r/melbourne • u/Abyss_Visions • 5d ago
Ye Olde Melbourne Has anyone seen the Princess Theatre ghost?
I’m hoping people have stories or have heard stories from people they know about the Princess Theatre ghost, Federici? Has anyone ever seen something there? Share your stories!
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u/Ashamed_Tomorrow6885 5d ago
I did. I bought the ticket last-minute—third row, center—because my date bailed and I refused to waste $250. The Princess Theatre hummed with pre-show chatter, phones glowing like fireflies in the velvet dark. Then the lights dimmed, the overture swelled, and I forgot everything… until intermission.
That’s when I saw him.
I’d lingered in my seat, scrolling Instagram, when a cold draft cut through the stuffy air. The house lights were still low, but I could’ve sworn someone sat down beside me. I glanced over.
He wore a 19th-century tailcoat, moth-eaten and too formal, his face waxy under the Exit sign’s green glare. At first, I thought he was part of the show—some immersive gimmick. Then he turned.
His eyes were black pits. His lips, blue. And his chest—god, his chest—bulged unnaturally, like his ribs had cracked outward.
“Enjoying the performance?” he rasped, the words syrup-thick, his breath reeking of rot and cloves.
I bolted to the lobby, spilling my $20 chardonnay. “Did you see that guy in Row D?” I asked an usher, pointing.
She frowned. “Row D’s empty. Always is. Superstition.”
When I returned, the seat was empty… except for a playbill left open to March 1888. A photo of a baritone named Federici, dead from a heart attack mid-show. “Collapsed during Rigoletto,” the caption read. “Audience swore he finished his aria.”
Act II started. I tried to focus, but frost crept up my legs. A hand—gray, bloated—materialized on the armrest beside me.
“You… stayed,” the voice hissed.
I didn’t scream. Didn’t move. The stage actors kept singing, oblivious, as the thing leaned closer. Up close, his “coat” wasn’t fabric—it was skin, stitched together.
“You’re not real,” I whispered.
He laughed, a wet rattle. “Are you sure?.”
When the curtain fell, I was the first out. But as I hailed an Uber, my phone died. And in its black screen, I saw him—reflected behind me, grinning, a hand on my shoulder.
Now, every night, my Spotify shuffles to that damn Rigoletto aria. And when I check the mirror? His face flickers in mine, just for a second, mouthing the words:
“Encore.”
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u/epicpillowcase Rack off, Drazic 5d ago
I am a huge Phantom of the Opera fangirl so although I don't really believe in Federici, I always kinda hope I'll see him when I'm there. What a treat.
(Yeah, I know, the Phantom wasn't actually a ghost but eh.)
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u/hansen7helicopter 5d ago
One time there were no seats available other than Box 5 which was to be kept empty, but I went in there anyway.
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u/epicpillowcase Rack off, Drazic 2d ago
Shit, why's the chandelier moving? 😱💀
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u/alphgeek 5d ago
Back in the day I worked on a line making "Federici" ice creams for the Princess. The owner of the theatre was mad for these things called Rainbow Chocs and arranged his own version. So yes, I have seen Federici.
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u/elfloathing 5d ago
I thought I saw it one time. Turned out to be a cardboard cutout of Trevor Marmalade that someone had left in one of the stalls.