A ghost in the theater is almost normal. It seems that the very atmosphere of these temples of art contributes to the birth of mystical phantoms.
Gorilla in the Colosseum
On the ruins of the Roman Colosseum in the Middle Ages, the shadow of a huge monkey was met. According to legend, the gorilla was killed during one of the gladiatorial battles: battles between people and animals in ancient Rome were commonplace. The shadow of the gorilla was mainly encountered by those who came to the Colosseum at night to get stones there for construction. By the light of torches, people saw a phantom wandering around the amphitheater. It was said that those who were covered by the shadow disappeared without a trace.
Phantom Grand Opera
The World's Most Famous Theatrical Ghost - The Phantom of the Opera Probably the world's most famous theatrical ghost is the so-called Phantom of the Opera. It is found, according to legend, in the Parisian Grand Opera, which until the 70s of the last century was the largest opera house in Europe.
The construction of the theater almost collapsed due to the accumulation of underground waters under the foundation of the future building. Because of this, they could not lay the facade in any way. In the end, the architect Charles Garnier came up with a way out - to fence off the basement with a double wall. It was inside this wall that the writer Gaston Leroux, author of the novel "The Phantom of the Opera", based on which several films and the famous musical were later staged, placed his fictional torture room.
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In Leroux's book, it turns out that the ghost is a man of flesh and blood, an ugly and terrifying villain Eric.
However, most researchers are convinced that this is precisely a mystical entity, and this is by no means an author's fiction. Who the unfortunate person was during his lifetime is unknown, but, according to legend, a mysterious ghost still appears at the Grand Opera in one of the theater boxes. In the contracts of theater directors, there is always a clause prohibiting spectators from renting box No. 5 in the first tier. They say that the phantom is observed there systematically: it usually appears soon after the start of the performance. And if at this moment someone else is in the box, the consequences can be most dire.
In 1896, a massive bronze and crystal chandelier fell from the ceiling at the opera.
Once, in 1896, the opera was giving Gella by the composer Duvernois. When the actress, diva Rosa Karon, was summoned for an encore, a massive bronze and crystal chandelier suddenly fell from the ceiling. For some unknown reason, one of the counterweights that held this colossus broke. The 700-kilogram structure collapsed on the heads of the audience. Many were wounded, but, fortunately, only one person died - the concierge Madame Chaumette, who specially came to listen to Karon's singing. In the misfortune that happened, everyone saw a certain mystical sign. Until now, this incident is attributed to the antics of the Phantom of the Opera, and Gaston Leroux made the fall of the chandelier one of the key episodes of his novel.
It is not surprising that the phantom is so attached to the theater, because the Paris Opera is clearly located in an anomalous zone. Energy in places where groundwater is bursting out of the ground is always pathogenic.
In addition, the building has a difficult history: in 1871, the communards were executed in the local basements, and a year later there was a terrible fire.
Mysterious denizens of London theaters
Of course, the greatest "density" of ghosts per square meter is in English theaters. These are the real "hotbeds" of ghosts! One of them is the old building of the Royal Theater in London on Drury Lane. There's a lot going on there. For example, some actors claim that they are being pushed by invisible hands on stage. And the most famous of the local "inhabitants" is the Man in Gray. He has appeared in the theater for 200 years. A stranger, dressed in breeches, a frock coat and a cocked hat, walks along the aisles between the chairs, and then disappears … into the wall. Sometimes the Man in Gray is seen sitting in one of the seats. For some reason, it is shown only to actors or avid theatergoers. The legend claims that the appearance of a ghost before the performance bodes well.
About a century ago, a secret room was found in the theater, in which a human skeleton lay. There was a knife between his ribs. Was it in this body that a mysterious spirit once lived?
On the stage of London's Drury Lane Theater, actors are being pushed by invisible hands
Sometimes the face of the famous comedy dancer Dan Lino, now deceased, appears in the mirror of one of the dressing rooms. They say that it was this dressing room that Lino once used.
Ghosts live in other London theaters as well. For example, not far from the Adelphi Theater, one encounters the phantom actor William Terris, who was killed out of envy by his colleague Richard Prince on December 16, 1897. His ghost first appeared in 1928. One of the spectators noticed a translucent male figure standing against the wall and recognized in it a once popular actor - the theater-goer saw him in old photographs. Subsequently, the phantom often frightened belated passers-by, whose path lay past the Adelphi theater. The spirit of former actor and director John Buxton, Queen Victoria's favorite, comes into one of the Haymarket's lodges. Sometimes Buxton's old dressing room door opens and closes by itself. The ghost of Henry Field, who led the troupe in the 18th century, is also met here.
The Coliseum Theater is annually visited by the ghost of a soldier who died in the First World War. It is said that he attended the performance on the last evening before his death. Since then, every year on this day, his unhappy soul takes a seat on the mezzanine to watch the performance.
The Curse of Alice Koonen
Moscow also has its own theatrical phantoms. Drama theater. A. S. Pushkin (Tverskoy Boulevard, 23, where the Chamber Theater was previously located), according to legend, was cursed by the famous actress Alisa Koonen, the wife of Alexander Tairov. He was the founder of the Chamber Theater, where Koonen worked until 1949 - until its closure. Tairov died the following year. In the same year, they decided to rebuild the theater building and made … a toilet instead of Tairov's office. This infuriated the actress, and she uttered the words of a curse.
Alisa Koonen cursed the Moscow Drama Theater. A. S. Pushkin
During Alisa Koonen's life, everything was quiet. But after her death, the devilry began here: mirrors cracked by themselves, chandeliers were extinguished, paintings turned over. The theater was weak: new productions turned out to be unsuccessful, the audience did not go.
And from time to time, the theater staff met the ghost of Alice in the corridors or saw her transparent silhouette in the last rows. This always foreshadowed that the next performance would fail. This went on for several decades. But once during a performance, a huge tropical butterfly of extraordinary beauty flew onto the stage. She circled over the stage and disappeared behind the curtains. The mystics believe that it was the soul of Alisa Koonen, who flew in to say goodbye. And since then all the outrages have stopped, the theater began to flourish. But at night in its dark empty corridors, sometimes light female steps are still heard. Or a silhouette of a man in a black tailcoat will flicker - this means that the leadership will soon change in the theater. After all, the gentleman in black is none other than Tairov himself.
Source: “Secrets of the XX century. Golden Series No. 3-from 2011