In the theater world, the “ghost light” is a light that sits close to center stage when everyone is gone and all other lights have been turned off.  The practical reason for the light is safety, but another, more supernatural reason exists as well.

It is superstition that every theater has a ghost. The ghost light allows them to perform onstage and, as superstition states, prevents them from cursing the theatre.

At UIS, Sangamon Auditorium has its own ghost light and, according to rumor, its own ghost.

In 1986 – about five years after the auditorium opened – a ballet performance came to UIS, which was Sangamon State University at the time. During the intermission, an older woman collapsed in her seat in E-7, located in the orchestra pit.

Paramedics worked on reviving her “out of respect” until the ambulance came, but she passed away before arriving at the hospital.

Joe Taylor, stage foreman who has been working for the auditorium since it opened, remembers the incident well. Taylor also remembers the number of incidents that occurred not long after the woman’s passing. “I never believed in ghosts,” he said.

One of first incidents that occurred was after a performance.

Five men, including Taylor, were cleaning up and shutting things down after the show. The five men were on the stage when it was stated that someone needed to go turn off the lights from the sound booth.

One of the members volunteered and quickly made his way to turn off the lights. As the other four men waited, they watched as he made his way up to the sound booth, noticing what was described as a “ball of light” quickly heading toward the man running to the booth.

One of the workers on the stage asked, “What is that?”

Less than a minute after the question, the fifth man and the light collided. The man stopped and began questioning what had happened, admitting all his hair was standing on end.

Taylor said that he ran into Ruby, the ghost rumored to be the old woman who passed away in E-7.

Another incident, also shortly after the woman’s passing, occurred at a rehearsal of the Flying Karamozov Brothers.

One of the performers had his 4-year-old son with him for the show and told the young boy to go play while they began rehearsal. The boy went to play in the orchestra pit area.

As rehearsal continued, the man began to hear his son speaking with someone. However, all those working on the show were on the stage area.

He asked his son, “Son, who are you talking to?”

His son’s response grabbed the attention of the auditorium workers, including Taylor.

“This lady,” the boy said.

His father told him there was no one there, to which the boy responded, “Yes, there is. She’s right here.”

The performer got off stage to speak with his son, and as he came back on stage the members of the auditorium crew asked, “What did he say?”

He shrugged as he said, “He swears he’s talking with some lady.”

Those visiting the auditorium didn’t know about the Ruby. However, the area around seat E-7, Taylor said, “is exactly where he [the boy] was playing.”

Another incident occurred not only to Taylor, but also to the former stage foreman.

There is a freight elevator that they use to move equipment, which is said to be difficult to move. As the now-former stage foreman began to go down the stairs, he heard the elevator hit the top.

He originally thought someone else was there. However, when he went back up the stairs, he discovered that he was alone, and heard the elevator hit the bottom down the stairs.

This happened three more times before he gave up and left for the night. Afterwards, the same thing happened to Taylor.

Taylor and the stage crew are not the only staff members to have experiences with Ruby.

Elise Robertson, the current event manager, has been working at the auditorium for eight years.

During her first year, Robertson decided to take a nap on a couch on the fifth floor between graduations, due to the fact that it was late and she had to return to work within a few hours.

As she began sleeping, Robertson felt someone touch her on her side. She was awoken by this, and after seeing no one in the secluded area, she began to go back to sleep.

However, before sleep had the chance to take over, she felt a hand on her ribs once more as something cold spread over her.
After this, Robertson made her way back downstairs because, as she stated, “it freaked me out.”

Ruby has not been heard from in the last few years, but those who work in the auditorium do not doubt that she is still around.