Alpha Psi Omega, Gannon’s Honorary Theatre fraternity, will turn the Schuster Theatre into a haunted house from 8 p.m. to midnight Oct. 30 through Nov. 1. This annual event is known as “Stage Fright.”
The theme for this year’s haunted house is based on the history of the Schuster Theatre; because the Schuster Theatre was originally a church, the theatre will be morphed into a “gothic” looking church.
Lauren Loop, a senior theatre and communication arts major and APO president, said it is pretty exciting.
“We have not done this theme or anything like it,” she said. “The history of the Schuster Theatre is very interesting, but we do not want the haunted house to be very academic.”
Loop said that most people do not know that the Schuster Theatre used to be a church of Christian Science—not scientology.
None of the scare tactics or anything else shown in Stage Fright is based on the actual history of the Schuster Theatre because the members of APO know very little about what the building was like as a church.
To scare the people who enter the haunted house, the actors will make many sacraments spooky. The actors will confess sins.
There will also be a wedding of some sort as well as a creepy funeral.
Campus Ministry made it clear that the actors in “Stage Fright” cannot pretend to perform an exorcism.
To transform the theater into a creepy church, the members will add many different types of decorations all over the theater. Loop said the decorations will be anything that makes the theatre even slightly creepy.
Loop said she does not want to give any specific details away so anyone who enters the Schuster Theatre haunted house will not know exactly what is in store for them.
This year, APO will have more space to do the haunted house than they did last year. This space includes newly emptied offices now that the theatre and communication arts professors’ offices are in the new Center for Communication and the Arts.
The professors’ offices were off limits during the previous years.
Stephen Haywiser, a sophomore computer science major and APO member, said, “I like the theme but it’s hard to come up with ideas with the space because we have more space.” With the additional room for the haunted house comes more challenges.
Now, the members of APO will have to use more scare tactics due to the increased area than before and decorate more rooms than ever before.
“Stage Fright” will take place at the Schuster Theatre. Tours start at 8 p.m. Oct. 30 and continue through Nov. 1 until midnight each night.
MIKE FUJITO
