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To get in the mood for Halloween, interspersed throughout this issue we present an exclusive sneak peek at some tales from The Ghosts of Broadway by Robert Viagas, due in bookstores in 2006.

From the Introduction:

"The Ghosts of Broadway is about the ghosts that haunt theatres on Broadway and around the world.

Each night after the applause dies, the curtain falls, the audience vanishes, the cleaners dust and the lights are killed, great theatres become dark and silent places.

But not always quite empty.

That's when the theatre ghosts make their entrance and strut and fret their hour upon the shadowed stage, illuminated only by the ghost light, the solitary lamp that is required to burn though the night on every Broadway stage and on stages around the world. Many of the busiest theatres continue to be just as busily haunted by spirits, some with well-known names and histories."

Read on...if you dare!

Some of the lucky few who finally made it inside must have decided they never wanted to leave.

Ever.

More than one hundred ghosts are said to haunt the Palace, including a white-gowned cellist who plays in the pit (and who last appeared to Andrea McArdle when she was doing Beauty and the Beast there), a sad little girl who looks down from the balcony, a man in a brown suit who walks quickly past open office doors late at night, a boy who rolls toy trucks on the landing behind the mezzanine, and Judy Garland herself, whose presence is felt near a door that was built especially for her at the rear of the orchestra.

One ghost you never want to see is the spirit of a Vaudeville acrobat who fell and broke his neck there. He has been seen walking a tightrope from the house-left box up to the mezzanine. But legend has it that anyone who sees this particular ghost will soon die themselves.

At least they'll have company.

A famous and well-documented incident occurred Dec. 21, 1909 at the Lyric Theatre. It was the opening night of The City, the last play by prolific author Clyde Fitch (Beau Brummell, Barbara Frietchie, Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines). Fitch had died the previous summer in Europe, but as the cast of The City was taking its final curtain calls, women in the audience screamed and fainted as the unmistakable figure of the late author emerged from the wings, strode to center stage, took a deep bow - and vanished right before everyone's startled eyes.

Jump to the next ghost story.

In her farewell performance as Peter Pan, 1999 Tony Award® nominee and two-time Olympic Gymnast Cathy Rigby takes flight in the 100th anniversary of the immortal James M. Barrie tale, Peter Pan. This timeless musical masterpiece is now touring the country, with a planned stop in New York City next year. Our correspondent Ben Pesner caught up with Ms. Rigby by telephone in Salt Lake City.

Ben Pesner: This production is a family affair for you. How did that come about?

I like touring better than I like sitting down in one place because you're traveling with a group of folks that become almost like family to you. You look out for each other and you also argue and love each other. You're all away from home for the holidays and you celebrate together. Being on the road is actually easier than being home because during the day you don't have a lot of the normal activities you would at home. You take time to see the sights, and that to me is really great fun.

Last question: Do you believe in fairies?

Oh absolutely! I'm Irish you know. Irish and English. I gotta believe in fairies.

Cathy Rigby's Broadway credits.

Visit the Peter Pan website.

The ghost of Ethel Merman, who starred in Annie Get Your Gun, Gypsy and Call Me Madam at the Imperial Theatre, appears to have taken up post-mortem residence there, and sometimes is heard to shout encouragement and advice to actors rehearsing on the stage.

Theatre ghosts usually follow
an unwritten code: no manifestations while the
curtain is up.

There is one notable exception on Broadway: the laughing ghost of the St. James Theatre. Currently home to The Producers, the theatre has a ghost in its second balcony that bursts out in insane laughter at inappropriate moments during performances. The laughter has persisted two or three times a month, through a least a decade of shows. Two ushers, one current, one former, say that the laughter sometimes gets so bad that audience members

complain, thinking it's just an unruly fellow audience member. They don't realize they are lodging complaints against Broadway's most unmannerly ghost. The ushers are forced to march up to the balcony to shush the ghost. When the balcony is closed, it's always empty. When it's full, people there imagine the laughter is coming from elsewhere in the theatre.

"I doubt it's a professional," sniffs one of the ushers. A pro would never disrupt a performance like that.

For more Broadway ghost stories, be sure to look out for The Ghosts of Broadway by Robert Viagas in 2006.