WHERE: The Alex Theater
216 North Brand Boulevard, Glendale (map)
STATUS: Active (as a legitimate theater, occasional screenings)
GHOST(S):
Built in 1925, as a vaudeville house with occasional film screening, this Egyptian/Greek themed theater, after a long life as a movie palace, has changed back into a venue for live theater with occasional film screenings. Likewise the two most commonly told ghost stories (and ghosts that share this space) also reflect that strange dichotomy, where the performing arts and the projected arts share the same stage.
Representing the "live" theater end of the spectrum, an almost archetypal "Woman in White" has been seen in the backstage dressing rooms and basement area. Though, it is often reported that she is wearing a wedding dress (sometimes tattered), and she is thought to be a bride, it is just as likely (given that she haunts the dressing rooms) that she once played a bride on the Alex's stage, or wore a similar costume.
Representing the cinema era of this stage, when shadows danced on the silver screen, is a pair of ghosts (a man and a woman) seen in the seats (from a long ago film audience), noisily chatting with each other (sometimes arguing) in loud, but hushed, tones. When a put-upon (living) patron finally decides to speak up, and tell them to be quiet, the phantom figures disappear. Sometimes the ghostly male becomes confrontational before he vanishes. So, if you happen to be at one of the Alex's many great programs, you might want to think twice before shhhhing that obnoxious couple in front of you.
http://www.alextheatre.org/
If you know of another ghost story (or another version of a story mentioned), or if you have personally experienced something strange at this theater, please leave a comment.
(to read about another haunted theater in the L.A. area...)
1 comment:
i was at the Alex in April of 1984. My friend was manager at the time and was allowed to take friends into the balcony which was otherwise closed. The balcony was slowly being stripped of chairs. Going dow the stairs I kept feeling like I was falling or something wanted to push me but since the stairs were quite small I just assumed that was the problem.
We were watching the movie and my friend turned and said something to me. In the doorway I saw a guy standing in an usher type uniform. I told her she was wanted and when she looked no one was there. She immediately questioned me for a description. The guy was small, dark, maybe Latino or Filipino wearing a dark red uniform jacket with braid on the shoulder. she took me downstairs and we couldn't find anyone that matched and the uniform worn by employees was a yellow poly mix blazer. Later she told me that the feeling of being pushed was quite common and that she felt it every time she had to go to the projection booth and that others had seen the usher.
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