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“Where you have mountains, there you shall have free men.” This
has been, from the start, the slogan of the Tamalpais Mountain
Play and that is how people feel when they attend one of the
pageants in the great natural amphitheatre. Here they bask in the
tonic of pine-scented air and look down and beyond to the vast
panorama of water, sky and other mountains to the South-East —

and to San Francisco, dream-like on its seven hills.

 
 
 

 

 

 

THE BEGINNING

1913

Who first advanced the idea of establishing an amphitheatre on
Mount Tamalpais, two thousand feet about sea level? It is
generally conceded that John C. Catlin, a lawyer and a dedicated
hiker of the mountain trails, was the first to suggest the idea to his
friend Garnet Holme, likewise a lover of the mountain as well as a
noted director of al-fresco pageants in Carmel and in Southern
California. Garnet Holme was an Englishman who came _ to
America with the famed Ben Greet Players and stayed on in
California after the troupe returned to Great Britain. The two
were joined by another out-door enthusiast and perennial hiker of
the mountain trails — the beloved Dad O’Rourke, dubbed ‘The
Old Man of the Mountain’ because of his venerable age and tireless
energy.

These three went together to look at the natural amphitheatre
with the hillside sloping down to a wide and perfectly formed
stage. Garnet Holme pronounced the acoustics unusual and plans
were made for a performance there. A delighted John Catlin
advanced the necessary funds and Dad O’Rourke enlisted the
interest of the many active hiking clubs of the day. Garnet
recruited the cast from his drama classes at the University of
California and chose as his stage-manager a young student, Austin

Ramon Pohli.

 
 

 

Francis Neilson and Gladstone Wilson as the child Isaac, and his father
Abraham, in first performance.
 

 

The program consisted of Abraham and Isaac, an ancient
morality play, accompanied by scenes from Twelfth Night. The
historic production date was Sunday, May 4th, 1913. It was
estimated that 1,200 hikers climbed up the mountain to view this
first offering and felt rewarded by the performance as well as by
the superb scenic panorama of the breath-taking backdrop. Many
were heard to express a feeling that this should become a yearly
event.

In those early days one had to be a hiker to attain the heights
on which the play was presented. Some mileage could be cut off
by taking the Tamalpais Railroad which made its way from Mill
Valley to the top of the mountain, stopping at West Point. But
still one had to hike the Rock Springs trail of over a mile from
West Point to reach the theatre.

Abraham and Isaac is also remembered because of the naming
of one of the oaks growing on stage-right — God’s Tree, from
which God’s voice was heard as He spoke to Abraham. Ever since
that time directors have thus instructed their players: “‘You enter
from behind God’s Tree.” The oak has grown much taller with the

passing years and is a landmark there, as is the great rock standing
on the heights to the side of the stage.

For the record, Abraham was played by Gladstone Wilson and
Isaac by Master Francis Neilson. One of the players in the scenes
from Twelfth Night was William S. Rainey, well remembered for
his work at the San Francisco Players Club, and later, in New York
as a professional radio MC and performer.

The play was endorsed by the Sierra and Tamalpais Conserva-
tion Club, Marin County Promotion League and the Recreation
League of California. The tickets sold for one dollar and the
newspaper publicity was remarkable. All the San Francisco
newspapers gave much space to the event. John D. Barry, a noted
San Francisco columnist, enthusiastic about the production and
the site, wrote the week before the play was to open: “The
Theatre commands a marvelous view of the bay and of Mt. Diablo,
with tall pines and madrones for a background. The spectators will
sit on the grassy slope of the mountain and it is said there will be
room for two thousand. Rock Springs is reached by trail, about a
half-hour’s walk from West Point, a delightful walk, by the way,
offering some of the most magnificent views in California. Surely a
performance under such conditions ought to be worth the

journey.”” He remained faithful to the Mountain Theatre for the
rest of his life.

 
THE GARNET HOLME ERA

 

Effie Easton and Garnet Holme during 1921 rehearsal.

 
 

 

 

1914.

Encouraged by the response of both audience and critics, the
enthusiastic group forged ahead. The first recorded organization
meeting was held on February 25, 1914 in the offices of the
Tamalpais Conservation Club, Phelan Building, San Francisco.
These officers, who were to serve for many years, were elected:

President sig f, a mites 6s 053% John Catlin
ist Vice Prosigenteukts sor: R. F. O’Rourke
2nd Vice President . The Hon. William Kent
Le asierer cos hte see oes Cleveland L. Dam
Corresponding Secretary. . . . A. B. Tebbetts
Secretary Manager...... Mrs. D. F. Easton

In March, By-Laws were adopted and the organization became
known as The Mountain Play Association, unchanged to this day.

