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| The HEIDI Chronicles |
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| Is there a ghost in the YB Theatre? Most beginning students do not think so. But ask juniors, seniors, alumni, custodians, and even Mr. H, and you might receive a different answer. Most people who have spent any amount of time in the school's Theatre will report some kind of odd occurrences: lights going on and off, clicking seats, cold air, and odd coincidences. While much of this "activity" can be explained away, some things are just, well, strange. How and when did all this start? Who is Heidi? Did she die in the Theatre? Any attempt at answering those questions would be ludicrous. All we can really do is give a brief, factual history of Heidi, the Ghost of the YB Theatre! Heidi dates as far back as Halloween,1984, when a group of students brought a Ouija board into the Theatre. Mr. Harrington had spent his YB Halloweens having students sit in the Theatre and tell scary stories. Shortly after Halloween, in 1984, several students approached Mr. H and informed him that they had reached a spirit in the Theatre. Mr. Harrington of course scoffed at the concept, feeling that kids, especially Drama kids, have vivid imaginations. "But the seats click!" they would chime, only to be met with, "So what? Seats click. Things go bump in the night." from the very skeptical drama director. This continued for several years, especially at Saturday "techs", traditionally the day that students would come down and work on sets. Often times, late at night the students would approach Mr. Harrington and report clicking, especially when "lighting down" the sets. Mr. H noticed that whenever the meeting lights were turned off, that they would click, and thought that the sound the students reported was of the lights cooling down. He would later learn that he was most assuredly mistaken. In 1986, work began on a project called Biscuits, a student-written show involving, as the show sweetly put it, a great many roles (pun, as horrible as it may seem, fully intended!). At that time, a rather tall, lanky sudent named Paul Long began really enjoying the show: he helped with literally every aspect, and came really to get absorbed in the wonder of the Theatre. Unfortunately, his mom felt he had been spending a little too much time at the Theatre, and not enough at home, helping with the chores. She came down and paid Mr. H a visit, asking if Paul had an important role in the show. Now, to a play director, the question of role importance is moot: every person in the production has an important role. This is not always an easy thing to tell a concerned parent who needs things done at home. Mr. H assured Paul's mother that he played a big part in the production, even though his onstage speaking parts weren't particularly long. Time has shown that Heidi (if she does, indeed, exist, and hereafter referred to as though she, indeed, does) solves problems. The Paul problem was somewhat simple: he had better have a few more "roles" in Biscuits (pun intended) or it might be difficult explaining the fact that he just played the ghost of Hamlet's father in a shortened version of Hamlet. Mr. H also had the "problem", or, to be more p.c., the "challenge" of coming up with an opening to the show. Traditionally on this sort of show, a really strong opening scene is important, as the opening scene will either draw an audience into the imaginary world of the Theatre, or it will quickly bore the audience. Mr. H consulted a student named Jason Lane, a dynamic improvisor and extraordinarily funny young man, to work with him on an opening that would work, and which could possibly feature Paul. They brainstormed many ideas, when Jason commented that maybe a scene with Paul playing Abraham Lincoln might just be the ticket. At that point, Mr. H thought of the Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln exhibit off Main Street in Disneyland, an experiment by the imagineers featuring a robot of Abraham Lincoln addressing a theatre audience. The idea, thought "H", was for the audience to walk in, with Jiminy Cricket singing "When You Wish Upon a Star", and have Paul, dressed fully like Abraham Lincoln, sitting in a chair at center stage, staring almost eerily at them. Two workers would then appear with wrenches and screwdrivers, and ad-lib working on the "robot". A voice would then boom over the loudspeakers, "Ladies and gentlemen, Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln will begin in five minutes!", which would cause a panic between the two workers, who would ad-lib "FIVE MINUTES?!? WE CAN'T HAVE THIS THING RUNNING RIGHT IN FIVE MINUTES!"