The site of our investigation for this evening. The historic Pasadena Playhouse.
There are still some places within Southern California I have longed to investigate. Certainly the Pasadena Playhouse on El Molino Avenue in Pasadena, California fits in that category. In fact, Pasadena in general may be one of the hubs of paranormal activity within Los Angeles County.
Theaters seem to be special places for haunting. Ghosts of long ago actors and perhaps the patrons who paid to see them perform, continue to visit their favorite venues in the after life. For me personally, the Warner Grand Theater in San Pedro California is such a place and, I have personally investigated there several times over the years. The Warner Grand has been a treasure trove in paranormal experiences for me and others and, it was a motivating reason for my interest in experiencing the Pasadena Playhouse.
Like the Warner Grand, the Pasadena Playhouse goes back to the early days of the 20th century. It was 1917 to be exact. Just 5 years after the sinking of the Titanic. At that time, it was only a troupe of actors under the direction of Mr. Gilmore Brown but, they would move into the Pasadena Community Playhouse in 1924. Over the years the Playhouse would have a school for dramatic arts and, would be involved with building and operating one of the first television stations in Southern California. The theater closed in 1969 but was kept from being torn down by a group of dedicated alumni and friends. Today the playhouse is in good shape and thrives to the enjoyment of all.
For more information on the Pasadena Playhouse visit their website at
http://pasadenaplayhouse.org/about-us/history.html
Theaters seem to be special places for haunting. Ghosts of long ago actors and perhaps the patrons who paid to see them perform, continue to visit their favorite venues in the after life. For me personally, the Warner Grand Theater in San Pedro California is such a place and, I have personally investigated there several times over the years. The Warner Grand has been a treasure trove in paranormal experiences for me and others and, it was a motivating reason for my interest in experiencing the Pasadena Playhouse.
Like the Warner Grand, the Pasadena Playhouse goes back to the early days of the 20th century. It was 1917 to be exact. Just 5 years after the sinking of the Titanic. At that time, it was only a troupe of actors under the direction of Mr. Gilmore Brown but, they would move into the Pasadena Community Playhouse in 1924. Over the years the Playhouse would have a school for dramatic arts and, would be involved with building and operating one of the first television stations in Southern California. The theater closed in 1969 but was kept from being torn down by a group of dedicated alumni and friends. Today the playhouse is in good shape and thrives to the enjoyment of all.
For more information on the Pasadena Playhouse visit their website at
http://pasadenaplayhouse.org/about-us/history.html
Haunted History.
Gilmore Brown, the founder and, long time head of the Pasadena Playhouse and, of the school of performing arts has been reportedly seen in the building by paranormal investigators and others. Just recently, an associate and, friend of mine who was there for a Halloween show for a local Los Angeles Radio station reported he thought he may have seen Gilmore Brown moving across the room where Mr. Browns old office and, the library room are joined together on the 2nd floor.
A member of my investigative team reported that on a previous investigation at the playhouse she had an encounter with something in dressing room #4. In perusing other paranormal sites I’ve seen that, others have reported activity in dressing room # 6 as well.
During a tour of the playhouse prior to our investigation our host informed us of activity which had been experienced in the Green Room, boiler room, band room, Carrie Hamilton theater and the shower area which she called the creepy showers and what appears to be a sewing room that doubled as a dressing and costume room over the years.
Gilmore Brown, the founder and, long time head of the Pasadena Playhouse and, of the school of performing arts has been reportedly seen in the building by paranormal investigators and others. Just recently, an associate and, friend of mine who was there for a Halloween show for a local Los Angeles Radio station reported he thought he may have seen Gilmore Brown moving across the room where Mr. Browns old office and, the library room are joined together on the 2nd floor.
A member of my investigative team reported that on a previous investigation at the playhouse she had an encounter with something in dressing room #4. In perusing other paranormal sites I’ve seen that, others have reported activity in dressing room # 6 as well.
During a tour of the playhouse prior to our investigation our host informed us of activity which had been experienced in the Green Room, boiler room, band room, Carrie Hamilton theater and the shower area which she called the creepy showers and what appears to be a sewing room that doubled as a dressing and costume room over the years.
Investigators inside the Green Room of the Pasadena Playhouse.
