Thank you for choosing to learn more about the many ways you can donate to St. John Theatre, a nonprofit organization that has brought top-quality performing arts events to St. John and the river parishes for 40 years!
The St. John Theatre ignites the imagination of audiences of all ages by presenting quality live stage theatre to audiences throughout the river region. The Historic Theatre, built in 1931, first served as Maurin’s Showplace of the River Parishes. It now acts as a community gathering space and provides entertainment to both the young, who are seeing musicals for their first time, as well as the older generation who can remember coming to this beautiful theatre to see their first motion picture.
Through the mission of enriching our community via a vibrant historic St. John Theatre, the nonprofit strives to provide arts, entertainment, and social interaction by means of a wide variety of programs for diverse audiences in the region, while stewarding the 1931 building as a home for local performing arts organizations and a venue for community events.
St. John Theatre is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that depends on community support to survive and thrive. Please consider making a one time or recurring general donation by clicking the button below!
If you would like to mail your donation to the theatre you may send it to
St. John Theatre
P.O. Box 188
Reserve, LA 70084
A ghost light is an electric light that is left energized on the stage of a theater when the theater is unoccupied and would otherwise be completely dark.
The practical use of a ghost light is mainly for safety. A ghost light enables one to navigate the theater to find the lighting control console and to avoid accidents such as falling into the orchestra pit and stepping on or tripping over set pieces. Aside from its obvious practical purpose, there are a number of superstitions associated with the origin and purpose of ghost lights.
Origin and superstitions
The superstitious have various justifications for the ghost light in relation to the supernatural. A popular theatrical superstition holds that every theater has a ghost, and some theaters have traditions to appease ghosts that reach far back into their history. For example, the Palace Theatre, London keeps two seats in their balcony permanently bolted open to provide seating for the theater ghosts.[4] Similar superstitions hold that ghost lights provide opportunities for ghosts to perform onstage, thus appeasing them and preventing them from cursing the theater or sabotaging the set or production. This is also used to explain the traditional one day a week that theaters are closed. Some superstitions claim that the ghost light is in place to scare away ghosts, not to appease them