... ...to which the other would reply, "Nevermind that, let's just button him up and get the Hell out of here!" They would exit, and Mr. Lincoln would stare, eventually coming alive. "Ladies and gentlemen," Mr. Lincoln would say. "My name is Abraham Lincoln, and I wish to welcome you to Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln. Through the miracle of Animatronics, the Disney people have created me, a perfect robot replica of our 16th president..." and then the fun would begin. Mr. Lincoln would squawk like a chicken, vibrate, cross his eyes, make rude noises, and eventually moonwalk off stage to Michael Jackson'sBilly Jean. A screen would then come down saying "The Yerba Buena Drama Workshop proudly presents..." a fade, and then "Biscuits". Both Jason and Mr. H laughed at all the ideas they could come up with, and exchanged high-fives for solving two major show "problems" (remember: Heidi solves problems?), and that night Mr. H went home to relax and watch some television. At home, there was a comedy special on PBS, and Mr. H just walked in and out of his living room, talking of his success with Jason, and the resolution of the Paul problem, when he looked at his TV screen. There, filling up his entire screen, was the face of Abraham Lincoln. The shot pulled away, and two workers were standing behind him. A voice then said, "Ladies and gentlemen, Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln Will Begin in Five Minutes...", and the scene concept that only an hour earlier he and Jason had been developing in the Theatre was performing on television that night! At first, Mr. H was angry. "Oh,my God!" he shouted, at nobody in particular. "Now nobody is going to believe that we thought of that idea!" Now, this was not as unusual as it may sound, since scenes and concepts were constantly being pitched, brainstormed, and worked out at school, and sometimes, jokes and bits would appear on sit-coms. His reaction of anger soon turned into amusement, as he saw very clever ideas by professionals, ideas that neither he nor Jason had really considered. But still, it was frustrating that the idea had to be dumped. It was only a bit later that he started to think that the coincidence was extraordinary, and it was around this time that the television show ended. As the credits rolled by, one thing jumped right off the screen. Among other consultants, directors, gaffers, etc. a consultant's name appeared on the screen. It said something to the effect of Creative Consultant. Under those words appeared the name, "Heidi". No last name. This was the first of literally hundreds of such "coincidences" that eventually began happening more and more frequently. From that day forth, things began to change for the Drama Workshop, because at last, something had caught the attention of the skeptical director. Shortly thereafter, Mr. H began noticing coincideces surrounding the name Heidi. He would get a piece of mail in his box; it would occur to him that something "Heidi" is about to happen; he would open a letter, and it would say Heidi now playing at...he would be at a baseball game, think of Heidi, and then hear a woman say, "Heidi!", snapping him out of a daydream. He would then look, and see a woman putting her hand out, and a little girl grabbing her mama's hand and walking off. This happened with alarming consistency. He also noticed that the numbers one and nine would show up in like fashion (he would think of the number 9, and then a guy would be walking down the street sporting a number 9 jersey.) In every case, the name or the numbers (or sometimes both) would cross through his thoughts, followed by the "coincidence". In 1994, the students were to do Hello, Dolly, and began work on it. Unfortunately, not enough kids got involved, and after about a month of rehearsals, Mr. H had to call off the production. The kids who really wanted a production stayed, so they began reading from different scripts to see if they could come up with a show. At that time, a play called Lenny, s biography of the late Lenny Bruce,had been found in a closet in the Band Room, and, after blowing the dust off the cover, the remaining performers began reading this remarkable show that had a sort of Greek chorus running through a theate yelling the words, "Yadda, yadda, yadda, yadda, yadda!" The group decided to use that concept in a show that they later named Ship of Fools. While writing the script for the show, Mr. Harrington did a spell check one evening and lo, the word "yadda" popped up.A pull-down menu appeared, and beginning with the word "Audi", the spell check brought up the word "Heidi". It was during this show that a lot of stressful things were happening all around the theatre, and in Mr. Harrington's private life as well. Generally, Heidi always seems to show up at moments when help is needed, either physical or spiritual. |
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| "Most people who have spent any amount of time in the school's Theatre will report some kind of odd occurrences: lights going on and off, clicking seats, cold air, and odd coincidences. While much of this "activity" can be explained away, some things are, well, strange." |
| "This was the first of literally hundreds of such "coincidences" that eventually began happening more and more frequently. From that day forth, things began to change for the Drama Workshop, because, at last, something had caught the attention of the skeptical director." |
| "There, filling up his entire screen, was the face of Abraham Lincoln.... The shot pulled away, and two workers were standing behind him... and the scene concept that only an hour earlier he and Jason had been developing in the Theatre was performing on television that night!" |
| "Among other consultants, directors, gaffers, etc. a consultant's name appeared on the screen. It said something to the effect of Creative Consultant. Under those words appeared the name, "Heidi". No last name." |
| Is there some sort of strange connection between the Heidi story and Honest Abe? Some people believe so. Push the right arrow up above to continue The Heidi Chronicles! |
| The Heidi Chronicles: Chapter One Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln |