Wayside Theatre is just like many theatres, especially the older ones. We've got all sorts of spirits roaming around from the past. In fact I like to think the echoes of great performances past are with us always in this or any theatre. But this one in particular at Wayside Theatre has nothing to do with actors and performances past, and is quite a legend. His name is George, and has far as we know he is a benevolent fellow.
The story goes that George was a down-on-his-luck handyman who traded his services as a janitor and fixer-upper for a roof over his head. At the time our building housed a movie theatre (it was converted to a live theatre in 1961) the town offices, the town jail, a grocery store, a barber shop, and a dry cleaners. George lived in the building and took care of things around the facility.
One morning when someone came in to open up, George was found dead, having passed away in the night from old age.
George has supposedly never left the building though and throughout the years there have been quite a few encounters from various theatre workers with George. Doors have been opened and shut. Lights have been turned on and off. Sudden chills have come over areas.
But the most fun part of the story of George as a ghost is that he always liked to watch dress rehearsals of shows the theatre was readying to open. The legend is that he sat in our balcony in seat CC1. I was told when I took the job in 1999, that if we left the seat in its upright position prior to the dress rehearsal, we'd find it in the down position at the conclusion of rehearsal. In fact, I've seen this occur. To be blunt though, we're all so absolutely insanely busy during dress rehearsals, I can't say if this happened because of George's viewing pleasure, or a staff member just chose to park his/her butt there for a moment during the proceedings.
Unfortunately with our renovation, we no longer have seats that require a manual raising and lowering. They remain in the upright position until you sit in them and then return to the upright position when you rise to leave. I hope George isn't disappointed by this.
So, that's the legend.
This Sunday night, a local group from the Washington DC area will be coming in to check out Wayside Theatre for activity from George, or any other spirits that might be lingering around. They'll be bringing in fancy equipment to measure whatever readings they need and filming the affair My wife Thomasin, (who loves these kinds of shows on Cable) will be accompanying them on their journey. It should prove quite a night, one way or the other.
