The ornate 1926 theater, in operation until 1973, sat empty for nearly 30 years until a 2002 renovation brought it back to life. An old theater legend involves a 1930s actress who was accidentally shot in the balcony. The shooter, her lover, was aiming for his rival, another lover of hers. Another story told here is that a live performance of a swordfight went awry and one of the actors was accidentally stabbed to death. Although no record of these events has been found, folks say the deaths resulted in the theater’s hauntings: Witnesses have seen apparitions in the balcony and dressing rooms and heard unexplained voices and footsteps as well as the sound of a baby crying.
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Geographic Information
- Address:
- 896 Main Street
Willimantic, CT
United States
Get Directions » - GPS:
- 41.7125668, -72.2161729
- County:
- Windham County, Connecticut
- Nearest Towns:
- Willimantic, CT (0.4 mi.)
Windham, CT (3.2 mi.)
South Windham, CT (3.3 mi.)
Mansfield Center, CT (3.8 mi.)
Mansfield City, CT (3.8 mi.)
South Coventry, CT (6.1 mi.)
Storrs, CT (6.8 mi.)
Coventry Lake, CT (7.3 mi.)
Hebron, CT (8.6 mi.)
Baltic, CT (9.5 mi.)
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Comments (7)
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Disclaimer: The stories posted here are user-submitted and are, in the nature of "ghost stories," largely unverifiable. HauntedPlaces.org makes no claims that any of the statements posted here are factually accurate. The vast majority of information provided on this web site is anecdotal, and as such, should be viewed in the same light as local folklore and urban legends.
The hot summer of 1975 Jaws was playing at the Capitol theater. I went to see it with my friend Sharon & during the movie went upstairs to the bathroom alone. I had heard of the ghost in the theatre but did not give it a lot of thought. I was anxious to get back to the movie so I didnt miss anything and ss it was very hot and only the downstairs where the movie was had air conditioning. I was walking by the janitors closet to get to the bathroom the only person I saw or heard upstairs was me. As I walked in front of it the closet door open out to me and a blast of very cold air blew out on me. I didnt wait to see what was there, just ran back to my seat & shook…..
I go to school here (the building is a creative arts school as well as a theater now), and while I personally haven’t seen anything funky, there are quite a few other students who have.
I’m looking forward to going to school here next year! I will update if anything happens!
There are definitely unexplainable hay-like smells on the lower levels.
Anything else?
Graduated from ACT in 2021, the theater is absolutely haunted. I don’t know if I still have the footage but while filming a short film in one of the halls- we mysteriously caught footage of a shadow-like figure walking through it with absolutely no explanation. Along with that, working with the sound and lighting board a few times- I’ve seen some figures up on the mezzanine, mainly stage left.
Do you still have the video. I’m doing a project about haunting and this would make great material.