Baldwin Theatre

Michigan · United States · Theatre

Built as a vaudeville house in 1922 in downtown Royal Oak. Props, sets and paint cans are found arranged into formations that nobody made.

The Baldwin Theatre stands on Lafayette just south of Fourth Street in downtown Royal Oak, Michigan. It was built in 1922 as a vaudeville playhouse, and it is now home to a community theatre company.

The reports come from the company's own members, and the one they mention first is the strangest. Props, sets and paint cans are found moved overnight into odd formations. Not knocked over or shifted, but arranged.

Shadows are described darting across the darkened stage after a show has finished and the house has emptied, which is the hour when theatre people are still in the building and everyone else has gone.

The old balcony, now a second level performance space, has the most active presence in the building. What is described there is not menace but mischief: pranks played on members working late on the lighting rig.

Vaudeville houses were built for a kind of performance that has been gone for ninety years. This one has been continuously in use, which is rarer than it sounds, and the company treats what happens there as part of working in the building.

FAQ

Where is Baldwin Theatre located?

Baldwin Theatre is in Michigan, United States.