Every theatre has a ghost.

I had never heard a theatre ghost story from someone that I actually knew until Friday evening. I had been helping Rebecca paint the set of Sylvia at Pease Auditorium that day (my first set painting experience!) along with my mom and our artist neighbor, Kathy, as Rebecca needed lots of help to finish before the show opened that evening. Rebecca was finishing up painting as her boyfriend Justin, James Duke (set designer), and I were admiring the set. She was also taking a poll from all of the workers on whether or not I should go to a haunted house that evening with a guy I just started seeing. Why the poll? I can't stand horror movies, I still sleep with a night light, and I was so sure I would die in the haunted house, BUT I had never been to one before. Then, the topic of ghosts came up. James told the story of a time when no one was in the theatre, and he looked on the monitors of the stage and there was a lady dancing in a colonial costume. Another time, he walked into the house, and the same lady in the same costume was sitting on the stairs with her head in her hands crying. She looked up, saw him, got up and ran through the stage right wall. The moment he said the second time he saw her, my mind flashed through a few experiences I had that day. I asked him what color her costume was, but didn't talk about the experiences right away, because I figured it was lack of sleep. Then I decided to. I told them all of how quite a few times that day I while I was painting, I saw something white out of the corner of my eye from the direction of that stage right wall. When I turned to look, nothing was there. Rebecca instantly said that she had the same thing happen to her, but she, too, thought it was just lack of sleep or something. James said, "Maybe she was watching you." I wonder why. I wonder why Rebecca and I were the only ones that had that happen to us that day. As Rebecca and I were talking more, we came to the conclusion that she was probably an actress. Maybe she was rehearsing her scene when James came in that time she had her head in her hands.

Soon after, I was on my way to the haunted house. What a way to begin that evening, haha. Guess what? I didn't die in it! I was EXTREMELY freaked out, though. ;)

Here's photos from that set painting day:

I look either really experienced or really messy with Rebecca's paint clothes on ;)

Rebecca's really fast finishing touch. A manhole since it  is set in NYC.