Spooky happenings at Tulsa Little Theatre

TULSA, Okla. — ‘Tis the season for pumpkins, scary costumes and haunted houses. But there are buildings in Green Country that some say are actually haunted.

Years ago, when attorney Bryce Hill was a law student at the University of Tulsa, he would pass the Tulsa Little Theatre, at East 15th Street and South Delaware Avenue, on the way to class. Little did he know that someday he would own it.

By 2004, Hill had been in practice for 15 years in south Tulsa, but was looking to move closer to downtown.

“I said, ‘I want to see it’ and they kind of look at me strangely and said, ‘why?’” recalled Hill.

The piece of property, headed toward demolition, happened to be available.

“We come in, there’s no power, no water, no electricity, it’s full of trash ... It stinks,” said Hill.

But Hill saw something there. The plan was to put his law office up front, and transform the theater into his personal basketball court. But instead of bouncing balls, it ended up being the site of numerous stage productions and events, just like in its heyday.

“It didn’t take long. As we went through and kind of fixed it up, people, even before it was done, were saying ‘hey, do you care if we come and do a concert?” Hill said.

The theater has been around in some form or another since 1929. In that time, they’ve seen some pretty unusual and unexplained things, like broken glass and items mysteriously moved.

Hill said some believe it’s the work of George and Sarah, the theater’s resident ghosts. For many years it’s been thought by some that the theater is haunted by the two people who once worked on productions here.

“George was a producer, director of plays in here, back when the plays were being originally done. As we understand it, he was here for a rehearsal, had a heart attack and passed away,” said Hill. “Sarah was a young girl who was here for a dance recital. As she ran out after the recital ... supposedly when she ran out into the street, she got hit by a car and passed away.”

Hill shared a photo with FOX23 that shows what some believe is evidence that Sarah still likes to hang out at the theater.

“I can’t tell you that it’s Sarah, but I had a nephew running up toward the stairs, and there’s this shadow of a see-through girl in a dress behind him who was not part of the group that was here that night,” Hill said.

Hill said there’s a light in the theater that stays on all the time, called George’s light. “So if that flickers, he’s just messing with us. That’s just him,” said Hill.

He said they’ve had several ghost hunter groups use the theater, but they haven’t seen anything they could identify as a ghost.

But if you check out a show at the Tulsa Little Theatre, just assume George and Sarah are sitting right there with you.

©2022 Imagicomm Tulsa, Inc.