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The Ghostly Usher of Minneapolis
Location: The Guthrie Theater can
be found across from the Sculpture Garden in the Loring Park section of
southwest Minneapolis. Address: Guthrie Theater, 725 Vineland Place, Minneapolis,
MN 55403.

The famous Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis
has a long history of this haunting by the ghostly usher.
IN THE BEGINNING:
Richard Miller, born in 1951, was
a shy guy from Manhattan, Kansas. His family moved to Minneapolis. At
age 16 he got a job as an usher at the Guthrie Theater. After graduating
from high school, he attended the University of Minnesota, while continuing
to work as an usher. He was always perceived as being odd by others, and
didn't have many friends.
Following a ski accident, and after
receiving bad grades, Miller killed himself. On February 5, 1967, he bought
a Mauser rifle at the local Sears store. He went back to his car and shot
himself in the head. He was buried wearing his Guthrie Theater blazer,
at Fort Snelling National Cemetery.
GHOSTLY SIGHTINGS AND OCCURRENCES:
1) A few weeks after the death of
the young usher, a young woman came up to the usher in charge and asked
him to stop the other usher from walking up and down during the play.
The usher in charge was shocked, since he had been at the top of the
aisle and had seen no one walk up and down. All the other ushers were
busy in their respective aisles. The young lady insisted she had seen
the usher walking up and down, as did other patrons in her section.
Asked to describe the usher, she described Richard Miller accurately,
including the mole on his cheek.
2) Dozens of people, from employees
to performers to patrons have spotted Miller's apparition walking his
beat up and down the aisle of row 18, in the catwalks, or in the exclusive
patron section of seats called the Queen's Box. While the apparition
would follow the living with his eyes or his head, he never said anything.
3) Several years later, two ushers
had to spend the night in the Guthrie Theater working on the air conditioning.
At 1 A.M. they heard a piano play by itself. They then saw a cloud-like
form floating through the lounge door and hovering in the center of
the room.
Still Haunted?
Unknown.
In 1994, an exorcism ritual was performed
and supposedly calmed down this restless ghost. His spirit may have been
quieted, but it is hard for disturbed ghosts like this one to leave completely
and go to the other side.
Photo from: mnhs.org
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