From the start, Congressman William Kent, who owned the land
on which the amphiteatre was situated, cooperated in the planning
of the theatre, and donated to the funds. Many enthusiasts staffed
committees in Publicity, Roads and Trails, Grounds and Equip-
ment, Stage, Refreshments and Transportation. A budget of
$1,000 was set up for production, and part of this expense was
met by donations from the Northwestern and Tamalpais Rail-
roads, The Marin County Promotion League and individuals. (An
interesting foot-note: This year’s production has a $9,000 budget.)

Effie Easton as Secretary- Manager was to serve this organization
tirelessly for thirty-five years, managing with skill the many facets
of the activity. Effie was a prominent San Francisco club woman
and a fine amateur actress. The recorded minutes through the
years are a testimonial to her devoted work. It would never be a
Mountain Play without Effie greeting the audience — always in a
white dress. Her husband, Dr. Easton, also served as a board
member and kept up the history through the Press Book paste-ups.
With an eye toward more colorful pageantry, Garnet Holme chose
the great mountain play of India, Shakuntala, translated into
English by his friend Dr. Arthur Ryder, professor of Sanskrit at
the University of California and a member of the Board. Again,
the majority of Holme’s cast was chosen from the drama
department of the university. Exceptions were Florence Locke, a
splendid local actress, who played the title role and Joseph
Macaulay, a professional actor from the Alcazar stock company,
enacted the King.

Notes in the organization minutes of the time, humorous to us
in these years, indicate that sight-seeimg cars and drivers were
available for $20 and two stages could be obtained for $35 a day.
Auto parties, however, were rare and most of the hardy audience

of 3,000 hit the trails with pack and lunch on back.

 
 

A plaque to young Pohli, the 1913 stage manager, was unveiled
before the performance on the great rock above. Pohli had lost his
life in a climbing accident in Yosemite Valley and eulogies were
given by John Catlin and Garnet Holme. Pohli Rock was in 1929
to have another plaque added in memorial to Garnet himself, with
the inscription, ‘I lingered on the hill where we had played.’

Shakuntala was a picturesque success. The stage was bathed in
sun, bringing out the exotic colors of the Hindu costumes of silks
and satins — there were dancing girls and a small string orchestra
hidden by the backstage shrubbery. The audience was thrilled by
the scenic beauty and the performance of the large cast. In fact,
the outcome was so successful that Shakuntala was repeated at the
Greek Theatre in Berkeley with the same cast and the same
exciting response from a large audience. After that, for some years
whenever there was an exceptionally good performance of a play
on the mountain, Garnet Holme arranged for a repeat at the

 

 

Early riders leave the famous ““Bow-Knot Railway” at West Point.

 
 

Berkeley Greek Theatre, adding immeasurably to the prestige of
the mountain plays.

1915

Because the United States had not actively entered the First World
War, young male actors were still available to play on the
mountain. Garnet Holme chose a fine cast for his next production
Rip Van Winkle, unperturbed by competition from the 1915
Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco.

As a matter of fact, by this time the fame of the Mountain Plays
had widely spread due to the enthusiastic newspaper columnists
and even national publications such as the New York Times and
Sunset Magazine. Many tourists coming to San Francisco for the
Exposition planned to take in the Mountain Play as well as the
thrilling journey up to West Point on ‘The Crookedest Railroad in
the World’.

 

 
 

Joseph Macaulay was chosen again to play the lead role, and
others who were to become actors in future mountain plays were
Hortense White, Edna Riese, Craig Ward, Harvey Hansen, Ruth
Ormsby and Dan Totheroh.

That May twenty-third began inauspiciously with thick, rain-
like mist covering most of Marin County, but this did not deter
the hardy hikers and adventurous motorists from sloshing and
chugging up the mountain trails and along the Kent Road. By
show-time, two in the afternoon, the moist and grassy slope was
crowded with happy and eager spectators. It was estimated that
over 4,000 were there when the play began.

During the first act the misty fog commenced to roll in over the
theatre. It was not long before the players were hidden from the
view of the audience at times, though their voices could be heard
clearly as if coming from another world.

