Grand Opera House - Oshkosh, Wisconsin

 

Synopsis     

The Grand Opera House opened its doors in August 1883. The interior of the theater contained lavish and modern Victorian design. Some said the unique acoustic quality of the hall rivaled that of the huge Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake City, Utah. In the 1950’s the theater was remodeled and opened as a motion picture theater. In the 1980’s a restoration on the property was begun. In addition, the adjoining property at 106 High Avenue was purchased and connected to the theater. This is now where the main entrance to the theater is located. A sympathetic restoration of the location was done in an effort to keep the aesthetic as close to the original as possible. The newly renovated theater opened on September 27, 1986. 

 

Paranormal Activity Reported

Activity occurring in the theater includes:

·        Members of a local theater group called The Drama Lab encountered slamming doors and the sound of footsteps while performing at the theater in the 1980’s.

·        One actor from this group rushed into a dressing room one night and found himself face to face with a man wearing old fashioned clothing. The man was holding a playbill in his hand from a show performed in 1895.

·        Another time, a man was working in the balcony area alone at night when he heard footsteps coming up the stairs. When no one appeared, he looked around the corner and saw that the staircase was empty. This is a common report. Footsteps are often heard coming up these stairs, yet there is no one there.

·        Some claim that a current spirit at the theater is that of a man named Percy Keene. Mr. Keene was a stage manager of the theater from 1895 until his death in 1967.

·        In 1977, a film crew stated that they saw a man standing in the balcony looking down at them with a friendly smile on his face. The apparition’s appearance matched that of Percy Keene from his haircut to his small round glasses.

·        Bob Jacobs a Hollywood producer and professor of radio, television and film at UW Oshkosh, made a fictional movie about a haunted movie theater and used the Grand Opera House as the location. During the shoot, a student was suspended above the stage for over an hour to film a scene. When this student was lowered back down the rope supporting him snapped as soon as his feet touched the stage. Mr. Jacobs watched the rope snap with nothing pulling at it. He believes the student was supported by other means, and when lowered, the rope was allowed to give way.

 An assistant producer claimed to see an apparition in an underground passage and stated that an unseen hand grabbed her ankle.

·        Two set workers saw a man standing in the orchestra pit who then disappeared by going through a small door. When the man didn’t return, they went to investigate and found the adjacent room empty.

·        It was after a private showing of the finished movie that Mr. Jacobs saw a man standing in the balcony smiling down at him. A short time later, a cinematographer from California was driving by the theater at night and saw the same face that Mr. Jacobs described looking out of a window at him. He assumed the man was a night watchman. He later found out that the theater did not employ a night watchman.

·        Currently, staff and visitors report they have experienced lights turning on and off, weird temperature drops and sounds that cannot be explained.

·        In 1996, a glowing image that moved across the stage was recorded by a group investigating the theater.

·        A lighting director saw a phantom dog on the stage. He asked the actors on stage to remove the dog, but there was no dog on set. Many other actors have also experienced an encounter with a phantom dog.

·        The Executive Director would often go to the theater and sit in the darkness to wind down and clear his mind. As he was leaving on one occasion he had an overwhelming urge to look back at the stage. Onstage, he noticed a vaporous orange mist hovering about.

·        Many actors state that while rehearsing, they will see ghosts sitting in the seats as though they are watching the play.  Staff have stated when they go to check on these claims, they will find the seats have been pushed down where the ghosts were to have been sitting

     For the most part the staff is not uncomfortable with the activity, but curious to see if the WPRS can find any concrete evidence to back up the claims.

 

     Investigation

    The WPRS investigated on Friday, September 9th, 2016 from approximately 9:00pm to 3:00am. Investigators Blaschka, Beaudry, Duginski, Shaw, Sczygelski, von Gnechten, Williams and Coscio were present. The group was joined by guest investigator Eaton. Equipment used during the investigation included a stationary video camera connected to a monitor, Trifield EMF meter, REM pod, thermal probe, digital voice recorders, infrared camera and full spectrum camera.    

     The group started the investigation by taking a guided tour of the entire property led by a theater employee. She provided information regarding claims in various         locations throughout the building. The group was granted access to the main floor, lower level and balcony. Command central was set up in the main lobby, where the theater employee also remained during the duration of the investigation. 

     Temperature and EMF readings were taken though out the theater prior to conducting our EVP sessions. The main floor had temperature readings between 75 to 82 degrees and EMF readings between 0.00 to 0.05 milligauss.

