The actor burst into the bar
"Give me a double shot"
"And get ready with another"
"The strongest stuff you've got"
The barkeep, poured the whiskey
Pushed the glass across the bar
The actor downed the double
and put a twenty in the jar
"Tonight at my audition"
"As I finished up on stage"
"I was questioned by a fellow"
"Who was from a different age"
The barkeep poured another
And he downed this one himself
Then he turned for just a second
And grabbed a bottle from the shelf
The actor told the barkeep
Every single solitary word
The barkeep was transfixed
By everything he heard
"I came off stage...just to the right"
"There was a man there in the dark"
"He said that I was wonderful"
"Though his voice was rather stark"
"He said he didn't know the play"
"That I had just read for"
"I told him it was Webber"
"He asked if I'd done any more"
"I told him of my background"
"Phantom and Waiting for Godot"
"He said those must be recent"
"Those are two I do not know"
"He told me that he'd been working there"
"For almost all his life"
"He spoke of Ziegfields follies"
"That was where he'd met his wife"
"He asked if I'd done anything"
"Something maybe he would know"
"Something with some music"
"A gala kind of show"
The phone rang, breaking up the tale
The barkeep let it go
This tale was more important
Than anyone would ever know
"I told him, I'd done Joseph"
"Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice"
"He just looked clear on through me"
"He said that that was nice"
"He talked of all he'd seen there"
"Chaplin, and others out on tour"
"He told me of the strippers'
"And many, many, more"
"These were way before my time though"
"These were way back in the day"
"He mentioned shows in blackface"
"I knew not what to say"
"I tried to focus on him"
"But, I truly couldn't see"
"He spoke about the theater"
"He asked a bit 'bout me"
"He said this one's an old girl"
"I said that much was true"
"I said it holds a spirit"
"He smiled, like he knew"
The bottle now half empty
The words were pouring just as fast
The barkeep grabbed another
For this one wouldn't last
"I said I've heard the spirit"
"Sits up , right over there"
"In the upper level seating"
"Row three, right by the stair"
"He didn't look to see it"
"I'm sure he knew the seat by heart"
"He said to keep the theater living"
"We all must play a part"
"You, you are an actor"
"Though I know little of your work"
"But, it's part of the grand circle"
"It's a duty, not to shirk"
"Me, I'm ....well I' guess you'd say"
"I'm a caretaker if you will"
"I help to keep the status quo"
"Though I'm never on the bill"
"I moved a little closer"
"To where the voice was coming from"
"There was a coldness and a silence"
"And the old man, he was gone"
"I heard a seat get lowered"
"Three rows in beside the stair"
"And I looked and saw his shadow"
"In the velvet, theater chair"
"I may just be an actor"
"But, this spirit was my host"
"I'd spent nearly an hour"
"With the Bijou's theater ghost"
The barkeep, stood in silence
Two more glasses to the brim
"Are you sure that's who you talked to?"
"Are you sure that it was him?"
The actor pushed the stool back
"I am as sure as sure can be"
"I saw the keeper of the theater"
"And I know that he saw me"