Then it began to rain in earnest and at last toward the end of
the play, when Rip returned from his twenty years’ sleep, the
storm really broke and unexpectedly Rip had a humorous
situation on his hands. Standing on God’s Tree trail, his ragged
garments dripping wet and his long, white beard glistening with
rain drops and discolored by streams of make-up, he flung out his
arms as he bellowed forth the line that was meant to be poignant:
“Is this the village of Falling Water?”

The audience, fleeing from the downpour to the dubious shelter
of the trees, roared their approval and the play ended in the
sporting spirit of the soaked but happy crowd. The next Sunday,
Rip was repeated for those who hadn’t dared to risk the storm,
and many who saw it in the rain, came again to see it in its usual
sunny splendor.

At this time, a historic event for the Mountain Theatre took
place. Mr. Kent deeded the site of the amphitheatre to the
Mountain Play Association in trust. The board appointed three
trustees from its ranks: John Catlin, Dad O’Rourke and L.C. Dam.
There was no state park plan until 1927 to help protect this land.
Therefore, it was notable that the Association, with foresight,
drew up the following resolution on April 6, 1915:

“WHEREAS the Mountain Play at Rock Springs, Mt. Tamalpais,
Marin Co. has become permanently established as one of the great
annual outdoor dramatic events of California; and

“WHEREAS the Mountain Theatre, the scene of this annual
performance, is unrivaled in beauty and scenic grandeur, and peculiarly
adapted for a mountain play, it should therefore be preserved for all

times as a public park for the diversion and inspiration of all the people
of California and especially the bay cities.”

 

 
 

 

 

Large numbers of active workers improved the trails and
bridges, dug out poison oak, seeded grass and brought in water in
large casks. What conservationists these early members were! Most
of them not involved in the play itself were avid nature lovers and
hikers. They set a pattern for future years which exists up to now
among present Board Members, to preserve and guard the natural
beauties of the treasured mountain.

Congressman Kent had suggested an official name for the
theatre — The Sidney B. Cushing Amphitheatre. His friend
Cushing was a man of wealth who lived near San Rafael in the
shadow of the mountain. From boyhood he was fond of climbing

Mt. Tamalpais, and to make the mountain accessible he had built
the Mt. Tamalpais Railroad, with its famous bow-knot. This by

now had become a great tourist attraction known all over the
world.

 

Congressman William Kent.

 

 
 

1916

Cleveland Dam died now and was replaced as a trustee by LeRoy
Harvey. He, in turn, was later followed by Stanleigh Arnold in
1931. John Catlin and Dad O’Rourke continued to serve as
trustees as well as holding the offices of President and Vice-
President respectively. The Board revised its By-Laws to read that
no member could receive any remuneration for services. This
policy is still in existence.

William Tell, an adaptation of the classic drama by Schiller, was
chosen for the nex{ production because of its mountainous
setting, its opportunity for picturesque Alpine costumes and
peasant dances, as well as for its dramatic, well-known story of the
Swiss patriot. It was directed by Frank Mathieu who was
pinch-hitting for Garnet Holme. Holme at that time had accepted

the tremendous task of producing and directing New York’s
Tercentenary Pageant, an honor that took him away from the Bay

Region for many months. Frank Mathieu was a popular pro-
fessional actor and director both at Stanford University and the
University of California, as well as for plays produced at the San
Francisco Bohemian Club. His direction of William Tell was
acclaimed by a record-breaking crowd.

“Effie” Easton playing the roll of Tell’s wife gave her usual
opening speech of welcome and read excerpts from a statement
sent to the Mountain Play Association by James Rolph, Jr., San
Francisco’s popular mayor, pleading for a wider recognition of the
Mountain Plays and an appreciation of the beauties of the
mountain and its unique amphitheatre.

It should be noted here that Orville Caldwell, who played the
exacting role of William Tell, gave such a performance that one of
the prominent critics of the day wrote: ‘‘Caldwell’s interpretation
of the William Tell role was little short of a masterpiece. He has a
powerful voice, a handsome presence and marked histrionic
ability.”” After college, Caldwell, like Joseph Macaulay, went on to
New York and became a professional actor, playing the leading

role of the Knight in the famous Max Reinhardt production of
The Miracle.

1917

The Mountain Play was firmly established now and attended by
4,000 people. Mrs. Easton made contact with the Public Schools
of San Francisco, offermg student tickets at half price. Jeppe-on-
the-Hiull had been chosen as the production and Garnet Holme was
to direct his fourth play. It was repeated at the invitation of the
 

University of California as a benefit for the Summer School. As an
interesting note here, the Mountain Play organization purchased
879 yards of cheese cloth to provide a curtain at the Greek
Theatre on the campus.

