“We specifically selected Kinky Boots for this season,” Grady says. “It has wide audience appeal. The music of Cyndi Lauper is wonderful and it’s fun.” “During the pandemic, many people found pleasure in nature,” Grady says. “Our mountain setting offers that special outdoor experience and so much more.” …founded by hikers It all began in 1912 when three hikers—Garnet Holme, a U.C. Berkeley drama coach and playwright; John C. Caitlin, a San Francisco lawyer; and Richard Festus “Dad” O’Rourke, destined to become Muir Woods National Monument’s first superintendent—made their way up Mount Tamalpais. As they approached the top, the trio came across a grassy knoll surrounded by oak, fir trees, madrone and redwoods. Holme recognized the site as the perfect place for an outdoor theater—and lost no time in making the hiker’s dream a reality. The following year he staged a production of the 15th- century biblical play Abraham and Isaac , along with scenes from Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night . Attendance was about 1,200. Based on that success, the Mountain Play Association was formed. U.S Congressman William Kent, an ardent conservationist and friend of John Caitlin, joined its board of directors. Kent owned the theater site and, after three years of well-attended performances, donated the parcel to the association. In 1936 the theater became a part of the 6,300- acre Mount Tamalpais State Park. In those early days, accessing the mountain theater was
an adventure. Some hiked the steep 6-mile trail up from Mill Valley. Others came via the Mount Tamalpais & Muir Woods Railway. With 281 curves, it was deemed “the crookedest railroad in the world.” One innovative aspect of the railroad was its use of gravity cars. The open-air, engineless platforms with four high-backed benches accommodated 20 passengers. A locomotive, traveling in reverse, would drag the cars up the mountain. Sitting in front, a brakeman steered the gravity cars back down and around the treacherous curves. By the 1920s the automobile became the preferred means of transport. And in 1929, a wildfire damaged the tracks bringing an end to the “crookedest” railroad. …on a slippery slope Perched on a steep slope watching a performance left much to be desired. In 1925, the Mountain Play Association hired landscape architect Emerson Knight to devise a plan that would provide comfort for theatergoers while preserving the site’s natural beauty. During his travels in Greece, Knight had admired the symmetry and elegance of the country’s ancient amphitheaters. He envisaged something similar for Mount Tamalpais. The mountain site with its abundance of serpentine rock provided the perfect building blocks. After Knight completed his drawings, all that was left was implementation. As the saying goes—timing is everything. The country was in the midst of the Great Depression. In 1935, to revive the economy, President Franklin Roosevelt created the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a program
April 2024
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