Alex Falberg
Hometown
Cleveland, OH
What instruments do you play?
Banjo, piano
Who are some of your favorite musicians/bands at the moment?
Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Bela Fleck
Name one of the best theatre shows you’ve ever seen.
I loved As You Like It at Shakespeare in the Park a few years ago—Steve Martin and Bela Fleck did the music. Bluegrass and Shakespeare are a great mix.
Do you believe in ghosts?
No.
What’s the spookiest thing that’s ever happened to you?
If I told you, it would truly terrify you to your core—therefore, ask me in person and perhaps I’ll share it with you.
Ben Ferguson
Hometown
Austin, TX
What instruments do you play?
Guitar, banjo, and other things poorly
Who are some of your favorite musicians/bands at the moment?
Margaret Glaspy, Shakey Graves, Vulfpeck, Nathanial Rateliff, Anais Mitchell, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Lake Street Dive, Caroline Rose, Langhorn Slim, Lucius
Name one of the best theatre shows you’ve ever seen.
No Place to Go by Ethan Lipton and his Orchestra
Do you believe in ghosts?
Yes, I think I do.
What’s the spookiest thing that’s ever happened to you?
In college there was a period of time in which we all visited a cemetery as “research” for a play of ours. The next few months were filled with each of us being haunted individually. Until one day when Ryan called me into his room. He had a door to a fire escape in his room and he pointed out that there was a thin crack running through the width of the door in which light was shining through. This crack had never been there before. We watched it for a few minutes until slowly it started sealing itself in front of our eyes. It was terrifying. But at least we knew we hadn’t lost our minds… yet.
Curtis Gillen
Hometown
Pittsburgh, PA
What instruments do you play?
Bass guitar, alto saxophone, guitar, ukulele, auxiliary percussion
Who are some of your favorite musicians/bands at the moment?
William Bell, Andrew Bird, Okkervil River, Rogue Wave, Grateful Dead, Anais Mitchell, Vulpeck, Esmé Patterson
Name one of the best theatre shows you’ve ever seen.
One of the best shows I’ve seen was by The Suit Case Royale. Take an inventive and hilarious group of Aussies; throw in a junkyard and a story about a newsman and the butcher. Inventive, musical, heartwarming, and very inspirational.
Do you believe in ghosts?
Darn tootin’.
What’s the spookiest thing that’s ever happened to you?
My mother has owned her own day spa for as long as I can remember. For a number of years, it was located in a very charming four story Victorian house. She was in the process of painting and remodeling a few rooms when she first experienced what she refers to as an “entity.” The more she worked, the more she discovered that the “entity” seemed to consist of two separate jovial entities. Over time, they became more active, playing jokes and pranks on her staff. Small things, like locking the receptionist in the bathroom or breaking the water bowl that the nail technician was using that day. These small jests started to wear on my mom and her co-workers and they decided to have a staff meeting. At the meeting, they all shared their stories of mischief and decided that these entities were definitely two females, who they lovingly called “She-She.” Eventually, Mom began to notice that her home life was starting to be affected by similar pranks. My mom caught her friend Ilene (who happens to be a medium) one day at the spa, and asked her how her session had gone. The medium said that it was lovely, except for the two little girls who would not leave her alone. They had talked her ear off about how they died in a fire, about the games they play, and about my mom. They told the medium,”Tell her that sometimes we like to go home with her.” My mom did some digging and discovered through the Carnegie local library that the house caught fire a long time back and two sisters ages 12 and 8 were found trapped in the basement. That same year I returned home for spring break during my freshman year of college and had a dream. I was sitting on a grassy hill overlooking a field. A thick mist began to ooze out from either side of the field and began to swirl into a tornado and travel towards me with faint voices calling out to me, which grew louder and louder. The last voice I remember hearing (and the only one I still remember) was that of a girl. She spoke to me in a quiet, yet pleading voice, and said “Hello, we’re alone.” I woke up in a panic, sweating through my sheets and found my mother screaming my name shaking my arm trying to wake me up. She told me that I had been yelling in my sleep “Leave me alone, leave me alone.” The house is no longer there, just an empty lot. I haven’t had a dream like that since. But I can’t seem to shake what those girls said to Ilene: “And tell her, that sometimes we like to go home with her.”
Ryan Melia
Hometown
Boston, MA
What instruments do you play?
Guitar, banjo, fiddle
Who are some of your favorite musicians/bands at the moment?