Written by Ludvig Holberg, Jeppe is a well-known Scandinavian
classic. It is a broad comedy of peasant life with an atmosphere of
the mountains of Denmark and it is considered Holberg’s major
work for the theatre.

Caldwell gave another striking performance and Jeppe’s wife
was played by Dorothy Wetmore, a University of California
thespian. Folk songs and Danish folk dancing added to the
festivities.

In spite of the fact that America had by now declared war
against Germany, the large audience enjoyed the hilarious comedy,
a welcome respite from the depression of the war. However,

patriotic exercises were held and the audience participated in
community singing.

1918

Robin Hood and the Three Kings by Alfred Noyes was the next
choice, the first of two other Robin Hood dramas to be presented
on the mountain. Robin Hood offered an ideal subject for the
mountain theatre with its oaks and evergreen forests emulating
those of Sherwood. A large group of California Alpine Club
members participated as merry men in green under Holme’s
direction. This group was to continue to be a mainstay of the
mountain play throughout its history. The day had its patriotic
note. Before the performance an address was made by the beloved
“Effie”. After this, a service flag escorted by a platoon of soldiers,
was flown from the new theatre staff and she read the names of
the members of the association and players who had gone to take
part in a greater drama. The audience numbering in excess of
3,000 was deeply moved.

Mr. Catlin and Dad O’Rourke had exchanged executive offices
in 1917 and Dad was to continue as President until 1934. Mr.
Catlin served actively in the organization until he resigned in 1932.
Various committees were occupied with improving the area,
constructing restrooms and dressing tents, planting grass through-
out the theatre and building a cabin in the grove at the side of the
stage. Donations were coming in to aid with the work. The water
problem was still a factor to cope with and men were hired to haul
two 50-gallon barrels to the site in time for the play.

 

 
 

 

 

Garnet Holme surrounded by his players. Back row: left to right, Sid
Schlessinger, Vin Duffy, Holme, Dan Totheroh, Harvey Hansen. Front row:
Frederick Smith and Russ Stimmel.

 
 

1919

Now, the first World War was over and many of the male actors
who had played in the mountain plays before going ‘Over There’
to serve their country were returning home and eager to act again.
The Play held an attraction for all, drawing them back year after
year. Some of the veterans who returned to play in Tally-Ho were
Vincent Duffy, Fred Smith, Harvey Hansen, Sidney Schlessinger,
Russell Stummel and Dan Totheroh.

The play was an old-fashioned melodrama, passé even in that
day and age. But Garnet Holme’s direction was aimed at
judiciously cutting and pruning the scenes that might cause
unwarranted laughter. The late Joaquin Miller’s daughter, Juanita,

was asked to play the leading role of Rosie Lane. It called for an
actress who could sing and play the guitar, and with experience
enough to enact a part that was on stage almost constantly.

Holme immediately saw that Miss Miller needed careful
coaching and worked tirelessly to tone down  over-acting,
concentrating on her voice that whooped and soared like a
second-rate Diva. However, Miss Miller had her own ideas of how
Rosie Lane should be played, and although she appeared to accept
Holme’s direction, she fully intended to enact the role exactly as
she envisioned it. As soon as she appeared early in the first act
calling Hen-er-ee from the bushes to her lover who had that
unfortunate name, the audience roared with laughter. There was

hardly a scene that was taken seriously and the actors could barely
be heard above the shouts of mirth. It is amusing to note that to
add to the confusion the play-goers gradually slid down the hill in
spite of themselves, since there were no established seats or
terraces.

Garnet Holme, disgusted and frustrated, went into hiding
behind the backstage trees, and there Miss Miller found him after
the agony was over. She rushed to him and exclaimed: “‘It turned
out to be a comedy, didn’t it!’”” Holme was NOT amused, but the
good-natured audience agreed with Miss Miller, and the newspaper
critics were as kind as they could be.

 
“ie ape

 
 

1920

As You Like It was one of Garnet Holme’s favorite Shakespearian
plays, and he brought to this production all of his expertise. The
delightful comedy with its pastoral setting in the forest of Arden
was admirably suited to the mountain stage, and its simplicity
required no artificial aids to make it enjoyable.

