was ROCKING!  There were no breezes and the outside doors to the theater were locked... I calmly said "Stop that you’re freaking me out." and went about my business.  When I came out of the snack area... the chair had stopped...

sievep:
In St. Louis, MO there is a fairly famous ghost story that surrounds the Lemp Family.  The Lemp Family were brewers of beer, and were a major rival of Anheuser Busch.  Both Brewerys sit on top of caves, the caves were used to store beer at a cool temperature.

During prohibition, although it was illegal to SELL alcohol, it was not illegal to manufacture it, and to the Busch plant continued to brew beer, knowing that the ban would be eventually be lifted.  When the act finally was repealed, the Busch company had stockpiles of beer and all of their equipment was still in working order.  The Lemp brewery tried to reopen but could not . . .because the machinery had not been used and was in disrepair, and the brewery complex which had once been worth 7 million dollars was sold for about 500,000 in 1922.  Since then 7 members of the Lemp family comitted suicide in their family home and the brewery, and the Lemp mansion remains one of the top 10 most haunted places in America.

My story occured at the Brewery, which as you can imagine is in a complete state of disrepair.  It covers an area of 5 city blocks with different buildings, and actually the Repertory Theater of St. Louis uses one of those buildings for it's extensive prop storage.

I was doing a "found space" production of Dracula, and the mood of the place certainly fit the show.  I was ASMing and my best friend was PSM, so we were having a good time, but were thoroughly creeped out.  We were, of course, the first ones in and the last ones out. 

After the show one night, we were resetting and it had come time to turn off the lights and lock up.  The main circuit breaker was on one end of the massive space, and the door was on the other, with a single light switch next to it to turn on something like a porchlight outside.  So you had to turn off the lights, walk through the hall in the darkness, and then turn off the porchlight and lock the door.  My friend and I were set so we went to the circuit breaker, turned it off, and started walking with our flashlights on.  I saw something, not out of the corner of my eye, but a human sized white mist that was emitting it's own light, and I told my friend to run.  As we came near to the other side of the space, the floor gave way and I fell through the floor and was stuck at waist level.  My friend and I, who were both still in a complete panic, managed to get me out of the hole in the floor, flip of the last light switch, and shut the door.  The door would not latch unless it was locked, so I held on to the door knob and held it shut while my friend fumbled for the key.  The door began to shake wildly as I held it, and I put all my weight against it.  She finally found the key, locked the door, and we both sped away in her car.  I was covered in dirt, scraped and bruised, but was overall ok.

During the run we had several odd occurrances, board failures and malfunctions, various random objects that were thrown at us in the darkness (including a car antenna), and strange writing that appeared on the walls of the dressing rooms in red chalk.  Also, loud banging sounds could be heard during actual performances . . .my parents actually heard that one and I remember sitting in the back of the room, watching the show and running sound, and as these loud booms started my mom looked back at me and all I could do was shrug my shoulders.

Those of you students at Webster who share your prop storage with the Repertory theater of St. Louis, I believe I was working in the first building on the left as you enter the brewery complex.  The prop storage is on the far side of the large dirt courtyard.

PSMAK:
Wayne State University's Bonstelle Theatre is haunted by its founder, Jessie Bonstelle.  Although I have never seen her.  She has been seen up in the balcony and in the projection booth which used to be a part of her apartment there. 

Once when we did "A Moon for the Misbegotten", we had haze for that show, a patron thought it was really cool how we had a woman that looked like she was floating on a fountain.  There was no fountain or woman doing that in the show.

While using the men's restroom in the lobby there, I heard someone come in, footsteps, but didn't hear or see them come out.

We're not really worried thought, Jessie is a great presence to have around. This is why the last people to leave the theatre at the end of the night say, "Goodnight, Jessie!".

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