ALPINE — The Sul Ross Theatre Program hosts its final tour of the award-winning Alpine Ghost Tours: Graveside Tales on Friday, November 22, at 7:30 p.m. at the Elm Grove Cemetery in Alpine.
Part historical walking tour, part site-specific performance piece, Alpine Ghost Tours: Graveside Tales, includes stories about Alpine history and its residents buried at the Elm Grove and Holy Angels cemeteries.
One of the featured stories is of Crystal Holland, the daughter of Colonel J.R. Holland, local rancher who built the Holland Hotel. Crystal was murdered on Holland Avenue in broad daylight by her husband in 1916. She was 30 years old and the mother of a 6-year-old daughter. “Ms. Holland’s story is often told in a salacious way because her husband suspected her of infidelity,” says writer and director and Chair of the SRSU Department of Visual and Performing Arts Marjie Scott. “Her life was cut short because of a horrible act of violence committed by her husband, not because of anything she did. When I was researching this project, I read numerous magazine articles about the nation’s most haunted hotels, and the Holland was frequently on these lists. The articles treated Ms. Holland as though she brought this crime upon herself. It made me angry, so I vowed to give her a space to tell her story.”
The tour also includes details of the last legal public hanging in Texas, how Pete A. Gallego led the desegregation of Alpine schools, and other significant stories. In addition to the serious content, there are light-hearted moments. The tour is led by Chicago’s Second City alum Bret Scott. “We don’t make fun of or desecrate the memories of the people buried here at all,” says Scott. “But there is room for laughter in the darkness.”
The tour launched in November 2021 as a downtown walking tour and, in 2022, won the Texas Travel Award for Best Under the Radar Activity — Small Town. In November of 2023, the tour moved to the cemetery. Despite the popularity and success of the ghost tour, this Friday’s performance will be the last for a while. “We may bring it back at some point,” says Marjie Scott. “My colleagues and I have enjoyed the experience so much and met audiences from all over the nation. But our program is focusing on other projects for the foreseeable future. We’re grateful for the support of the tour over the past three years.”
Alpine Ghost Tours: Graveside Tales runs Friday, November 22, at 7:30 p.m. at the Elm Grove Cemetery in Alpine. Tickets are $20 and include a hot beverage and a flower. To purchase tickets, visit www.bit.ly/sulross-theatre. All proceeds benefit the Sul Ross Theatre Program scholarship fund.
Patrons are encouraged to dress warmly and wear comfortable, close-toed shoes. Alpine Ghost Tours is sponsored by the Sul Ross Theatre Program, Alpine Historic Association, and City of Alpine. Featuring Bret Scott, Garrison Rutledge, Justin Hinton, Jenna Reyes, Abigail Scott, Cristian Sanchez and Carlo Aceytuno. The tour is directed by Marjie Scott. Costume design is by Carolyn Barrientes.