Ghost Light - Theatre Etymology - Part 7

In the theatre,a ghost light is not a luminescent plant or fungus. It is a light that is left on after everybody has left the theatre and it stays on the whole time when people are not there until lights in the theatre are operating again. Before electricity was mainstream, ghost lights in theatres were gas lamps. Every theatre had their own gas generator. It was required that a flame continued burning because it would prevent pressure from building up in the gas lines which meant that the theatre would not explode. The ghost light, in current times, is usually an electric light. It tends to be a bulb on a long stand. Sometimes the bulb has a wire cage around it. The stand is then usually placed center stage or down center on the stage.

There is a practical reason for the ghost light. Having a ghost light lets anybody who may legally or illegally enter the theatre see. This way a person does not step on any scenery, costumes, or props that may be where the person walks. It also makes sure that a person does not fall into the orchestra pit if there is one.

However, being that theatre people are superstitious, a ghost light is also placed on the stage in order to appease theatre ghosts. The exact reason they need appeasement can be different. Some people think that if a light is not provided for the ghosts, that they will ruin the production. Others think that the ghosts desire to act on the stage when the theatre is empty and having a ghost light allows them to do this. Others think that the ghosts simply want the light so that they feel like they are welcome in the theatre.

The story that seems to be the most associated with the beginning of the use of a ghost light is that a burglar once broke into a theatre before ghost lights were used. He fell off the stage into the orchestra pit and even though he was not supposed to be in the theatre, he still sued the company.

Ghosts are still known to appear in theatres today. At the Palace Theatre on Broadway, Judy Garland still appears. Workers at the theatre report that set pieces randomly move and that items randomly disappear and appear in different places. At the Tampa Theatre, the ghost there is one of a person who was a projectionists. Multiple people who have worked as a projectionist at the theatre report chills, cold winds, and doors randomly opening.

The ghost light is also known as the Equity Light or Equity Lamp. It is thought that this is because leaving a light out and on was a requirement by Actors Equity, though it seems that nobody can find this rule. However, there are currently rules from OSHA that require lights to be on in a theatre. Sometimes ghost lights aren't the traditional bulb on a stand. The New Amsterdam Theater in New York has lights (in the grid) that basically stay on all the time due to OSHA's rules for the type of building. However, they still function in the same way as a ghost light. The lights are said to appease Olive Thomas, the ghost of a former Ziegfeld show girl.

Ghost lights are so well known in the theatre that "ghost light" has even become parts of the names of theatres and theatrical troupes. Examples are the Seattle theatre company known as Ghost Light Theatricals and Ghost Light Theatre in North Towanda, NY. Even Mandy Patinkin and Patti LuPone have incorporated the ghost light into their duet show because of how well the ghost light is known in the theatre.

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