YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) – The history of Youngstown was being told downtown by the people who made it. Actors came together Friday night for the Historical Ghost Tour.
Among the historical figures portrayed were John Young, after whom Youngstown was named; Sam Warner, a laid-off steelworker; and a woman who shopped at Strouss’s.
Actor Anthony Marsicola stood on Federal Street downtown, portraying John Young. Listening were one group of the more than 500 people who paid $5 to be part of the sold-out Historical Ghost Tour.
“We have a team of writers and researchers,” Cindy Castro-DiRusso said.
She owns the production company Smarter Move Talent, from which she produced the second Historical Ghost Tour.
“Yes, a script was definitely written for this and we’re changing it every year, so it’s not monotonous. So somebody doesn’t be like, ‘Oh, I already saw it last year,'” Castro-DiRusso said.
Before the tour, the actors were made-up at Con-Cept Studio.
Chase Miles played a steelworker who was laid off after Black Monday in 1977.
“I’m going to be telling people about the Meatloaf and Tom Petty Show that came to town in ’77 at the Tomorrow Club,” he said.
The groups walked along both sides of Federal Street, ending at the DeYor Performing Arts Center.
The idea was that of Youngstown’s events director Melanie Clarke-Penella from when she lived in Key West.
“We had a ghost tour there and I came back, I said, ‘Why couldn’t we make this happen here? So many interesting buildings, and it’d be a cool way to get people into buildings and the businesses downtown,'” she said.
“This is a very big production that I, hopefully, make look easy but it’s really not,” Castro-DiRusso said.
Around 35 people were needed to stage the Historical Ghost Tour, 21 of whom were actors.