Some stage players, sometimes, are superstitious, with performances of Shakespeare’s Macbeth are often referred to as “The Scottish Play” for belief that speaking the name inside a theater will bring bad luck.
It sounds good and, not by chance, many performance venues across the world claim to be visited by specters of actors, stage crew, audience members, and even critics in their ghostly form.
This is the story of the majestic Princess Theatre in Melbourne, Australia, that, aside from being one of the oldest landmarks in the city, is also home to superstitious ghost stories. It opened its doors in 1854 and is famous as Melbourne’s home for international musical productions.
Interestingly, a seat in the dress circle is still kept open every opening night for the spirit of popular Italian-born British opera singer Gilbert & Sullivan Frederick Baker, or his stage name, Federici of the Princess Theatre, who died in the theater.
Federici was the stage name of Anatole Frederick Demidoff Baker born in Florence, Italy, on 22 April 1850. He came out to Australia in the mid-1880s to perform various operas and operettas around the country, which is how he found his way to Melbourne, in a production of Faust at the Princess Theatre.
The opening night was on March 3, 1888, and Federici was playing the role of Mephistopheles. The play finishes with Mephistopheles and Faust descending into hell through a trapdoor in the stage. However, he had a heart attack while descending down the trap door into the hell.
The rest of the cast had no idea and went back out onstage for the curtain call to take their bows as usual. It was certainly a creepy coincidence but, when they came off stage they were shocked to hear that Federici had died, as they’d all just been alongside him while they were taking their bows on stage.
According to the legend, this famed opera singer was seen giving his final bows on stage at the Princess Theatre minutes after he died.
In the many years since, countless staff and cast members have reported seeing his well-dressed ghost, with the Princess Theatre even embraces its netherworld performer with a bistro named in his honor, lined with souvenirs and pictures of the 19th-century theater’s past events, restorations, and noted performances, as well as a large and striking stainless steel wire portrait of the opera singer, whose eyes seem to follow you around the room.
Images from web – Google Research