     In the lower level area by the dressing rooms and storage, temperature readings were between 72 to 77 degrees and EMF readings were between 0.00 to 3.0 milligauss. There were areas in the hallways that had higher readings, but electrical wiring was determined to be the cause.

     Balcony temperature readings were between 75 to 82 degrees and EMF readings were 0.00 milligauss throughout.   The video camera was placed in the lobby corridor pointing toward the entrance to the theater.  Upon review after the investigation, nothing paranormal was recorded.

     Investigators Sczygelski, Shaw and Williams conducted an EVP session in the lower level. A session was conducted in both dressing rooms, storage area under the stage and the volunteer break area. Investigator Blaschka saw what appeared to be the apparition of a person sitting in one of the balcony theater seats during this time.

     Investigators Shaw, Sczygelski and Eaton conducted an EVP session at the base of the spiral staircase.

     Another session was conducted in the theater proper with all investigators spread throughout the theater. During this time, there was a light anomaly appearing intermittently on the stage. It was observed by the investigators, but unfortunately not caught on film. Also, the REM pod was left on the overhead connecting walkway above the lobby during this time. The REM pod was set off several times during the EVP session. 

     An EVP session was conducted in the lobby area outside the main entrance to the theater with all investigators. A voice recorder was left on the overhead connecting walkway along with the REM pod.

     After reviewing all EVP recordings from the theater, no evidence was captured during these sessions.

 

     Conclusion

    Taking into consideration the varied reports of employees and personal experiences of the investigators present, it seems possible that the theater may have paranormal activity present. It is important to note that none of the paranormal activity reported or captured seems malicious or demonic in nature. More time would be needed at the site to come to a more definitive conclusion. We plan to return again in 2017.

 

 INVESTIGATION AUGUST 12, 2017

 

We returned to the Grand Opera House to continue our paranormal research at the location. We arrived at the site at approximately 8:30 PM. We started by discussing what areas to focus on for the evening and where camera placement would be for the night.

We began to set up our DVR cameras and system. We decided to place camera #1 in the upper balcony area pointed toward the top back of the balcony. Camera #2 was placed facing toward the south foyer. Camera #3 was placed at the entrance to the upper balcony pointed across to the other side of the balcony area. Camera #4 was placed in the main floor center aisle of the theater facing toward the stage. We decided to focus on these areas due to the history of the activity and our previous investigation.

A REM pod was placed upon a chair on the stage and in the upper walkway area above the lobby. Vibration sensors were placed to the right of the stairs leading to the stage and on the floor of the stage in front of the REM pod. Our newly developed Kinect Mapping system was set up on the stage during the latter portion of the investigation in hopes of capturing any images of a presence there.

While determining a location to set up the large infrared light, investigators Beaudy and Sczygelski were standing in the center aisle of the theater on the main floor. There was the sound of something being tossed and then an object rolling across the floor. Upon investigation, a AA battery was found on the wood floor directly in front of the center stairs leading up to the stage. The sound was able to be replicated by tossing the battery and allowing it to roll on the wood flooring. There were no other investigators in the theater at the time the sound was heard.

Throughout the course of the evening we had responses from the vibration detector located at the right side stage stairs.  We detected no images on the Kinect system. We conducted several EVP sessions in the theater area. There were no EVPs captured by the group. 

Upon review of our DVR footage it was noted that there was no evidence detected.

We ended our investigation around 3:25 AM and did not experience any other activity during the balance of the evening.

 

SEPTEMBER 21, 2019 INVESTIGATION

We again returned to the Grand Opera House to continue our paranormal research at the location. We arrived at the site at approximately 6:45PM. We started by discussing what areas to focus on for the evening and where camera placement would be for the night based on our last investigation.

We began to set up our DVR cameras and system. We decided to place camera #1 in the upper balcony facing the stage. Camera #2 was placed near the stage facing the 1^st floor audience. Camera #3 was placed in the back entrance area that leads to the upper balcony. Camera #4 was placed at one of the entrances to the upper balcony pointed across to the other side of the balcony area. We decided to focus on these areas due to the history of the activity and our previous investigation.

A REM pod was placed downstairs in the dressing room area and in the upper walkway area above the lobby. Vibration sensors were placed to the right of the stairs leading to the stage and on the floor in the staircase leading to the balcony in front of the REM pod.

Throughout the course of the evening we had responses from the REM detector located on the pedestrian balcony leading to the upper balcony seating area. Nothing was detected on the DVR system during these events that could explain why they alarmed.

Upon the entire review of our DVR footage it was noted that there was nothing paranormal in nature detected.

