University of Tampa actress Shannon Navario has seen many changes over her three years at UT, but one thing has stayed consistent.
Like many of her theater friends, Navario refuses to wear red to a first show in a performance.
‘The theory is a young woman killed herself, hung herself from a noose in the middle of Falk Theater,’ Navario said.
Legend says the woman, nicknamed Bessie, was dressed in all red when she killed herself decades ago. Her ghost has haunted the theater ever since.
Navario, like many of her friends, has witnessed Bessie’s hatred for those who wear red on the first performance. She has seen background sets fall over, stereo systems crackle and performers forgetting their well-rehearsed lines.
However, Navario has noticed a new calm in Falk Theater.
‘I think Bessie may have moved on this year,’ Navario said, ‘but I still don’t wear red on the first performance.’
During her first year on campus, Navario and her friends actually left a rose for Bessie on opening night. Now, she says she is too busy to worry about things like a ghost.
Navario, a writing and theater major, has performed in ‘Pippin’ and in many of UT’s major shows. She spends all of her time in either the Music Hall or the theater, and she writes in her down time.
‘I love the theater, it’s like my child,’ Navario said, ‘but I love to write as well.’
Navario was published four times in the 2009 ‘Quilt’ literary magazine.
After graduating next year, she plans to pursue her interest in theater and move to Chicago with a couple of her friends. ‘