There are ghost(s) in the Roxy theatre
October 6, 2009
I am so so tired of hearing that we have a ghost (ghosts) in our theatre. It has now even been cited recently in the Edmonton Journal! It has been said to me many times that we have a male ghost haunting our backstage and “they” say that you feel him push you out from the back door. This happens when one takes the garbage out or uses the laundry or has a NAP in the green room.
My answer? It’s dark and creepy back there in the hallway. And drafty too.
It has also been reported by designers and technicians (especially the painters) that when one stays too late at the Roxy (like 2 AM) there is a distinctive ‘get out of here…go home…leave me alone’ energy that makes you scamper out of the building. I think too many ‘paint fumes’ were ingested - if you know what I mean.
There is an old story that a beloved projectionist from the 1940’s died while changing a reel during a movie, and it’s him that haunts the Roxy Theatre. That he’s still caring for the venue, even after all these years, and that he prefers to live in the back of the house. I would like to point out that there is no proof of any such thing, however.
And if he was the projectionist then why isn’t he living in the booth upstairs? Why is he in the back? Because that's where it’s dark and scary, that’s why. So that’s where our minds put him. Other people’s minds. Not mine.
I have also heard that our props from shows get moved around from time to time, and go missing. Come on. Seriously? It is very understandable that props (things) get moved around a lot during shows. Think of all the jokers back there!
Staff have also informed me that when they’re in the office, the sound of a woman’s clicking high heels and laughter can be heard coming from the women’s washroom. When checked upon, no one is there. My theory? Sound bounces from the alley into the theatre and it sounds like it’s coming from the Ladies Room. Like how the sound bounces in the old senator house in Washington D.C., where you could hear discussions from across the room. Makes sense to me.
Look, I accept that the old 1938 building is a big dark creepy space and when you’re there late at night it can give you a fright or a chill, the kind where the hair on the back of your neck stands up. Okay, okay, I will admit that much. I’ll also that when you’re there late on a chilly night you sometimes hear a deafening crack or a ripping sound that goes right through you - and the building. But that’s just the old theatre weathering the cold.
Right?
(Staff would like to note here that as much as we would like to agree with Mister Moss, we ask one revealing but respectful question to him: “Why does each show then have a chair set up backstage in the wings that no one can use?” Mister Moss declined to comment or write about this well known policy.)
My answer? It’s dark and creepy back there in the hallway. And drafty too.
It has also been reported by designers and technicians (especially the painters) that when one stays too late at the Roxy (like 2 AM) there is a distinctive ‘get out of here…go home…leave me alone’ energy that makes you scamper out of the building. I think too many ‘paint fumes’ were ingested - if you know what I mean.
There is an old story that a beloved projectionist from the 1940’s died while changing a reel during a movie, and it’s him that haunts the Roxy Theatre. That he’s still caring for the venue, even after all these years, and that he prefers to live in the back of the house. I would like to point out that there is no proof of any such thing, however.
And if he was the projectionist then why isn’t he living in the booth upstairs? Why is he in the back? Because that's where it’s dark and scary, that’s why. So that’s where our minds put him. Other people’s minds. Not mine.
I have also heard that our props from shows get moved around from time to time, and go missing. Come on. Seriously? It is very understandable that props (things) get moved around a lot during shows. Think of all the jokers back there!
Staff have also informed me that when they’re in the office, the sound of a woman’s clicking high heels and laughter can be heard coming from the women’s washroom. When checked upon, no one is there. My theory? Sound bounces from the alley into the theatre and it sounds like it’s coming from the Ladies Room. Like how the sound bounces in the old senator house in Washington D.C., where you could hear discussions from across the room. Makes sense to me.
Look, I accept that the old 1938 building is a big dark creepy space and when you’re there late at night it can give you a fright or a chill, the kind where the hair on the back of your neck stands up. Okay, okay, I will admit that much. I’ll also that when you’re there late on a chilly night you sometimes hear a deafening crack or a ripping sound that goes right through you - and the building. But that’s just the old theatre weathering the cold.
Right?
(Staff would like to note here that as much as we would like to agree with Mister Moss, we ask one revealing but respectful question to him: “Why does each show then have a chair set up backstage in the wings that no one can use?” Mister Moss declined to comment or write about this well known policy.)