Holme’s cast consisted of many of the familiar faces seen in
former plays as well as new faces gleaned from college students of
the drama, not only from the University of California, but from
Mills’ College for women and other local schools. Ada Beveridge
was the lovely Rosalind and Doris Haslett played Celia. Names of
veteran mountain players were: Craig Ward, Fred Smith, Boyd
Oliver, Dan Totheroh, Russ Stimmel, Sydney Schlessinger and the
singer, Jack Hillman. Garnet Holme himself played Old Adam.

 

 

In 1923, streams of hikers lined the entrance trail below Pohli Rock as play
time approached.

 
=
SS 7S SPs GEES ERA A PE ASS ES D9 OSES 28: MOTRIN,
cs —_

i

 

 

Che Mountain Play
M1. TAMALPAIS
MARIN COUNT Y

*Tamelpa-

ns
Sunday, May 22, 1921

ai 2.00 p. Mm.

[In case of inclement weather Sunday, May 29th]

Director, MR. GARNET HOLME
Management, MRS. D. E. F. EASTON

MOUNTAIN PLAY OFFICE:
RECREATION LEAGUE, 317 FLOOD BUILDING
TELEPHONE DOUGLAS 4293

Program for first performance of Tamalpa.

 
192]

During rehearsals of As You Like It, Garnet Holme asked Dan
Totheroh if he would consider writing an original play for the
mountain theatre. He had in mind a legend of Tamalpais, built
around the profile of the Mountain, that to many suggests a
sleeping maiden.

Totheroh was enthusiastic about the idea and plunged into
research to see if the Tamal Indians of Marin County had left any
records with which to build a pageant. But the Tamals were a
primitive race, leaving behind them few artifacts and certainly
nothing that gave much of a clue to their superstitions or fantasies.
There was only one hint that Totheroh found as a dramatic basis
for a pageant-play and that was the Tamals’ abnormal fear of the
mountain top. Few, if any, dared to climb the overgrown trails to
the mysterious, often fog-hidden summit.

Around this small bit of research Totheroh built his pageant —
the love story of an Indian Brave Piayutuma and the witch
Ah-Shawn-Nee’s daughter, the lovely Tamalpa, purely imaginative
characters. Those who came to this 1921 production assumed that
the play was based on a genuine legend of the Tamal Indians and
this assumption has grown through the years, until now “Tamalpa’
has become a part of Marin County’s folklore and one of the
favorite plays in the Mountain Players’ repertory. It has been
presented eight times in the amphitheatre.

Ada Beveridge was featured as Tamalpa and Morris Ankrum as

Piayutuma. Katharine Edson, a well-known actress and dancer,
created the role of Piayutuma’s mother and Ah-Shawn-Ne was

played by Mae O’Keefe, a strong cast of professional caliber. Many

went on to greater glories in the theatre — some on Broadway and
some in Hollywood.

This was the first use of Pohli’s Rock for a dramatic entrance.
Silhouetted against the sky, the Great White Spirit spoke the
closing lines as Tamalpa’s body was borne to her final resting
place: “Throw over her the purple cloak that she will always wear
—ashroud of amethyst from tip of toe to crown of hair.’

 

 
Audience of hikers enjoy the 1922 performance of The Pied Piper.

 
 

1922

The Piper by Josephine Preston Peabody, based on the legend of
the Piper of Hamelin, was selected next as ideally suited to the
requirements of the mountain theatre with its colorful costumes,
its opportunities for music and dancing and its fanciful dramatic
story line.

Garnet Holme was, as usual, seeking perfection, and he cast the
play very carefully, with many of his veteran players chosen for
important roles. There were new and talented college actors to be
found, such as Emma Knox, Baldwin McGaw and Walter Plunkett.
The beautiful, blonde Emma Knox was the leading lady, and later
she became the heroine of her own romance with Baldwin McGaw.
As man and wife they participated in several mountain plays,
Baldwin (Baldy) as a director and Emma as leading lady. Years
later they appeared on Broadway with the Theatre Guild. Walter
Plunkett went Hollywood after The Piper and became a noted
costume designer. One of his remarkable achievements was the
designing of the thousands of costumes for Gone With the Wind.
Dan Totheroh played the Piper and Katharine Edson was

Veronica, the mother of the little lame boy, Jan, played by Adam
Dahler.