The Tour
We arrived at the Playhouse at 9:00 PM. Our host met us in the court yard and then led us around the side and, to the back and down to the lower levels of the building, to a room known as the Green Room. This Green Room was a place where actors could relax, eat and get ready for a performance. It’s a very cozy room with a kitchen type area, next to a large conference table and a few smaller dressing rooms. It also has a small area with couches and a TV set where performers could relax.
Recorders are turned on as our host gathers us to begin the tour. It was during this time while still in the Green Room my recorder picked up the voice of an unknown male with a British accent saying “I think it was in person”. Who or what this gentleman was referring to is not known. As the host continued to talk I captured another voice of what can only be described as a grumpy older woman saying “Get out of here!”.
The same female who told us to “Get out of here” was growing impatient and said “Hurry up”.
We arrived at the Playhouse at 9:00 PM. Our host met us in the court yard and then led us around the side and, to the back and down to the lower levels of the building, to a room known as the Green Room. This Green Room was a place where actors could relax, eat and get ready for a performance. It’s a very cozy room with a kitchen type area, next to a large conference table and a few smaller dressing rooms. It also has a small area with couches and a TV set where performers could relax.
Recorders are turned on as our host gathers us to begin the tour. It was during this time while still in the Green Room my recorder picked up the voice of an unknown male with a British accent saying “I think it was in person”. Who or what this gentleman was referring to is not known. As the host continued to talk I captured another voice of what can only be described as a grumpy older woman saying “Get out of here!”.
The same female who told us to “Get out of here” was growing impatient and said “Hurry up”.
The Creepy Shower Room
As we continued our tour, the host led us around to a shower room area. She referred to these showers as the creepy shower room. The group and the host moved on and, I stayed behind to snap a few photos. As I was about to leave the shower area there is a low voice my recorder captured which says “No one is waiting” True enough, the tour had moved rapidly ahead without me.
Turn up the volume as this voice for "No One Is Waiting" is very much a whisper and is very low.
The very intimate auditorium at the Pasadena Playhouse in Pasadena California.
The host led us up to the auditorium. It reminded me very much of the auditorium at the Warner Grand Theater. The Stage was very similar as well, with its orchestra pit almost exactly in the same location. The only thing I was not sure of was, if the stage had an access way to the Green Room. At the Warner Grand the main dressing room area is below and to the back of the stage area. You can actually access the orchestra pit via the back dressing room area. I assume, without knowing for certain but, it makes logical sense that the Green Room with its dressing rooms would have access points to the stage itself.
Our gracious host Kristen up on the stage, overseeing the goings on. Thank you Kristen!
From the auditorium our group was next taken to the library up stairs. This library room is connected to the office of Mr. Gilmore Brown. Through Mr. Brown’s office we can access an open balcony that is part of the north wing of the playhouse and where we find the Carrie Hamilton Theatre. Previous paranormal investigations have had some interesting results within the Carrie Hamilton theatre. It was on the adjacent balcony of this wing that one of our mediums detected the spirit of a man. This would come into play much later during an EVP and ITC session in a large utilitarian type room we referred to as the costume room.
The grayness of my thermal imaging camera and the balcony of the north wing of the playhouse, adjacent to the Carrie Hamilton Theatre and Gilmore Brown's office. Our intuitive Vicki saw the spirit of a man here on this balcony.
The Investigation:
After the tour our group broke up into smaller groups and began to investigate the different areas of the playhouse. My little group joined two other investigators in the Costume Room. These two investigators had been part of a previous investigation in the playhouse and, they experienced some physical and audible phenomena in this room. One investigator had become physically ill on the previous visit to this room.
This night our first captures seemed to be voices of females. Perhaps they were seamstresses and costume designers who were working to provide repairs and, create costumes for the performers. We had been told by our host that this room was also a staging area and pseudo dressing room for performers as well.
The first EVP I recorded in this room was that of a woman saying “Sonia”. The two investigators who had been at the playhouse previously had brought along a few EMF toys such as a teddy bear that lights up when it detects an EMF field. They asked that the female spirit interact with the Teddy Bear and make the lights come on. An EVP response of a woman saying “What” and another female voice responded with “Who died?” during this session were captured. Possibly they were in response to the request to interact with the teddy bear.
