HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena, as catalogued
A 1928 Spanish Mission theater in Wailuku where Bob Hope and Frank Sinatra performed USO shows during WWII — and where a SyFy Channel crew documented unexplained voices and a stage manager saw a woman in a black flapper outfit dissolve into fog.
68 N Market St, Wailuku, HI 96793
Research updated September 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
Ticket prices vary by production. The theater hosts live performances and events; check current scheduling at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center or theater contacts.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Downtown Wailuku street-level entrance; older building with some access limitations
Equipment
No Photos
Est. 1928 · Maui's Premier 1928 Spanish Mission Theater · USO Performances by Bob Hope and Frank Sinatra during WWII · National Register of Historic Places · SyFy Channel 'Haunted Collector' Investigation (2011–2012)
The Iao Theater opened in 1928 on North Market Street in downtown Wailuku, then the commercial and governmental center of Maui County. Its Spanish Mission facade — white stucco, red tile accents, arched openings — was consistent with the revival-style architecture then popular across the Territory of Hawaiʻi and the continental United States for civic and entertainment buildings.
Through the 1930s the theater operated as a first-run vaudeville and movie house, drawing audiences from across Maui. The onset of World War II transformed its programming. With Maui serving as a staging ground and R&R destination for Pacific Theater military personnel, the Iao — like other Hawaiʻi theaters — was pressed into USO show service. Bob Hope and Frank Sinatra are documented as having performed USO shows here, part of the nationwide entertainment infrastructure supporting military morale.
After the war the theater continued as a community venue through the mid-century, eventually falling into partial disuse as newer facilities opened. A community preservation effort resulted in its listing on the National Register of Historic Places, formally recognizing its architectural and historical significance to Maui County.
The theater operates today under community-arts management and continues to host film screenings, concerts, and local theatrical productions on a regular schedule.
Sources
The Iao Theater's paranormal reputation solidified around a 2011–2012 investigation by the SyFy Channel program Haunted Collector. The crew focused significant attention on the women's dressing room, where they documented unexplained audio — voices without identified source — and other activity they attributed to what they labeled a 'female entity' named Emma. The investigators connected the accounts to a possible actress from the theater's early vaudeville years, though no historical record of a specific person named Emma has been confirmed in primary documentation.
Stage manager Michael Pulliam's account, documented by Maui Magazine and the Maui Walking Tours blog, is among the most detailed on record: he described seeing a woman in a black flapper outfit standing in or near the stage area, who then dissolved into fog as he watched. The flapper-era clothing is consistent with the theater's 1928 opening and its vaudeville-era prime, though Pulliam did not identify the figure as anyone he recognized.
The dressing-room focus is consistent with theatrical ghost-lore more broadly — women's dressing rooms in older theaters appear frequently in documented accounts, associated with the compressed emotional environment of performance preparation in spaces that changed little over decades. The Iao Theater's accounts are notable for the degree of detail provided by named witnesses and the independent television documentation, which distinguishes them from anonymous online lore.
Notable Entities
Media Appearances
Where this legend is told
The Iao Theater's event schedule includes film screenings, concerts, and theatrical performances. Attending a ticketed event provides access to the 1928 Spanish Mission interior — the same space where USO shows ran during WWII and where paranormal investigators documented unexplained activity in 2011–2012.
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