History and dead folks come alive when Hawthorne Players present “Voices of Valhalla: A Hayride through History” on September 30, August 1, 7, 8  The performances mark the  seventh season for Hawthorne’s popular “theatre in a cemetery” event, presented at Valhalla Cemetery and Funeral Chapel, 7600 St. Charles Rock Road.  

The one-hour, non-scary historical hayrides leave every fifteen minutes, beginning at 6:30 each evening, taking visitors to locations in the lovely grounds where actors from Hawthorne Players will bring to life the stories and times of some of the cemetery’s permanent residents.  

A special indoor performance, featuring all of the characters, will be held in the chapel of the Valhalla Mausoleum on Saturday, October 8 at 4:30  p.m.

Tickets are $20 for the hayrides or $300 for an entire wagon (limited to 16 persons) and $15 for the indoor performance and may be purchased by calling 314-863-3011 during regular business hours.  In case of inclement weather, the performances will be held indoors. No refunds.  These historical hayrides are not recommended for young children.

This year's characters will include a man who helped build the Valhalla Mausoleum and then went to on run the crematory until he was 90; a poet thief; a cartographer who helped create the first detailed map of the moon; the most famous weather forecaster of the early 20th century; the founder of the German Methodist Church in St. Louis; the oldest deep sea diver; and a woman who willed a fortune to a girl she met on a streetcar.

Director/Writer Larry Marsh says that this year’s stories are sure to both entertain and inform.  “Some are funny, some disturbing, some inspiring, but all of them are based on the lives of real people.  And during the evening you’ll also learn a lot about St. Louis history.”