As I had stated earlier, one of our mediums had sensed a male presence on the balcony next to the Carrie Hamilton theatre. This same investigator relayed to us that she felt the male had followed us and was in this room with us. Questions were asked in regards to this spirit acknowledging they had been seen earlier in the evening and who was it that had seen them. This was during an ITC session utilizing the Spirit Box PSB-7 and the response which was captured was actually a female voice saying the name of our intuitive “Vicki”. Also another captured response was “It was her” and “Vicki” again.
Indeed it was Vicki who had spotted the male spirit on the balcony. I asked if anyone wanted to speak and there is a male response of "I do" and Of course we asked for names and two male responses during the Spirit Box session were “I’m Elton” and “Decker”.
Two more interesting responses from the Spirit Box is what sounds like a child saying “Be with me” and a older female saying “Don’t sell it”. Perhaps she was referring to the sale of the playhouse. We do not know.
After the tour our group broke up into smaller groups and began to investigate the different areas of the playhouse. My little group joined two other investigators in the Costume Room. These two investigators had been part of a previous investigation in the playhouse and, they experienced some physical and audible phenomena in this room. One investigator had become physically ill on the previous visit to this room.
This night our first captures seemed to be voices of females. Perhaps they were seamstresses and costume designers who were working to provide repairs and, create costumes for the performers. We had been told by our host that this room was also a staging area and pseudo dressing room for performers as well.
The first EVP I recorded in this room was that of a woman saying “Sonia”. The two investigators who had been at the playhouse previously had brought along a few EMF toys such as a teddy bear that lights up when it detects an EMF field. They asked that the female spirit interact with the Teddy Bear and make the lights come on. An EVP response of a woman saying “What” and another female voice responded with “Who died?” during this session were captured. Possibly they were in response to the request to interact with the teddy bear.
As I had stated earlier, one of our mediums had sensed a male presence on the balcony next to the Carrie Hamilton theatre. This same investigator relayed to us that she felt the male had followed us and was in this room with us. Questions were asked in regards to this spirit acknowledging they had been seen earlier in the evening and who was it that had seen them. This was during an ITC session utilizing the Spirit Box PSB-7 and the response which was captured was actually a female voice saying the name of our intuitive “Vicki”. Also another captured response was “It was her” and “Vicki” again.
Indeed it was Vicki who had spotted the male spirit on the balcony. I asked if anyone wanted to speak and there is a male response of "I do" and Of course we asked for names and two male responses during the Spirit Box session were “I’m Elton” and “Decker”.
Two more interesting responses from the Spirit Box is what sounds like a child saying “Be with me” and a older female saying “Don’t sell it”. Perhaps she was referring to the sale of the playhouse. We do not know.
Turn up your volume for "What" it is a little distant sounding.
"Who Died" is a high Class "B" EVP. Almost Class "A" in clarity.
Turn up your volume. The female response of "It Was Her" is very loud and clear but the feint male voice saying "Vicki" is a little tough to hear but you can hear it.
ingYou will note the very first male response in this capture responds "I do" when I ask if anyone wants to talk to us. Then we get two more different sounding males. One saying "I'm Elton" and the other saying "Decker" All 3 voices sound different but all are male.
Thermal image of Vicki and Mary. Two of our investigators in the Costume Room.
Thermal image of Rob, with the hat on and Joe. Two of our investigators in the Green Room during the séance.
Thermal image of investigators at the table in the Green Room during the séance.
Séance:
Later in the evening we all congregated back in the Green Room around the large conference table and performed a séance. We turned out all the lights and created a human enclosed circle by holding hands. We said a prayer asking for God to protect us in his loving white light and energy and we stated that no malicious entities were welcome in this circle. We only welcomed friendly and loving entities to join us.
The one audible response my recorder captured during this séance was an unknown male voice saying “Martha”. None of the ladies in the group were named Martha.
At one point of the séance I asked that the participating entities use our energy so that they may speak to us and our intuitive reported she felt like she was being rocked in her chair during this time.
It was an interesting evening.
One interesting photo captured while we were in the Green Room earlier in the evening was a distance shot of the open door of a room known as the Band Room. It was in this Band Room that the spirit of a male entity was detected. The image in the door way certainly appears to be male.
Later in the evening we all congregated back in the Green Room around the large conference table and performed a séance. We turned out all the lights and created a human enclosed circle by holding hands. We said a prayer asking for God to protect us in his loving white light and energy and we stated that no malicious entities were welcome in this circle. We only welcomed friendly and loving entities to join us.
