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On the Friday before Halloween – an appropriately cold and gloomy day – the Trinity Churchyard was full of ghosts from Trinity’s past and current friends from Lower Manhattan.

The Halloween festivities began in the churchyard with a play written and performed by the Musical Theater Club of Leadership High School. Leadership is one of Trinity’s All Our Children school partners, where parish staff and congregation members have frequently volunteered as tutors.

The students researched Trinity’s history and their characters, all of whom were either buried in the churchyard or were important figures in the church’s past. Performing their own play to an audience in the churchyard was “cool and exciting,” said Karlee Previl, who played Lady Cornbury, the wife of the first governor of New York. Queen Anne, Mad King George, and Alexander Hamilton all made appearances, as well.

“The kids were really excited to be part of this community,” said Kelly Gilles, one of the theater club’s faculty advisors. From their classrooms, she said, “we look out at the churchyard. They were fascinated by the history of the church and the characters.”

As the play ended, Trinity volunteers began welcoming nearly 500 children and their families for Halloween games and treats. More than 300 adults, many in costume, visited the “Haunted Hamilton Happy Hour” before heading into the packed church for a screening of the classic silent film, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, which was accompanied by live music from Trinity organist Robert Ridgell.