Steve Shields is the gentleman who owned the River Street Theatre in Chagrin Falls. It is a building practically next door to Chagrin Valley Little Theatre (which is the 2ndoldest operating community theatre in the country) at the end of River Street. The theatre itself takes up maybe ¼ of the building itself. The rest has been used as costume and prop storage for years.
Steve passed away just last year at the age of 89. Steve willed the building to CVLT after his passing.
He was involved with CVLT almost from the day he came to town decades ago. Once he decided to stay in Chagrin Falls, he bought the building at the end of the street with hopes of helping the theatre. His involvement was almost always helping out in the background – he was only once onstage and said that was enough for him.
One of the ways he began to really help out was to allow shows to use the dance studio in the middle of the River Street Theatre as a rehearsal space. He always put out cookies (usually Oreos) for these groups almost every night. Later, Steve started The Shields Players,which was a troupe for teens in the area, who mostly put on Shakespeare plays,but not exclusively.
About 20 years ago, CVLT got permission from Steve to start using his theatre to put on shows in a “black box” style – bare-bones elements set-wise and edgier, more unusual shows. It also became a “training ground” for directors. If people who have been involved at CVLT want to try their hand at directing, they can petition to put on a show at River Street and if they do well, they can apply to direct at the CVLT mainstage. Nobody is paid for shows at River Street, but at the CVLT mainstage, the director, stage manager and producer are all paid.
I wanted to try my hand at directing and after having ordered a couple of two-person plays from Samuel French, including the classic “The Gin Game”, I decided to ask my friends Linda and Steve (not to be confused with the Steve Shields who owned River Street) if they would be interested in doing the show at River Street, letting me direct. They said yes, so I submitted a “proposal” for the show to the CVLT Board. I got approved last year. I asked my friend Kourtney to be the stage manager.
We started rehearsals about 6 weeks ago. Kourtney has been going from work directly to the theatre because it’s closer than home is. So she has been sitting in the theatre by herself for many nights before we got there. And she has been hearing someone walk across the dance studio floor several times when she’s there by herself, locked in the building. The first time, it freaked her out. But I told her, “I wouldn’t worry – it’s probably just Steve S putting out Oreos for rehearsal!”
I kept wanting a ghostly encounter of my own. I do believe that there are ghosts. I believe that energies can stay behind.
Steve was ALWAYS at River Street in his later years. All day and night long. He had an office where he would usually be,watching TV. In the back area was a large space where various furniture pieces were kept and where he had a large desk along with tons of memorabilia from his WWII years. He wrote letters at this desk. He was the type of man who still believed in“snail mail” letter writing. He had pictures and articles from over the years, especially his time in the Army during WWII. He had also been writing a book of his experiences in the war. And he kept a radio back there –sort of an older box type of radio. It was always tuned to WKHR, which is the radio station where I’ve occasionally deejayed over the past year or so. The station plays music from “The Great American Songbook” – all the great songs mostly of the Big Band era – the 30s, 40s and 50s mostly. Steve’s radio was ALWAYS on when we were there – whether we were there to see a show or there rehearsing a show, if you went to the back room to use the restrooms, you walked past his desk where the radio was playing tunes from that era.
The last time I’d heard that music playing was when we rehearsed for “The 39 Steps” back in September. Most of our rehearsals were held there until we moved to the mainstage. And every time I used the restroom, I heard WKHR playing on the radio.
Well, this past Friday night, “The Gin Game” officially opened at The River Street Theatre. All this time during rehearsals, if I was ever in the building alone for any reason, I would turn my head with an eager look, trying to tune in my ears to find out whether I could hear anything like Kourtney had been hearing many times while sitting there waiting for us – footsteps across the floor somewhere in the back of the building. Nothing.
Then Friday night – which was our Opening Night – the show had gone well and people were packing up to leave. We were headed out for drinks and I decided to run to the restroom before we left. As I was about to leave the restroom, I thought, “I’d better turn out the light since probably no one else will be using it tonight.” There was a fan going with the light and when I turned it off, standing there with the door opened, I heard Steve’s radio going right in front of me as usual. I thought nothing of it until two seconds later when I realized I SHOULDN’T be hearing it and the music immediately stopped. The music had been coming from the same place where Steve’s radio used to be… only CVLT has been cleaning out the building.
Steve’s family came first to take out things of his they wanted, including his radio. CVLT staff have been clearing the building of a LOT of junk, keeping only things that might be useful for shows,so there was a LOT more space back there than there used to be.
I walked towards where Steve’s radio used to be, not knowing that it had already been taken. I found NOTHING there that could have been turned to the station. No one else was back there. I was alone in that back room, but I most DEFINITELY heard his radio playing for all of two seconds, right after I turned out the light/fan in the bathroom. And it stopped as soon as my brain registered that I should NOT be hearing it.
No, I didn’t see an apparition. But I had my very first true encounter with what I believe to be energy that was left behind.
Trippy.
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