{"id":117,"date":"2014-10-31T04:03:59","date_gmt":"2014-10-31T04:03:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/?p=117"},"modified":"2015-01-09T17:05:21","modified_gmt":"2015-01-09T22:05:21","slug":"ghosts-take-center-stage-at-pittsburgh-playhouse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2014\/10\/31\/ghosts-take-center-stage-at-pittsburgh-playhouse\/","title":{"rendered":"Ghosts take center stage at Pittsburgh Playhouse"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\" <\/a> <\/div>
\"In <\/a>
In this 1967 photo, a stagehand works with lighting in the flies above a stage at The Pittsburgh Playhouse in Oakland. (Harry Coughanour\/Post-Gazette) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"In <\/a>
In 1973, an actor carefully applies his makeup in his dressing room at The Pittsburgh Playhouse in Oakland. (Photo by Ben Spiegel) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"This <\/a>
This picture from 1951 shows the Tree of Life synagogue, which was converted into The Pittsburgh Playhouse on Craft Avenue in Oakland. (Photo by Jack D. Mahony) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Bill <\/a>
Bill Mott, a student at what was then Point Park College, worked on the trim of the Pittsburgh Playhouse in Oakland in September of 1979. (Post-Gazette photo) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

An old tradition dictates that when actors leave the stage, a bare light bulb remains burning in the theater to keep the building\u2019s ghosts company.<\/p>\n

Veteran thespians call it a ghost light.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what we thought of when we saw this picture of a ghost hanging over the Pittsburgh Playhouse on Craft Avenue in Oakland.<\/p>\n

Back in October 1979, as Halloween drew near, Pittsburgh Press feature writer Barbara Cloud visited the building after midnight,\u00a0flashlight in hand.<\/p>\n

She heard rain on the roof and the clatter of radiators.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the energy expelled within the theater\u2019s stages,\u201d Ms. Cloud wrote, \u201cis it any wonder ghosts would be imagined, felt, feared and at times, seen?\u201d<\/p>\n

For the record, she did not see any ghosts.<\/p>\n

Still, performers have reported hearing footsteps near the men\u2019s dressing room and believe they belong to the veteran actor John Johns, who died of a heart attack at the Playhouse in 1963. Others say they have seen his ghost \u2014 and it wears a tuxedo.<\/p>\n

A lady dressed in white is supposedly the ghost of a woman who committed two murders then took her own life during the 1930s. That was back when one of the two buildings that were converted into the Pittsburgh Playhouse was a bar.<\/p>\n

At night in an empty dressing room, actors have heard the cries of Weeping Eleanor, who perished in a fire in one of the rowhouses where part of the Playhouse now stands.<\/p>\n

Whether these spirits are real or imagined, we hope someone backstage leaves the light on for them on this All Hallows Eve.<\/p>\n

(Top picture: This photo illustration accompanied a story about Barbara Cloud\u2019s ghost hunting adventure at the Pittsburgh Playhouse.)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Some say they have seen a ghost at the Pittsburgh Playhouse, and it wears a tuxedo.<\/p>\n

Look at the picturesGhosts take center stage at Pittsburgh Playhouse<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":119,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[945],"tags":[982,989,1057,1044],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/tumblr_ne6aos9FIM1rr5swxo4_1280.jpg?fit=1280%2C920&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":110,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2014\/11\/03\/pittsburgh-playhouse-performers\/","url_meta":{"origin":117,"position":0},"title":"Pittsburgh Playhouse performers","date":"November 3, 2014","format":"gallery","excerpt":"Point Park University took over the facility in 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