After the devastating fire at the venerable Iroquois Theater in Chicago, approximately 600 people died trying to escape the flames. Even after the Oriental Theater was built in its place, some still believe that the stage is haunted by the ghost of the fire.
The Oriental Theater in windy Chicago is a wonderful venue that has been entertaining audiences for over 90 years. But behind the grandeur and glitz lies a murky and eerie history, full of spooky legends and supernatural stories.
Many people consider the Oriental Theater to be one of the most haunted places in Chicago, with a long list of ghosts and unexplained phenomena. What sets this ghost story apart is that the haunted beginning is scarier than the haunting itself. And the deadliest haunting occurred as soon as this place in the city was turned into a theater.
The Iroquois Theater Fire and Death Alley
The Oriental Theater, formerly known as the Iroquois Theater, opened its doors in 1903 at 24 W. Randolph Street. It was a magnificent facility, seating over 1,700, and designed to be the most luxurious theater in the world. The newspaper also advertised that it was fireproof. But just as the Titanic was unsinkable, the theater burst into flames immediately after opening.
Just five weeks after its opening during a comedy and musical performance entitled Mr. Bluebeard starring Eddie Foy, tragedy struck when a fire broke out. The show was a success, the theater sold out and additional standing tickets were issued. Most of the audience were women with children.
A spark from the stage lights hit the highly flammable muslin backdrop and quickly burst into flames. First of all, they didn't panic too much because everyone believed it when they said he would be sheltered from the fire. But then the fire began to spread and none of the firefighting equipment seemed to be working.
Spectators who tried to escape from the theater could not locate the exits because they were not marked and the doors were locked. In the stairwell, people were trampled, crushed or choked to death.
As the crew and actors escaped through a backstage door, the frigid air caused a ball of fire to shoot off the stage into the crowd. Those who managed to find a window or get to the roof jumped to their deaths.
There was no fire alarm box in the building and when the fire brigade finally arrived, it was too tardy. The 30-minute fire killed 602 people, making it one of the deadliest theater fires in history and is remembered as The Great Chicago Fire Disaster.
Hundreds of bodies, mostly women and children, were placed in the theater. It reportedly took over five hours to collect them all, with the body count hanging six feet above the ground. The next door was turned into a transient mortuary and hospital. Soon the alley next to the theater was called the so-called Death Avenue and so he was remembered for a long time.
Ever since there were rumors that it was haunted and that the spirits of the dead resided in the alley now known as Couch Place. Whispers in the night, and people feeling ghostly touches on their arms.
Some people say that the theater was cursed from the beginning, but that was certainly not the end.
The beginnings of oriental theater
After the fire, the theater was rebuilt and in 1926 renamed the Oriental Theater. In 1988, the Eastern Theater was closed and fell into ruin, but in 1998 it was restored and is now a popular place again.
However, the story of the Iroquois Theater fire has left a lasting impact on the theater, and many believe it is responsible for the ghosts and unexplained phenomena that occur there.
Spooky legends and reports
There have been many reports of ghostly activity at the Oriental Theater over the years. The ghosts of those who died in the fire are said to haunt the newly built theater, and people claim to have seen their ghost jumping out of the window into the street in the form of a death noose. There is also the smell of smoke out of nowhere, which people believe is the remnants of a deadly fire.
While the actors are on stage, they report seeing shadows moving on the balconies. It may have been worse for them during the fire, because they were the ones locked inside and couldn't open the door leading to the first floor.
Bad incident
One story took place during the production of the musical Wicked. Ana Gasteyer played the role of Elphaba. There's a scene at the end of the first act where he's learning to fly and smog and fog come out of the audience and fill the stage. She told it in the letter Celebrity ghost stories that she looked at the sides of the wings. They were packed with people, more people than the set designers usually had there.
The people didn't look like crew either, more like families, but when she landed and the smoke cleared, there was no one there.
She also claimed to have seen a woman with a boy and a girl in the hallways, all dressed in period costumes. The first time she asked her dresser about it, she thought it might have been ghosts since December 30 was approaching.
Terrible events and experiences in the Oriental Theater
The Oriental Theater in Chicago is a wonderful venue that has been entertaining audiences for over ninety years. In 2018, the name was changed to the James M. Nederlander Theater, in honor of the founder of Broadway in Chicago.
But behind the pomp and glitz lies a murky and eerie history, full of spooky legends, supernatural stories and the danger of fire.
Reference:
The Oriental Theater, now the James M. Nederlander Theater in Chicago, is one of the most haunted places in the world – NBC Chicago
Chicago Hauntings: The horrors of the 1903 Iroquois Theater fire that killed 602 people downtown in 1903, and the stories of the ghosts left behind
Death Avenue near the Nederlander Theater – Ghosts of the Windy City
The Iroquois Theater Fire: History and the Discovery of GhostsIroquois Theater Fire – Wikipedia
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