Cindy Corriveau of Salem and Nancy Krissoff of Norwich are kindred spirits: Both are paranormal investigators, about 48 years old, and members of the Salem Lions. They are also co-hosts and producers of Ghost Chat New England: History, Mystery, Legends, and Ghosts, a zany local television show all about anything that has happened— or will be happening—in Connecticut and beyond.
The show is carried on public access cable channels in Groton and Norwich and on the Internet. With 39 episodes under their belts and still counting, Ghost Chat New England holds the distinction of being Google Videos’ seventh most-shared video across the globe in April 2008. It also has hit the Top 100 and Google’s Movers several times.
The two gals dreamed up the show after Kerrie O’Connor, a professional medium in Salem, hooked them up with Rapid Freeman, the producer and host on The Witchen’ Hour, another cable access show.
“Nancy and I started chit-chatting in 2004,” said Cindy, who has worked as a journalist for The Reminder, a local paper. “If Rapid could have a show, why couldn’t we?”
An old college friend, Robert Lee Teague, now a music teacher with his own jazz band, had recorded an eerie song with an old girlfriend, and agreed to perform it for their intro. They borrowed period clothes from the Salem Historical Society, where Cindy is president, blew some smoke around appropriately old, historic buildings in town and turned on the camera.
The show got put on hold for about a year, though, when Cindy took on the assignment of writing Salem: Images of America, part of the popular Arcadia Publishing series. The book was published in April 2006.
“Nancy kept asking me, ‘When are we going to do the show...?’” said Corriveau, who also works part time for the Connecticut Department of Developmental Services. They had begun collecting names of paranormal investigators even before prime time’s SciFi ghost-hunting show caught on, she said, and found strong interest. So they approached Comcast Norwich, took the public access training courses, and went to work on the shows.
The premier show aired in October 2006, in time for Halloween. A new episode is produced every second Thursday, using the Norwich Comcast studios and interviews shot on location.
Guests have included SciFi ghosthunter Carl Johnson; Laurie Cabot, the U.S. matriarch of Wicca, the pagan religion; Anna Robles, an international medium; and young author Estevan Vega.
The hosts also seek out local guests. Past shows have featured author Robert Kim Bingham on his book about his father, Hiram Bingham IV, the U.S. diplomat who defied American orders in World War II France to help Jews flee the ***, and a tribute to Mr. Sigmund Strochlitz, businessman and benefactor of the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. Others have covered area historical societies and the history of African captivity in southeastern Connecticut.
“We like to promote promising local authors, artists, and musicians who might not otherwise be on prime time television but that want promotion or practice,” Corriveau said. “We’re providing a service to anyone who would like to be on our show. It really is not all about ghosts.”
Krissoff is the natural interviewer and loves to ask the questions, said Corriveau, who prefers to focus on the public relations, marketing, and show production. It was a conscious decision to leave the show title broad enough to accommodate just about anything.
“I figure anything is history once it happens,” she said. “I’m also documenting local history.”
The show is one of those things a person has to watch in order to describe what’s going on.
Krissoff and Corriveau dress up for their shows, keeping with the theme and season. For St. Patrick’s Day, they donned giant green hats and added the obligatory O’ and Mac in front of their last names. For Presidents Day, they sported cotton beards and patriotic hats.
There’s also a regular guest on the show: Ghosty, a paper mache and fabric Halloween decoration, about a foot long, flits around the set, thanks to someone off-screen pulling a fishing line string.
“It’s kind of corny,” Corriveau admits, “but it makes people remember us. Sometimes he dresses up to match us.”
Although it’s tough for the co-hosts to pick a favorite episode or guest, perhaps one of their most exciting was the personal interview with comedian, actor, and author Gene Wilder, known for his work in shows including Young Frankenstein, Blazing Saddles, and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. They interviewed him in Hartford in April before he was honored with a Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism Award.
“It was so much fun, he was so sweet,” Corriveau said. “Here we are with this legendary superstar so well-known, and he’s holding the microphone for us.”
They asked Wilder about Gilda’s Club Worldwide, started in honor of his late wife, comedian Gilda Radner, who died of ovarian cancer in 1989. It has grown to 18 organizations in the U.S., two in Canada, and one in England, providing free emotional and social assistance to cancer patients and their families.
The Wilder show, recently aired on Norwich Comcast, is available online. DVDs of some past shows also can be checked out at the Salem library, Corriveau said.
For now, Ghost Chat is a labor of love for both women and members of their families, who comprise Ghostlady Productions. Stephen Burton, Krissoff’s husband, a former Navy submariner, is the cameraman and production specialist. His daughter, Jessica, did a lot of the work before moving to South Carolina. Corriveau’s husband, Dan, gets involved, too. Their son, Quinn, is 11.
“One minute final show is an hour of editing,” Corriveau said. “So a 20-minute segment is like 20 hours of editing.”
After using cable access equipment, the families decided to invest in their own television camera and editing equipment. They edit in Adobe program software.
“As we’re evolving, we see that we need better equipment,” she said. “Steve has really mastered the editing and special effects. We’re appearing and disappearing.”
The two women have helped each other manifest some of their lifelong dreams through the show. Krissoff always wanted to be a television announcer, something she pretended to do while going to high school in New Jersey.
Krissoff’s other dream is to be a pilot. Corriveau is working on getting her co-host up in the air, piloting a plane with an instructor. That just might be a future episode.
“When I was young, I wanted to be a writer,” Corriveau said. “It wasn’t as easy to publish then as it is now.”
She got very involved in her church and volunteered in psychiatric hospitals, for the Salvation Army, and started volunteering for the Department of Mental Retardation at the New Britain General Hospital when she was 13 years old.
“I also had all of these humanitarian ideals—I guess I was kind of a hippy,” she laughed. “I wanted to help the world.”
Corriveau is continuing her objectives through the show’s lineup of guests and topics.
“We try to promote diversity,” she said. “Race, religious beliefs, and backgrounds. It’s an opportunity to educate people in a subtle way.”
Through the Salem Lions, the Historical Society, Habitat for Humanity, and other groups, the two have a good pulse beat of what’s going on around town and the region.
“If it wasn’t for the town of Salem electing me president of the Historical Society about six years ago, and believing in me, I would never have gotten as far as I have,” said Corriveau, who moved there about 15 years ago. “They just welcomed me with open arms and gave me so many opportunities, and believed in me; that’s why I’ve managed to do what I’ve done. I’m really proud of this town.”
Longer-term, the two would love for the show to become syndicated. Corriveau is pursuing the possibility of 501(c)3 nonprofit organization status. She’d also like to throw a big town Halloween party, hosted by Ghost Chat New England.
“Ghost Chat New England will continue to support local talent and cover historical and legendary sites to give them visibility,” Corriveau said. “We will also reach out to famous talent and celebrities. Who knows who will be the next guest?”
Ghost Chat New England airs on Groton Comcast on Thursdays at 8 p.m.and on Norwich Channel 14 on 7:30 p.m. on Fridays.
Past and current shows can be watched at www.freewebs.com/ghostlady40.