2 Works for You takes a tour through the most haunted theatres in Tulsa.
Will Rogers High School Principal Nikki Dennis looked around the school’s art deco 1,300-seat auditorium and said, “If I were a ghost, why not be here? Look at this gorgeous place.”
Dennis said in 1974, one of the band teachers died of a heart attack while conducting a concert on stage.
Although the custodians say they have heard and seen things in the auditorium over the years, the principal says she has not. But that doesn’t mean she is a skeptic. Dennis admitted, “There are times when I’ve been in the building and the hair on my arms stands up for a minute . . . If there is a spirit here, it’s definitely a benevolent spirit. I always feel safe and secure and protected in this school.”
The Brady Theater downtown is also believed to house the spirit of Italian opera singer Enrico Carusa who died in 1921 and possibly the spirit of a worker who died after falling off of a ladder. Down the street, a country western star named Bob Wills and two female spirits are said to roam the halls of Cain’s Ballroom.
But one of the most haunted theaters in Tulsa is Tulsa Little Theatre, where multiple spirits dwell like a former director named George.
Owner Bryce Hill explained, “He does things like hide microphones and turn lights off and on, which we do have that going on. There’s no other explanation. They were all off when we left at night, we come back in and the stage lights are on in the morning.”
It’s said that George died during a rehearsal sitting in seat number 3 on the third row. A little girl named Sarah also haunts the Tulsa Little Theatre.
Hill said, “She had a dance recital and ran out the double doors, went across the street and got hit by a car and supposedly passed away right there.”
The owner says ghost hunters confirm Sarah’s presence in a photo of his nephew taken inside the theatre, where the faint figure of a little girl in a dress can be seen standing next to him.
Hill says one of the creepiest things to happen was footsteps being heard on the roof like someone running across. The only problem is that there is no ladder or stairs for anyone to possible get up there.
He said, “That really freaked everybody out. The place kind of vacated very quickly.”
Still in all, these spirits seem to be good and are just a part of life for these performing arts venues across the city.
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