The Library Vault

Many folks are wondering why we chose to stage A Christmas Carol in the Reading Room of Russell Library. Besides the fact that the room has its own ghosts, I mean.

If you have never seen our Reading Room, let me give you a brief history and description. Frances Russell established Russell Library in memory of her husband, Samuel. Mrs. Russell purchased the Episcopal Church of the Holy Trinity on the corner of Broad and Court Streets in 1873 with plans to renovate the structure as a library. Since Gothic architecture was in vogue when the library was renovated, Mrs. Russell covered the outside of the building with dark brownstone and added stained glass windows and a tower in the rear of the building.

Flash forward to the present and what do we have? A soaring room with two balconies, two ramps and towering windows. A large floor space capable of holding an audience of 80 people. Dramatic lighting from above. Good acoustics. In short, the perfect theater.

And I must say, if I may take a minute to put in a plug for the library, the Reading Room has a great atmosphere, both architecturally speaking and as a place for quiet work. It’s worth a visit to the library just to see it.

But what about the ghosts?, I can hear you ask. Patience, I’ll get to them.

So how can we turn the room from a study space with multiple tables into a performance space? It’s easy with tables that fold vertically and have wheels. We fold up the tables and whisk them away, add chairs and a few curtains and presto! A theater exists where there was a Reading Room before.

What many people don’t know is that the original library only occupied a small section of the building. The majority of the space was a grand performance hall that could seat 400 people. Many lectures, concerts, performances, and weddings were held in the hall. It seems appropriate that, as the 150^th birthday of the library approaches, we kick off the celebration with a program in the library’s original performance space.

Written specifically to be performed in Russell Library, this play takes advantage of the balconies and ramps and multiple entry and exit points to bring actors in from all around the audience. It is truly ‘theater in the round’ and you never know where a ghost will appear!

And speaking of ghosts…

The Eastern Connecticut Paranormal Society (ECPS) conducted two investigations at Russell Library to see if the phenomena that staff were experiencing on occasion was actual spirits or just a creaky old building. We were delighted to learn that, yes, Virginia, there are spirits at the Russell Library. In fact, during a presentation of their findings, the ECPS dubbed our library the most haunted library in Connecticut.

One spirit in particular seems to be occupying the Reading Room. When the ECPS made contact, they asked if there were any Russells present. Their equipment picked up a male voice saying, “I am.” The members of the investigative team asked repeatedly for the man’s name, but he was reluctant to provide it.

One team member finally said, “I need you to say your name.”

Our spirit’s response was succinct, “And you are?”

They never did get his name. We assure you that the ghosts in our production of A Christmas Carol will be more cooperative.

We are all looking forward to presenting the most classic of all holiday ghost stories in our historic building, and we hope the spirits in our building enjoy this adaption of a Christmas Carol, too.

If you would like to see this classic holiday tale performed in such an historic (and haunted) setting, you can purchase tickets at russelllibrary.org

I also highly recommend that you read the original story. It is one of Dickens’ best. There are also several film adaptations, some better than others. My personal favorite is the Muppet Christmas Carol, and I’m not alone in that assessment. Google “best Christmas Carol adaptations” and you will see that nearly every list ranks the Muppet version near, if not at the top, of the list. Believe it or not, it is the version that is the most true to the original tale.