History and dead folks came alive when Hawthorne Players presented “Voices of Valhalla" on September 30, October 1, 7, 8, 2016  The performances marked the  seventh season for Hawthorne’s popular “theatre in a cemetery” event, presented at Valhalla Cemetery and Funeral Chapel, 7600 St. Charles Rock Road.  All shows sold out!

VOICES OF VALHALLA 2016 CAST

TIM CALLAHAN

ROBERT DOYLE

COLLEEN HENEGHAN

CHUCK LAVAZZI

TRISH NELKE

JOHN REIDY

JOHN ROBERTSON

WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY LARRY MARSH

The one-hour, non-scary, historical hayrides left every fifteen minutes, beginning at 6:30 each evening, taking visitors to locations in the lovely grounds where actors from Hawthorne Players will bring to life the stories and times of some of the cemetery’s permanent residents.  

A special indoor performance, featuring all of the characters, was held in the chapel of the Valhalla Mausoleum on Saturday, October 8 at 4:30  p.m.

This year's characters included a man who helped build the Valhalla Mausoleum and then went to on run the crematory until he was 90; a poet thief; a cartographer who helped create the first detailed map of the moon; the most famous weather forecaster of the early 20th century; the founder of the German Methodist Church in St. Louis; the oldest deep sea diver; and a woman who willed a fortune to a girl she met on a streetcar.

Director/Writer Larry Marsh said that this year’s stories were well received by the audiences.  “Some were funny, some disturbing, some inspiring, but all of them are based on the lives of real people.  And during the evening our audiences also learned a lot about St. Louis history.”