Angel Olsen, St. Vincent, Paul Brady, and Raffi (for character research)
Name one of the best theatre shows you’ve ever seen.
I saw a production of Macbeth in the courtyard of a Scottish castle in Edinburgh lit only by firelight. It was terrifying to say the least, and hard to top.
Do you believe in ghosts?
Did they ask you to ask me that?
What’s the spookiest thing that’s ever happened to you?
While living in Pittsburgh, Arya, Ben and I were haunted in our apartment by a ghost balloon of Tweety Bird. It was after a birthday party and the helium filled balloon with the face of Tweety Bird remained floating for the next few weeks, slowly losing air, but also slowly following us around. It would travel down the long hallway from the kitchen and enter our rooms when we were least expecting it, rounding corners impossibly. We eventually threw it away when it started touching the ground, but the very thought of it haunts me to this day.
Matt Nuernberger
Hometown
Vernon Hills, IL
What instruments do you play?
Guitar, keys, French horn, concertina
Who are some of your favorite musicians/bands at the moment?
Wilco, Whitney, Angel Olsen, Anais Mitchell, The War on Drugs, Paul Simon, Bruce
Name one of the best theatre shows you’ve ever seen.
The 39 Steps on Broadway and Jerusalem with Mark Rylance.
Do you believe in ghosts?
Yup.
What’s the spookiest thing that’s ever happened to you?
One time in college I had a horrible nightmare that I couldn’t pay my rent, which was five dollars, and our landlord chased me around the apartment building with a broom. I woke up in a heavy sweat, and got ready for class. On the stairs outside our front door was a nicely folded five-dollar bill.
Arya Shahi
Hometown
Tucson, AZ
What instruments do you play?
Percussion, baritone ukulele, hammered dulcimer, keyboard
Who are some of your favorite musicians/bands at the moment?
It’s always changing and I’m always behind. Right now I’m returning to a lot of hip-hop, mixed in with folk favorites, as well as some friends we’ve toured with: Kanye, Jason Isbell, You Won’t, Lin Manuel, Anais Mitchell, Chance, Edward Sharpe, Laura Marling, Labi Siffre, Topaz Jones, Paul Simon, The Morningsiders, Kate Tempest, Tracy Chapman
Name one of the best theatre shows you’ve ever seen.
The Testament of Mary. The content was controversial. The form and design were highly theatrical. It took massive risks which relied upon the inherent trust between an author, director, performer, and audience. It only ran for two weeks on Broadway. I feel very lucky to have seen it.
Do you believe in ghosts?
Everyone’s got ghosts.
What’s the spookiest thing that’s ever happened to you?
I saw a werewolf run across 4 lanes of traffic. That’s not a joke or a lie. He’s still out there. Nighty-night!
Dan Weschler
Hometown
Hershey, PA
What instruments do you play?
Accordion, piano, melodica, harmonium (probably)
Who are some of your favorite musicians/bands at the moment?
Fleet Foxes, Alabama Shakes, Anais Mitchell, Nick Cave, Damien Jurado, Elvis Perkins, Sufjan Stevens, Tinariwen, Mississippi John Hurt, Cate Le Bon, Randy Newman, Tune-Yards, Feist, Sharon Van Etten, Josh Ritter, Laura Marling, Father John Misty, Kendrick Lamar
Name one of the best theatre shows you’ve ever seen.
Teatro De Los Sentidos brought their show The Echo of the Shadow to an armory in Pittsburgh while we were still in school. It was my first time through an immersive theatre piece, and remains the most memorable. It was a solitary, candlelit journey through a labyrinth of books and fabric, punctuated by encounters with performers who must have been ghosts. At one point, you lay down in a boat and were rowed across the river Styx.
Do you believe in ghosts?
Yes. See above.
What’s the spookiest thing that’s ever happened to you?
My brother and I went camping in the woods behind our house, at a place called “Buzzard Rocks.” A giant boulder formation, with a large crevice that—legend has it—was used by a local horse thief to hide his purloined steeds. The story goes that he took a tumble into the crevice after a night of hard drinking and was trampled to death by the horses. (There are hoof marks on the walls, and the impression of a man’s face that some folk claim to be the horse thief’s visage.) My brother and I woke in the middle of the night to the sound of neighing and stomping of hooves. We did not investigate. We made the hour long trek back home in the dark and slept with the lights on, clutching conciliatory carrots in our hands as a last resort.
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