Ghost Lights

[sassypanz]

Posted: 4/29/05 at 8:13pm

Whats the deal with them and what are they supposed to do?? I just havent got the answer to this.

[JbaraFan1]

Posted: 4/29/05 at 8:20pm

My understanding is , it's a light that is left on, all by itself, after the show ... so the theater never goes dark ... is that right, people??

[sassypanz]

Posted: 4/30/05 at 2:04pm

So it has nothing to do with ghosts?

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 4/30/05 at 2:13pm

Well, I've heard from some people that it's based in superstition and is used in part to ward off ghosts within the theatre

[Taryn]

Posted: 4/30/05 at 2:23pm

OH GOD GHOST LIGHT. In high school, we would always have a talk around the ghost light closing night of our shows and everybody would bawl.

[Jon]

Posted: 4/30/05 at 4:57pm

It's so the first person in the door (before the regular lights are turned on) doesn't fall off the freakin' stage and break their freakin' neck!

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 4/30/05 at 5:52pm

It's mostly tradition now. It does serve to indicate that the stage is not to be used for any purpose when it is present. It really doesn't give off much light (usually it's just a 70watt A lamp on a stand). I have never worked in a Broadway theatre that doesn't use one.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 4/30/05 at 5:54pm

ghost lights do help. i use them in almost every theatre i've worked in. they are so people don't get hurt when the lights aren't on yet

[ChristineDaae]

Posted: 5/8/06 at 1:18pm

haha I did a research paper on this. Perhaps a Ghost Light is used for ghosts??
Supposedly, The Palace, Belasco & New Amsterdam Theatres are haunted.

[Mamie]

Posted: 5/8/06 at 1:22pm

I didn't think ghosts needed lights.

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 5/8/06 at 1:44pm

Ethel Merman gets cranky when there aren't lights on.
So she goes and plays around with the cherry picker, exclaiming, "No one's gonna forget about me!"

[ckeaton]

Posted: 5/8/06 at 2:24pm

To me there is no more peaceful place, than sitting in the dark in the last row of our theatre with nothing but the ghost light lighting the space. It's amazing what that single bulb can do via shadow to a set. So quiet and wonderful.

[BWayFanatic]

Posted: 5/8/06 at 4:51pm

A couple years back I read a memoir called "Ghost Light" by Frank Rich. Mostly it's a memoir about a boy growing up during some era which I forget and how broadway and musicals helped support him through hard times.

ANYWAY, the book says that ghosts lights are kept on in the center of the stage to keep the resident ghosts or phantoms who take shelter in the theatre from taking the theater over. Basically, it doesn;t scare them off, it just keeps the ghosts tame.

BUT, for anyone who really enjoys musicals (namely, anyone on this board) I highly recommend this novel, it has a ton of references to older musicals and anyone who loves theater will easily relate to it

[sondwisenheimer]

Posted: 5/8/06 at 4:55pm

There's no feeling like when they're locking up after a good performance and the only thing on is the ghost light.

[chinkie azn jai]

Posted: 5/8/06 at 5:16pm

When I went on one of those "Broadway Open House" tours, one story the tour guide said was that once a robber got into a theatre, tried to steal something, and then fell into the orchestra pit because there were no lights on. The robber sued the people who owned the theatre, so the owners installed a ghost light.

I don't know how true that story is, but I thought I'd just throw it out there.