Ghosts Rollins (and Other Skeletons in the Closet)
THE HAUNTING OF ANNIE RUSSELL
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f you’re looking for campus ghosts, head straight to the Annie Russell Theatre, whose spectral history is legendary. The fact that theater folks, with their flair for drama and suspense, are keepers of the ghostly lore may have something to do with its longevity and profusion. Every fall the Department of Theatre & Dance holds a “Getting to Know You” party to welcome new students; the festivities include handing down Annie Russell Theatre ghost tales. Rollins marketing communications coordinator and former theater major Olivia Horn ’02 heard these stories when she was a wide-eyed, first-year student and has had a strange experience or two of her own in the building. She offered the following stories as proof of the theater’s phantasmic past and present. The Annie Russell Theatre was a gift of Mary Curtis Bok Zimbalist in 1931 in honor of her close friend, internationally known actress Annie Russell. After retiring from her stage career,
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Russell taught at Rollins, acted in college stage productions, and served as director of the eponymous theater until her death in 1936. Russell’s affection for the theater apparently transcended her earthly tenure. Her favorite theater seat (balcony, right side, third row down, second seat over) is said to fold down independently and stay in that position whenever her ghost particularly enjoys a production. Some have heard rocking sounds emanate from the seat, while others rehearsing alone at night have experienced a lone, invisible clapper. Former lighting designer and production manager Jim Fulton often brought his golden retriever to the theater; on several occasions, the extrasensory canine ran into the balcony, where he sat and stared at Russell’s former seat. Russell had a private dressing room above the stage, reachable only by a staircase. At some point after her death, workers removed the staircase and turned the space into a locked electrical closet, reachable only by a portable ladder. According to lore, the door
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