TV show to feature ‘ghosts’ of Rialto Square Theatre
By BRIAN STANLEY bstanley@stmedianetwork.com October 14, 2012 2:28PM
Lori Carmine, technical director, will share her unexplained experiences that may stem from paranormal activity at Rialto Square Theatre during an upcoming episode of SyFy's Ghost Hunters as seen Friday, Oct. 12, 2012, at 15 E. Van Buren in Joliet. | Matthew Grotto~Sun-Times Media
Rialto on TV
What: Joliet’s Rialto Square Theatre will be featured on “Curtain Call” episode of “Ghost Hunters”
When: 8 p.m. Wednesday
Where: Syfy network
Article Extras
Updated: November 16, 2012 6:11AM
JOLIET — The lighting grid for the stage of the Rialto Square Theatre is 65 feet above the floor and the technical director needed a light turned off by hand.
“I sent a stagehand, watched him go up there and then continued working on the setup. He came back, and I looked out again and asked him why he hadn’t turned it off. He said he had,” Lori Carmine recalled. “That’s happened here with two different stagehands.”
These and several other “unexplained events” over the years have led Carmine and other staffers to wonder if the “Jewel of Joliet” is haunted.
The stories were part of the investigation when “Ghost Hunters” spent a few nights in the building in late July.
Their findings will be revealed at 8 p.m. Wednesday when an episode titled “Curtain Call” airs on the Syfy network.
Recently, the theater began offering a “guided paranormal tour” about six times a year where visitors are taken to various “hot spots” with a Rialto staffer and members of the All Seeing Paranormal group.
“Many people have had (odd) experiences here over the years. Staff, performers, guests,” said Annette Parker, director of marketing. “Nothing harmful, but quite a few times people who’ve rented the rotunda for an event ask about the little boy who’s running around.”
The “boy” is named Colin and appears to be quite a jokester. Carmine recalls going up the stairs alone but feeling her skirt was being yanked.
“I knew it wasn’t my stepping on it or catching it on something. It felt like a kid had grabbed it,” she said.
Ghostly bride
Parker said there also have been multiple reports of a woman wearing a wedding dress turning up unexpectedly.
Both the Ghost Hunters and the All Seeing Paranormal members used equipment for evaluating spiritual energy and have identified the lobby, star’s dressing rooms and bathrooms as “hot spots.”
Like Carmine, an employee who hasn’t worked in the theater for two decades was interviewed for the episode. But Carmine is the only staff member who was in the building during their search and was told of their findings.
“I’m sworn to secrecy,” she said.
“The rest of us have to wait until we go home Wednesday night,” Parker said.
But a few employees will watch together during a break from the Paranormal tour that was already scheduled for that night. The five-hour tours typically take place from 6 to 11 p.m. and cost $35 per person.
“We’d like to do them every month, but it depends on what’s already scheduled and how many people get tickets. We want five to 10 people in each of the groups on the tour,” Carmine said.
For information, call 815-726-7171, Ext. 210.
