Might as well say it up front: nearly every old theater comes with a ghost story or three. Something about the drama and the energy inside these buildings seems to invite company, and even modern movie chains collect reports of odd blips and interference. The Fox Theatre in downtown Tucson has more than blips. It has a resident cast, and the best opening-night story in Arizona.
Opening night, April 1930
When the Fox opened in April 1930, downtown Tucson threw the biggest party the city had ever seen. The new venue was dubbed Tucson's Crown Jewel of the Entertainment World, and Congress Street was closed, then washed and waxed for the dancing. Four live bands played, vendors worked the crowd, a radio broadcast went out live, and free trolleys carried people to the festivities. The Fox stayed the pride of town for decades, famous in the 1950s for Saturday morning screenings sponsored by Tucson's Mickey Mouse Club.
Dark years and the 1999 rescue
The 60s and 70s were unkind. Nightlife moved toward the suburbs, television kept audiences home, and the Fox went quiet. In 1999 the Fox Tucson Theatre Foundation formed and began the slow work of restoring the building to its old grandeur. Today the theater hosts live shows, music, movies, and plays, and you can even rent it to stage your own production.
The man outside the box office
The Fox's most frequently reported haunting happens on the sidewalk. For decades, a solid-looking man in baggy Depression-era clothing, hat pulled low over his forehead, has approached moviegoers to ask for money. Stop and reach for change, and the man is simply gone. Some connect him to an auto accident that killed a man just outside the theater years ago, though nobody has settled the question.
Mischief inside
Actors in productions at the Fox have complained of carefully placed props moving across the stage between scenes, and when the moves were discovered, laughter sounded from behind the curtain with no one standing there. A dark figure has been seen entering the projection room, but the booth is always empty when checked. And like many old theaters, the Fox has nights when the stage lights decide to track on their own. For the fuller roster of reported spirits, read the ghosts of the Fox Tucson Theatre.
Walk this story
The Fox is part of the route on our downtown Tucson ghost tour, evenings at 8 PM, $29 per person. It shares the neighborhood with Hotel Congress and the rest of downtown's storied buildings, so the walk covers a lot of haunted ground in a single evening.
