
The Grand Opera House of the South featured everything from musical performances to theatrical presentations, with figures from Clark Gable, Huey Long and Babe Ruth to opera singer Enrico Caruso and Madame de Vilchez-Bisset of the Paris Opera gracing its stage.Īs for why The Grand Opera House lured so many A-list performers to its stage in its early years, consider Crowley’s location, positioned exactly halfway between New Orleans and Houston. A mere $18,000 investment created a beautiful two-story opera house known for entertaining in the small agricultural town of Crowley, known as the Rice Capital of Louisiana. Surprised, she shot up to see if her husband was around, only to discover that he had already left the room.Founded by a deputy sheriff and stable owner in 1901, the Grand Opera House of the South is a venue with a story to tell. One visitor provided an especially chilling tale, in which she spotted Maurice passing by the foot of her bed early in the morning. But Maurice’s parents were not the only people to encounter him-on the contrary, many guests have also reported running into his spirit on the same level of the building. I’m fine.” The experience left Josephine in tears, happy to know that her boy was at peace. Up on the 14th floor, the boy supposedly appeared before his mother, proclaiming: “Mommy, don’t cry. Grief-stricken, they returned to the hotel every year in hopes of spotting the spirit of their beloved Maurice.Īccording to legend, the Begeres did not have to wait long to see the apparition of Maurice.

Jacques and Josephine were mortified to discover the fate of their child. While under the care of his nanny, young Maurice developed a fever and passed away later that night.

On one such night, the Begeres decided to stay at the Hotel Monteleone before departing for the French Opera House. But since Maurice was just a toddler at the time, the two often left him in the care of a nurse whenever they went out. The child’s parents-Jacques and Josephine-were avid theatergoers and regularly visited the French Opera House located along Bourbon Street. The most famous of these tales involves that of a young boy named Maurice Begere, who stayed at the hotel with his family during the 1890s.

Hotel Monteleone had developed a reputation over the years as being one of the most haunted places in New Orleans.