The one audible response my recorder captured during this séance was an unknown male voice saying “Martha”. None of the ladies in the group were named Martha.
At one point of the séance I asked that the participating entities use our energy so that they may speak to us and our intuitive reported she felt like she was being rocked in her chair during this time.
It was an interesting evening.
One interesting photo captured while we were in the Green Room earlier in the evening was a distance shot of the open door of a room known as the Band Room. It was in this Band Room that the spirit of a male entity was detected. The image in the door way certainly appears to be male.
Very clear Class "A" EVP. Male saying "Martha"
The following photograph is not presented as proof of ghosts. It is presented as a picture of interest and it correlates with a possible contact of a male spirit in a room known as the Band Room which took place earlier in the evening. This was a distant shot take from the Green Room. Upon review I saw this figure. I have even highlighted it in sepia tone. I am not asking you to accept my conclusion that it may be a spirit. You decide for yourself. As we know. Things such as spirit photos are subject to interpretation and there are many variables which can effect what we see in photographic images.
In the distance is the open door of the Band Room.
During the evening we had done a short EVP and ITC session in that room and we seemed to make contact with a male entity. This is a comparison shot of the original photo and a super zoomed in close up of that door on the right with what may be a human like figure standing in the doorway.
Here is the same comparison shot but the subject is now highlighted in sepia tone.
Here is a super zoomed close up by itself of the subject in the doorway. As you can see if you look at the floor you can make out what appears to be a pair of boots. One boot is pointed to the left.
Summary:
The investigation of the Pasadena Playhouse was a memorable one and the captures are interesting. Previous experiences by other investigators certainly add validity to our experiences here.
The investigation of the Pasadena Playhouse was a memorable one and the captures are interesting. Previous experiences by other investigators certainly add validity to our experiences here.
UPDATE:
April 2nd 2017 and I have new evidence to add to the story of the Pasadena Playhouse from an investigation on March 25th, 2017. This time we brought only 5 investigators and had an amazing night which for me personally was highlighted by an encounter in the balcony of the main auditorium with an apparition.
In addition to investigating this amazing facility with only 5 investigators an additional reason was to test out a new ITC instrument designed and developed by one of the investigators but unfortunately it was not quite ready for this night. However as of this writing it has been tested and I hope to in the near future have one of my own that I can capture some amazing evidence with. Stay tuned for that.
On this night our focus areas were the auditorium, the newly renovated lobby area, Dressing Room 4 down in the Green Room area and the Carrie Hamilton Theater.
Lets get started shall we?
April 2nd 2017 and I have new evidence to add to the story of the Pasadena Playhouse from an investigation on March 25th, 2017. This time we brought only 5 investigators and had an amazing night which for me personally was highlighted by an encounter in the balcony of the main auditorium with an apparition.
In addition to investigating this amazing facility with only 5 investigators an additional reason was to test out a new ITC instrument designed and developed by one of the investigators but unfortunately it was not quite ready for this night. However as of this writing it has been tested and I hope to in the near future have one of my own that I can capture some amazing evidence with. Stay tuned for that.
On this night our focus areas were the auditorium, the newly renovated lobby area, Dressing Room 4 down in the Green Room area and the Carrie Hamilton Theater.
Lets get started shall we?
The beautiful auditorium of this historic theater. Up there in the upper right hand corner near the railing looking over the lower part of the auditorium would appear something not seen but on a rare occasion by any paranormal investigator. And for only a very few moments I might add. Just enough to get three quick frames on my Nikon D90 as I randomly snapped off the shots not realizing until later what I had just captured. A possible spirit forming and then fully formed but for a moment. Gazing out over the auditorium. Perhaps remembering a memory or only taking it all in for the first time .
We had just finished a walk through led by our host Kristen Hammack of the Pasadena Playhouse. I decided to make my way to the balcony of the main auditorium to snap some photos and do some EVP. Rob Hernandez, one of our investigators on this night asked me to start taking photos as I was walking up to the entrance of the balcony and before I entered it. Rob felt like he was being followed and thought something may be waiting inside this area. He had a strong feeling of being watched. I took his advice and began snapping off random photos as I made my way in. Once inside the balcony area, I turned on my digital recorder for any possible chance of collecting some interesting audio. As you will see in the above video displaying this successive photos. Three in a row to be exact. Something forms and in the last frame is captured fully formed and appears to be man sized. His build is slender and looks to be over six feet tall. He blacks out the light and the view of the stage and theater behind him.
