As for Taylor auditorium in Joplin, that would be the theatre department at Missouri Southern State University. I attend there and spent last year in the theatre department, having been working on things outside the department to return next semester. I've worked a number of shows and spent most of my day for last year in Taylor. Worked shows and crawled around in the auditorium in the dark a lot.
Taylor has had an addition tacked onto it in recent history to give it a second 'black box' theatre where most shows are performed today. Taylor is used for some shows, some speakers, and mostly as storage for the department. The building is 3 stories tall, a large lobby facing the rest of the campus on the ground floor. Concrete isolated stair wells
run up either side of the theatre giving access to the second floor lobby which is used as a class room and has a great window wall showing off the interior part of the campus. The stairwells then drop you off on the 3rd floor access to a large balcony.The theatre it's self is accessible from doors on either side of the stage(one an interior door that
connects to the green room which also connects to the other theatre), and the
audience entrance from two large sets of doors towards the lobby. There is to the other side a workshop and a number of storage rooms. I have spent hours in every room and stairwell of that theatre. The only thing that bugs me is the stage. Everywhere else in
the theatre I felt perfectly comfortable in regardless of 'spooky' atmosphere. I was
often roaming through the dark in isolated, dank, concrete rooms trying to find props.
I was there the entire day and had plenty of extra time to spare. One of my favorite activities was to go to Taylor's stage, and use a racquetball I have in my bag left over from a class I took. Well I'd bounce this ball against the basketball backboard posted up on the interior side of the auditorium and try to catch it. Look.. I was bored to the point
that was fun. It's sad, I know. Well.. anyway there came a number of times where I'd have been happily going along for 15-20 minutes and then suddenly start shivering and getting a VERY strong feeling there was someone on the stage, and it's a rather large stage usually dark in half the area and littered with stored props. Needless to say I was
often going from a content amusement to complete terror, grabbing my bag and
sprinting to the green room, often abandoning my ball in mid-air and not coming back
for it for a day or so. I Didn't hear a word about it possibly being haunted until about a week ago, and heard no specifics until this site.
C
GHOSTS & HAUNTS IN MISSOURI
TAYLOR AUDITORIUM STORIES