A new San Francisco play so scary that it sent some patrons running out of the auditorium has set an all-time box office record, drawing crowds of thousands at a time when the Bay Area’s theater scene has been struggling to fill seats.
After its run from Feb. 19 to March 22 — with an extension due to popular demand — “Paranormal Activity,” a standalone ghost story based on the popular found footage film franchise of the 2010s, has become the highest-grossing production in the history of the American Conservatory Theater. The new record of more than 27,000 tickets sold surges past the previous titleholder, “Hippest Trip — The Soul Train Musical,” which had its world premiere in 2023.
Directed by Felix Barrett and written by Levi Holloway, “Paranormal Activity” follows James (Travis A. Knight) and Lou (Cher Alvarez), a married couple from Chicago whose lives are turned upside down by unseen entities shortly after their move to a new apartment in London…