Ghosts of Newport by John T. Brennan

Author:John T. Brennan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing Inc.
Published: 2012-09-15T00:00:00+00:00

The historic grass courts were once decked out in sunflowers to honor Oscar Wilde. Wilde took the opportunity to tease Americans for their taste in clothing.

By the Roaring Twenties, there was a need for a separate performing space. The Casino Theatre opened on June 6, 1927. It had five hundred removable seats and could double as a ballroom. It became a part of the “Straw Hat Circuit,” a group of smaller theatres that attracted major stars of the day. Among the most notable in a long list of performers at the Casino Theatre were Helen Hayes, Basil Rathbone, Will Rogers, Orson Welles, Tallulah Bankhead, Olivia deHaviland, Vincent Price, Eva Gabor, Shelley Winters, Ethel Barrymore Colt and Gypsy Rose Lee, just to name a few.

Actors have always been notoriously superstitious. It is considered bad luck for a performer to even mention the name of Shakespeare’s Macbeth. It must instead be referred to as “the Scottish play.” It is bad luck to whistle in a theatre. It is even bad luck to say, “Good luck,” to someone who is about to perform. A group predisposed to superstition is also likely to believe in and encounter ghosts.

In fact, virtually every theatre, no matter how big or small, has a ghost or two. Theatres seem to attract spirits. Perhaps it is the excitement of performance that spirits are unable to give up in death, or perhaps it is the joy of sitting in the audience. Whatever the cause, theatre ghosts can be among the most forceful. While other spirits are often content to remain calm for long periods of time, theatre spirits are often more flamboyant in behavior.

In one incident at the Casino Theatre, a local performer was on stage in a show that was not going well. He forgot his line and froze. Suddenly, he noticed a woman crouched in the wings, trying to get his attention. When he saw her, she whispered his line to him and the show continued after only a tiny pause.

When he tried to find her, he discovered that there was no access to that part of the wings that evening because of props and set pieces. Nor could he find any woman who fit the description of the woman who had bailed him out. In fact, nobody had heard of a woman matching her description. The actor feels that perhaps she was the ghost of an actress who had found herself in the same position and wanted to save him from her embarrassment. “I will never forget my muse,” he says.

In another incident, a group of actors at a rehearsal were discussing ghostly activity at the theatre. One actor announced that he did not believe in ghosts. Suddenly, one of the stage lights burst into flame in a puff of smoke. Just as quickly, the flames disappeared and the light continued to function without even scorch marks around it.

There were always tales of ghosts interfering with props and technical equipment in the theatre, turning stage lights off and on or moving set pieces.

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