Untold stories of the Savoy: Mysterious happenings haunt Glace Bay theatre

First at Five – October 31 First at Five The Savoy Theatre is known for its decades of productions and rumoured paranormal activity.

If the walls inside the historic Savoy Theatre could talk, they’d have quite the story to tell.

The 90-year-old theatre in the heart of Glace Bay has seen a lot, from memorable performance to dedicated patrons. But those who work there believe some people never really left.

“When we all get together in a room and start talking about it, we do realize that we've all had things happen,” says Savoy Theatre marketing producer Jennifer Sheppard.

And staff members say many of those things are unexplainable.

Cynthia Lahey has been the production manager at the Savoy for more than four years. She never believed the Savoy was haunted until about two years ago when she was finishing up late on a Friday

“The printer beside me started to roll over,” says Lahey. “I thought, ‘That's odd, nobody has been working at that desk all day,’ and I looked and the printer wasn't plugged in.”

That's when she left the office and made her way for the elevator. While waiting for it to open, she heard a voice.

“I heard a woman speaking, so I thought, ‘There's someone in the building, but I've been here hours alone. How did this happen?’ Lahey says. “I went for a hunt and I found no woman, so I really packed up and headed out as soon as I could.”

Former Savoy employee Gail Lahey-Marsh can relate. The theatre once had a storage area that was piled with artifacts and old instruments. She spent the day clearing it out to make way for a new lounge, but it didn't take long for her spine to tingle and an uneasy feeling to settle in.

“I heard a man's voice softly in my ear say, ‘Why are you changing everything?’ says Lahey-Marsh. “I kind of thought that's what he asked me to do, but when I turned around and Colin was on the other side of the room and he had earbuds in.”

Lahey-Marsh brushed it off, thinking she was hearing things.

“But then Colin said, ‘Did you say something?’ And I said, ‘No, that wasn't me.’”

The eerie feeling of suddenly being watched is one experienced by both performers and guests at the facility. There are stories of an older woman in a blue shirt, a man roaming the balcony and a strange figure spotted in the dressing area under the stage.

Pictures captured by performer Angela Deveaux appear to show the ghostly figure in the balcony watching over the stage.

“They had changed the colour in one of the pictures to show it in contrast, and I said, ‘Oh my god, where did you get that picture?’ They said, ‘Angela, that's your picture,’” Deveaux says.

Deveaux says the photo clearly shows a woman standing up in the balcony. When they zoomed in closer, a second woman could be seen side by side.

“Another friend looked and said, ‘I recognize the ladies,’ and she thought it was Gabe Smith and myself in the picture.”

The mystery still remains as to what restless spirit roams the building.

“I heard that back when the theatre was first built, there was a woman coming to perform here for her first times and she got hit by a car out on Union Street and died,” says Savoy manager Pam Leader. “She never got to perform on the stage, so she's still walking around the building.”

Many of the sightings have taken place in the newer part of the building, built in 1996. That’s the former site of several businesses.

“That could have been because of the old buildings that were in place before this part of the building was put up. Many we've absorbed more ghost by osmosis,” says Sheppard.

From all accounts the spirits living in the theatre are friendly, but it's still an unsettling feeling wondering if you're ever really alone.

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Kyle Moore.