Two EVP’s were captured during the evening. One recording sounds like it says “Sharon” and another recording you can hear what sounds like the word “Hell” or “Help”.

Several personal and electrical experiences occurred during the evening. One investigator felt the sense of cobwebs cover her face and arms while walking through the lobby around 9:40PM. Two investigator’s phone’s experienced unusual activity during the evening that could not be explained. We also had instant drainage of battery power several times during the evening that could not be reasonable explained as well.

A short séance was conducted on the stage at approximately 11:00PM. Upon completion of the séance our EMF meters indicated some unusual activity that I have never seen before nor can I reasonable explain. The devices seemed to detect a field near the lower stage area that would react to any audible noise, much like an analog equalizer would react if hooked to a microphone.

We ended our investigation around 12:00 AM and did not experience any other activity during the balance of the evening.

 

AUGUST 19, 2023 INVESTIGATION

 

We returned to the Grand Opera House to investigate again at the location. We have not been to the opera house since 2019. We arrived at approximately 3:45PM. We started as usual by discussing what areas to focus on for the evening and where camera placement would be for the night based on our last investigation. On this evening, we had a few new members that have never been to the Grand in the past, so a short tour was given to them upon arrival.

We set up our central command area in the modern entry area of the theater and then placed our DVR cameras and system. We decided to place camera #1 in the back entrance area that leads to the upper balcony. Camera #2 was placed in the original lobby area. Camera #3 was placed over the lobby mezzanine. Camera #4 was placed in the gathering nook just off the original main lobby. Camera #5 covered the north staircase to the lobby. We decided to focus on these areas due to the history of the activity and our previous investigations.

Due to the opera house being a very large area to cover we decided to utilize the wireless DVR system in order to cover more area. The placements for those cameras were as follows. Camera 1 - basement corridor, Camera 2 - prop area (under stage), Camera 3 - stage looking out over auditorium, Camera 4 - side of auditorium facing stage, Camera 5 - orchestra pit, and Camera 6 - middle box facing the balcony.

REM pods were placed in the back entrance that leads to the upper balcony, the audience main isle and in the center of the original lobby.

A laser grid was set up in the orchestra pit and in the original main lobby. A vibration sensor was placed at center stage in the auditorium. Several motion sensor balls were placed in the lobby balcony and in the original lobby. Several motion sensors were placed in the dressing rooms, one facing the main isle walkway in the auditorium as well as left and right stage area.  Two new devices were put into use this evening. An EMF Trip Wire was placed across the stage and our Zoom 360 digital recorder was placed in the orchestra pit. We are hoping that it will possibly capture EVP activity.

Upon the entire review of our DVR footage it was noted that there was nothing paranormal in nature detected. Upon review of our audio evidence nothing was detected on any of our conventional recordings. We did find some unexplainable sounds when we reviewed our Zoom 360 recorder that had been placed in the orchestra pit. At approximately 8:01PM, a series of sounds could be heard. It sounded as if someone was present in the area during the recording. Several unknown clicking noises can be heard and what also sounds like someone shuffling their feet on the floor. This activity continues on for approximately two minutes and then abruptly stops. A review of all cameras and any movement made by researchers was done. Nothing was found on any cameras and no one was in the area at the time. I have no explanation for the anomaly that occurred. 

None of the Rem Pods or Motion Balls alarmed during the evening. None of the motion sensors detected any movement during the evening. The Trip Wire did alarm on the stage during the time we played a song called Marble Hall. This song was from one of the first plays performed in the theater in 1883. Upon further investigation we feel the sound waves created by the song caused a low level frequency that made the trip wire react.

Many digital standard and infrared photographs were taken throughout the building by researchers during the evening. Upon review of those photos a few of them were found to contain orbs. Two photos taken in the main auditorium contained an orb and one photo taken in the orchestra pit contains one as well. While I cannot prove that these orbs are paranormal in nature it is worthy of noting as several dozen other photos do not contain any orbs. Two photos taken in the basement contain a strange light that I am also unable to explain. The last photo to take note of was taken from the upper balcony down to the original lobby. In the side sitting room a white shadow can be seen near the entry to that room. I am uncertain what may have caused this anomaly.

While using our thermal camera in the main auditorium an unusually warm area was captured in an area adjacent to the sound and light booths located on the upper balcony. Upon further inspection of that area we were unable to explain this image and the heat signature reasonably.

We ended our investigation around 12:00 AM. We hope to return next year to continue our research of the site.

 

*Any use or reproduction of this documentation is prohibited without the sole permission of Shawn Blaschka and the WPRS.