Ghosts of the West End

I once read a fascinating book called haunted London. so many shadows of the past. The theatre is rife with superstition and legends. like no whistling and no mentioning the Scottish King and the rituals that go with it if you do. so ghosts are quite normal.
In Covent Garden you don’t have much choice; there is so much supernatural activity in a relatively small area. This smallish district of historic London has been jam-​packed with scandal and mischief for hundreds of years and strange things happen after nightfall.
Amongst the spectral visits that Covent Garden has witnessed are ghostly appearances from Admiral Lord Nelson and Anne Boleyn. Disembodied howls and ghostly sighs are not common in Covent Garden but after dark you might be
one of the chosen few to realise that you have been walking and talking in the presence of a ghost.
Many theatre actors have returned to their favourite theatres to haunt the auditoria and famous names from centuries of London history are also said to return in phantom quintessence.
The opera has a phantom and you had better believe that the theatre has a ghost.
Drury Lane theatre is famed for supernatural shenanigans with at least three authenticated ghosts creaking the boards at this historic theatre. Credulous luvvies consider a spectral visit to augur well; that the current production will meet with critical acclaim, however, if and when a ghost graces somebody with its presence, it is a brave person who
doesn’t feel a shiver chase down their spine.
Perhaps the most famous of Drury Lane’s phantoms is the ‘Man in Grey’ a silent form who appears as quintessence in the Upper Circle and perambulates the bar before disappearing through a wall. He is only active during hours of daylight so has been seen by hundreds of actors and patrons
although not for many years. Who he is, nobody is quite sure but from his countenance he is clearly the epitome of English theatre. Dressed in ghostly period costume of an 18^th Century riding cape, boots and a sheathed sword.
The man in grey is ruggedly handsome with a powdered wig
beneath a foppish tricorn. The identity of the Man in Grey is unknown but in a chilling development, during the late 1800s, workmen knocking a wall through made the grim discovery of a skeleton clad in decaying costume with a dagger thrust between its ribs.
If he appears though he is said to bring good luck to a run and is often seen in a box. The most famous appearance though was during a Flanders and Swan performance when the audience saw him hold the wheelchair handles of one of them. on the stage. He is often thought to be impressario Garrick.
During his life Joe Grimaldi was a genial man and accomplished actor who had an eye for the ladies and plenty of time to help aspiring actors. He appeared on stage here many times however, he didn’t want to shuffle off his mortal coil, yearning to stay in the limelight and the adoration of
theatre fans so decided to become a poltergeist. During the run of Oklahoma! an inexperienced actress was alone on stage in front of a packed house however the laughter greeting her punchlines had been disappointing.
During one performance she felt a pair of firm hands on her shoulders which propelled her to a different part of the stage, the hands then gently repositioned the actress’s arms and adjusted the angle of her head, while this happened she delivered her lines to rapturous laughter. After the show
she reported her experience but nobody in the cast, crew or audience had seen anyone but her on stage. Grimaldi’s comforting hands were felt again years later by a novice singer auditioning on stage for The King and I. As she stepped onto the stage the nervous girl felt a friendly pat on the shoulder and a phantom hand clasped her elbow and led her to the front. All through her audition her hand was held firmly by an eerie, disembodied force, despite the spooky guidance the girl sang beautifully. The story has a happy ending: she landed the role thanks to Joe Grimaldi’s calming
influence.
Another nefarious crime committed in the theatre was by the hand of one of the stage’s biggest stars of the day. In 1735 the actor Charles Macklin slew fellow thespian Thomas Hallam: the culmination of an argument about a
wig. Macklin drove a cane through Hallam’s left eye into his brain instantly killing him. As he took Hallam’s life, Macklin delivered the line: God damn you for a blackguard scrub rascal. Macklin was not a handsome man; tall, lanky and unbeautiful but still hugely popular and, although the murder was witnessed, he got away with it and was sentenced
not to death but only branding which was never carried out anyway. Macklin lived to be 107 but after his death a new ghost began to appear, an ugly, tall, thin ghost who frequents the theatre’s pit.
So next time you are in the theatre check who is sitting next to you!!!