Dust and Shadows

Royalty Theatre: A step back in time by Irene Patino

Dust and Shadows, paranormal investigation team, had the honor of visiting the Royalty Theatre, originally known as the Capitol theatre, on October 17, 2010. We met with Jeff Hartzog, a very knowledgeable and charismatic young man, for a tour and background history of the legendary theatre.
The theatre opened in 1921 and quickly became known for having the best natural acoustics in the southeastern part of the United States, according to cinematreasures.org. A Wick/Robert Morton Opus 415 Photo Player was installed in 1922, but was removed and never reinstalled after a renovation in 1962. A special double seat was built for patron Donald Roebling. 
The original seating capacity was 944, but has changed in size more than once going from 944 to as few as 433 seats with different renovations. The stage was extended by 35 feet, which made it necessary to remove several rows of seats at the front. However, the current owners and sponsors are in the process of taking the theatre back to its original state.
Although most of the seats are the original seats, the renovation will include replicas added to the front of the theatre again once the stage has been taken back to its flat front. The theatre currently boasts six different types of seats. The balcony area will also be enlarged to capacity seating with the addition of several rows. The walls will be stripped and refinished in the popular design of the 1920s. Other additions will be made to comply with current safety laws.
The theatre was built by Senator-elect John S. Taylor, in cooperation with John & Ivan Phillopoff, a contractor who also built the Coachman Building in 1916. The architect was a man by the name of Lester Avery who worked for the Dean Alvord Company. His designed exhibited the Mediterranean Revival style popular in that era.  
Throughout its history the theatre has taken on a variety of venues. It began with vaudeville and has the distinction of being the only opera house in Clearwater, Florida in its early history. It survived the depression of 29, World War II, minor law suits, and talking movies introduced in 1927. It was damaged by storms in 1921 shortly after construction, and again by Hurricane Donna in 1960. It even survived the horrific murder of Bill Neville. His battered body was discovered in the balcony. 
Mr. Neville and Jerry Strain had taken over the Plitt Southern contract hoping to keep the theatre alive with film classics such as City Lights. They renamed it the Sunshine State Theatre, but it was a financial failure and closed in 1980. The Royal Theatre Company signed a lease, and changed the name to Royalty Theatre, in 1981 with the John S. Taylor family. Mr. Neville stayed on while renovations took place. Some believe Neville, and one or two others, reside in the theatre still. Mr. Hartzog mention sightings of a Captain and a little girl, however the sightings were questionable.
This investigation was conducted by Don Herden, Bobbie and Donald Herden, Cheryl Smeed, Irene Patino, Wade Sabourin, Donna Sabourin, Lauren DeHaven, Christina Rue.
* Personal Experiences
Cheryl Smeed (Medium) 
Back Attic
Cheryl confirmed the sighting of the child. Jeff had mentioned the sighting of a 12-yr-old child, but this one seemed younger. She was wearing a blue dress and white pinafore. She was very translucent. I believe I also saw her on the stage when Jeff was giving us the history tour before our investigation began.
Basement AC Room
With Christina and Lauren, I took Laurens recorder into the room with the old AC unit because during the tour I had seen an elderly man there in blue denim overalls. He said he took care of the AC equipment. I thought he said his name was Mr. McGregor or McGillivray something like that. Other noises were heard and dismissed.  Christina came in to take photos and at first the man was a little shy, but was willing to have his picture taken standing next to me. I think Christina saw an orb next to me in one of those pics. Christina took pics throughout the basement because she thought she saw a face down there during the tour.
Bobbie Herden and Irene:  asked questions of the man Cheryl said she saw in the basement. We sensed a touch of pride and a feeling of comfort. Neither of us picked up on much of anything else. 
Balcony 
When Jeff first took us up there during the tour I felt dizzy, nauseous, my muscles started aching, and my heart started pounding. After we were through in the basement, Lauren, Christina, and I went to the balcony. Irene had been there first and had received a lot of impressions. We later compared notes and had almost exactly the same experiences. 
Front Attic
I felt there were a number of people up there mostly men maybe workers, stage hands, and there was a room they built up there that was really strange. It was like a little respite with 1921 posters on the walls.  I asked some questions and stayed up there with the recorder. When I felt they were finished, I thanked them and then felt a big rush of cold air. At first I thought it was the AC, but cold air does not rise! It felt really nice like a hug or caress. I hope something came through from the front attic because they were very nice, happy spirits up there. Oh, and they knew they were dead. I think they just like to hang out there together as friends at times.
NOTE: The little girl in the back attic did not know she was dead, nor did the man in the AC room in the basement. 
Irene Patino (Sensitive)
Attic
Most of my time was spent in the balcony where Bill Nevilles body was discovered. Bill Neville ran the theatre showing old classic movies. He signed a contract for the theatre in 1979, closed in 1980, and was murdered in 1981. 
Mr. Hartzog wouldnt tell us the exact area the mans body was found; only that it was in the balcony. Mr. Neville lived an alternate life style, and the murder was reported as a hate crime. It was committed by two men who are currently still incarcerated, hopefully never to be released. Mr. Hartzog stated that he believes the men are coming up for parole soon. We pray that they fail to meet their goals.
As Mr. Hartzog ushered us up the stairs, I felt slightly disoriented. My heart began to beat a little faster. The feeling is difficult to explain. I wasnt dizzy, but my body wanted to go to the right and forward. I decided to sit down at the opposite end of the row. I sensed that the nightmare for Mr. Neville had taken place in a specific area of the balcony, which both Bobbie and Cheryl confirmed.  Cheryl confirmed this when she stated that, the energy felt pretty much the same between the two rows. 
As I sat there, the back of my left hand began to burn. I sensed Nevilles battered body in a fetal position on the floor where he lay dying. The feeling I got was one of resignation. Cheryl felt despair. At that point he wanted to die. As far as the seat where they found his body cant pinpoint which one. He knew. He whispered in a tired voice, Oh, mom. 
Don was using the camcorder to film us. I heard a voice say I see you, it was directed at Don. Nothing that I know of was picked up on the recorders.  The voice had a sing song to it like a parent playing peek-a-boo, or hide and seek, with a very young child. That was welcomed after the overwhelming sadness I had felt just moments before. 
Bobbie checked the far side of the balcony for temperature changes and reported that it was decidedly warmer than the section where we felt the strongest pull.  She verified a disturbed and uncomfortable feeling in the area that both Cheryl and I believed to be the area where Mr. Nevilles life had been taken with extreme malice.
Summary: Not wishing to influence other investigations, were withheld specific information on the exact location where Mr. Neville was murdered and the seat on which his body was discovered. 
All in all, it was a fascinating look back into Clearwater history. Even Mr. Hartzog has admitted to finding certain sections of the Capitol Theatre kinda creepy, but couldnt identify the source of those feelings. Don and his father heard a board creek as if it had been stepped on while in the attic, Christina and Lauren used flash photography to record orbs or disturbances in the air. Observations and opinions were shared by all team members.
For further information on the history of the Royalty/Capitol Theatre go to:
www.Cinematreasures.org, www.tampabay.com.
Food For Thought
Is the Capitol Theatre inhabited by others, or just residual memories? Is it possible, as Cheryl shared, that maybe its a peek into a parallel world instead? Some orbs were captured, but well leave it to you to decide if they are connected to the experiences or not.
Photos by Christina Rue, Don Herden and Donna Sabourin, members of Dust and Shadows