The Sandspur

Issue date: 10/28/05 Section: News

Media Credit: Courtesy of The Department of Theatre and Dance

It is unclear as to whether or not a ghost truly does haunt the Annie Russell theatre, but traditionally there are certainly many stories that have been passed down of such sightings and strange happenings that have taken place there.

The Annie Russell was donated in 1932 by Mary Curtis Bok as a gift to her friend, Annie Russell an accomplished actress of her time, who ran the theatre until she died in 1936.

The Sandspur in October of 1986, printed an article by an anonymous source who supposedly spent the night in the Annie to obtain his story. Research from 1986, concludes that many believe that a presence exists in the Annie but not a ghost per say. Head of the Theatre at the time of this article, a Dr. Nastiff, was quoted as saying, " The Theatre is a place where we are most in touch with our feelings. That is partly what an actor does, he portrays, sells and feels emotions. The chemistry in the theatre may lead your imagination to ghosts." Many have also been recorded as mantioning that every theatre certainly needs it ghost which the Annie being no exception to the rule.

Such stories have been passed down as the following: During Annie Russell's first stage production, "Rivals" when the theatre opened in 1931, the curtains went up exactly six minutes late. Some years later when doing a revival of this production the power mysteriously went out causing the production to begin exactly six minutes late which no explanation for the power outage.

Rumor has it that another ghost haunts the Annie as well but no documentation has been found to prove or disprove such a claim. Supposedly a security guard committed suicide, hanging himself from the trap door in the basement of the Annie. In a Sandspur article published in October of 2000, a girl was quoted as having been down in the basement and hearing someone whisper in the darkness, "Hey, come here."

Another student in an electric closet in the Annie was said to have been answering th phone only to hear dead air on the other end. Then suddenly the closet slammed shut and the lights went out as the phone rang wildly off the hook. She could swear she heard the sound of a knife running down metal. When the door opened finally she bolted without question.

Annie Russel's favorite seat was said to be in Row C, Seat 1. It is said that the seat has been seen pushed down on its own as if Annie herself, were sitting there. It has also been said to flap wildly up andy down if Annie is not pleased with the production.

Mostly, however, Annie has been described as a kindly ghost with only the intention to watch over those that reside in the theatre after her. Two students, a David and Joni Gawlikawski were rehearsing a scene from "Anything Goes" when they supposedly heard mysterious clapping from a back seat in the audience only to find that no one else was there.

Most of the stories include lights going out, doors being slammed and ghostly apparitions of a woman in a lavender dress from the 1900's wandering about the theatre and its balcony.

On the whole, however, most of those interviewed have not seen or encountered any of these strange happenings but have heard them told.

While none of these occurrences have been documented, many believe in the ghost of Annie Russell. Yet it is entirely up to interpretation. Once thing is certain, upon entering the Annie Russell theatre you can certainly feel its history as in many places on the Rollins campus.

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