During my review I looked at other photos of this location and saw that there was no obstruction or anything which would influence this image to appear on my camera. The last frame is a close up of the head and shoulders and you can see that a clear profile of a human face is visible.
You can call it pareidolia or matrixing if you wish. Whatever you are comfortable with. I cannot prove it is a spirit and offer it here as a compelling image for us to ponder about the possibilities of what it truly might be. For my own personal viewpoint I feel it is genuine but I will leave it to you to decide what your own opinion is.
During this time in the balcony some interesting audio was captured.
This first capture had to come at about the time the shadow person above showed up. I have a theory about this Shadow person and in fact the close up profile reminds me a great deal of a recently deceased family member. I believe it may be him and this voice that sounds like it is coming from another dimension sounds familiar to me. In fact he always called me Jerry and never Gerald.
A very clear unknown voice, maybe, two voices “Hey’ and then “Its behind you” and then “bang on 3” and then “depends”. What the hell does "bang on 3" mean? There was nobody up in the balcony with me. These voices sound very close. If they had been this loud and clear I would have looked around and responded. Clearly I did not hear this at the time. Could it be that "Bang on 3" was a command from a past ghost hunter this spirit remembered and was being sarcastic?
Here is a shot, looking into the front row of the auditorium on the floor level. Way up above and to the right is where the shadow figure was captured. As you can see there no obstructions up in that corner which would have influenced those images.
nding under the stage, peering out into the auditorium. The ISO is set very high on my Nikon D90 and makes this area look much brighter then it actually was. You can hear me breathing heavily in the audio. An unknown voice says "Don't breathe". You can hear by the sound of my co-investigator, Rob's voice it sounds very much like his but it wasn't I am 100 percent certain the did not say "That was me".
Dressing Room # 4 in the Green Room area of the Pasadena playhouse has been reported to be most active. Investigators have been physically touched within this room by unseen hands. Disembodied voices have been heard. Back in January in my first investigation at the Pasadena Playhouse we heard a male voice from this room say "Martha" during a seance which was performed in the outer Green Room area. This time, I went into this room by myself and closed the door. I sat down with my cameras and recorders and proceeded to do an EVP session. I asked that whomever was in the room to please materialize for me so I may get their faces in a photo. Utilizing my FLIR Thermal Imager the TG165 I came up with a couple of interesting snap shots.
Careful not to count ambient voices from fellow investigators as they were in the green room just outside of this small dressing room. Dressing Room # 4 at 30 seconds we get our first EVP. A male voice asks “How’s that feel”?
Moments later, I’m setting stuff on the top of the table in the dressing room when a deep base voice says “I’m in the corner still”.
This room gives another EVP “God help me!” I think this is a woman.
Moments later a fourth different voice declares "I'm sick".
A fifth spirit gives me the name of "David"
I mentioned the recent play which had been in run at the playhouse called "And God Looked Away" and I asked they knew of Tennessee Williams. A female voice says "Yes, I did meet him"
We made our way to the Carrie Hamilton Theater. Here we had an interesting Spirit Box response when session I tell the spirits to talk to the device in my hand and what sounds like a young woman says “Yes”. Brian asks for a technician to help from the other side please and I do the same and man comes across and says “Working”.
One very interesting thermal image capture in the Carrie Hamilton theater is this face that appears to be an Asian man. He was not part of our team on this night. Keep in mind this is a thermal image in gray mode and if he were human he would show as bright white.
The original snap shot in gray mode on the left and I have colorized it in sepia tone on the right.
Just to advise you that like any photo even a thermal one such as this, there are many reasons we see images. The conservative element in the paranormal and rightly so will advise you this could be pareidolia or matrixing where the mind is playing a trick and making us see familiar shapes and forms that are not really there. It is not my job to convince you either way. You decide for yourself what you believe about anything you see or hear on this website. I will say that me personally, I believe this very well could be the image of a face of a deceased individual's spirit. I cannot prove it. But I gladly share it here for all so they may see it and make up their own minds.
It is my desire and hope to return to this most interesting and historic facility, the Pasadena Playhouse and bring you its possible paranormal story. Thank you for taking the time to view my site and this page.
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