The Association had now accomplished some terracing of the
hill to keep its audience in place and was expending much of its
accumulated funds for improvements in the area. The sum of
$1,000 had been donated by Max Rosenberg to help solve the
water problem by constructing a tank and pipe lines. Meetings had
also been arranged with the Marin Municipal Water Company for
locating a spring.

The Mountain Play was becoming known over a wider sphere
with articles in Theatre Magazine and The Overland Monthly.
Costs of production were rising but finances were strengthened by
The Tamalpais Railroad which was still donating $300 a year to
the organization. Old and new committee members were devoting
tireless energy to the cause they espoused. After the first ten years
of activity a general fund of $652 had accrued.

 

 

 
   

 

 

Marion Brune’s first appearance on the mountain was 1925 Drake.

 
 

1923

Some of the veteran players appeared in a repeat of Tamalpa but
there were many new faces. Phyllis Blake, a university drama
student, was the sleeping maid of the mountain, and Dan
Totheroh played the hero, Piayutuma. He stepped into the leading
role at the last moment. Morris Ankrum, the original hero, had
gone to New York to play in The Green Goddess with George
Arliss. Katharine Edson played the blind mother again, also
directing some of the dances, especially the dance of evil.

John Barry said of this Tamalpa: “What impressed me most
about the production was the skill of the actors in adapting their
speech to the mountainous reaches. Nearly every word was
distinct.” That was before the age of the microphones on which
the actors of today so vitally depend.

Those were indeed golden days for the young actors fortunate
enough to be chosen by Garnet Holme for important roles in the
annual productions. First rehearsals were held in San Francisco,
but during the last two weekends the troupe rode on the
Tamalpais Railroad as far as West Point where they lodged in
Nora’s Inn, hiking to the theatre from there for Saturday and
Sunday rehearsals. They returned to the Inn for supper and
impromptu theatricals. There was music, too, and folk dancing,
naive recreation by today’s standards, no doubt, but never
forgotten fun for the actors of so long ago.

1924-1925

The theatre area was closed because of an epidemic of Hoof and
Mouth disease, but in the year of 1925, the second original play
was performed: Drake written by the versatile Garnet Holme.
Holme, like Totheroh, chose a dramatic theme indigenous to
Marin County — the story of Sir Francis Drake, England’s great
sea-farer and admiral. It is unfortunate that Garnet Holme was
careless with the scripts of his numerous pageant plays and the
script of Drake is lost to us. However, with its colorful Elizabethan
costumes and its stately dancing and the singing of English court
ballads, the pageant was marked up as another success. Guy
Kibbee, later to become well-known in Motion Pictures, played
the part of Drake and Virginia Whitehead, a dancer and successful
founder with her sister Douglas Whitehead of a dramatic and
dancing school for children in New York, played the role of the
good Queen Bess. It is also to be noted here that a young actress
by the name of Marion Brune played the part of Betty Fursdon, a
Devonshire lass. She was to become a close part of the
organization.

 

 
 

 

1926

This year brought a repeat of Rip Van Winkle with Guy Kibbee
playing the title role, supported by a strong cast of players: Fred
Smith, by now a true veteran actor in mountain plays, Peggy
Tomson and Marion Brune — to name but a few in this popular
revival. The rain did not fall on the village of Falling Water that
year, and the sunny day brought out an audience of 5,000. Effie
Easton again greeted the hikers and the dancers were recruited
from the ever-faithful Alpine Club.

1927

Garnet now held the unusual title of Pageant Master of the
National Parks and appeared in Rangers’ uniform. He was to be
responsible for authoring and founding The Ramona Pageant at
Hemet, California in 1927; a historical drama of the Yosemite
Indians at Yosemite, the same year; the desert play Tahquitz at
what is now Palm Springs; Father Serra at Mission San Juan
Capistrano and Ersa of the Red Trees in the forest of the
California National Parks. What a talent he had for moving large
eroups of people about in dramatic action. He also excelled with
children, entering into the scene with them in vigorous rehearsals.

Thus he was so busy at this time that he could not meet the
rehearsals of the Mountain Play. He had imported a young
Stanford actor — Sam Hayes — to play the lead in Lord Dunsany’s
Gods of the Mountain. Sam had played a leading role in the
Yosemite Outdoor Pageant the summer before and was marked for
success in the theatre. Garnet also urged his friend Herbert
Grimwood, who had enacted Father Serra with great distinction,
to take on the direction of the play, assisting him as a consultant
and playing a smail role.

Grimwood was a prominent English actor who came from
England with Sir Beerbohm Tree and had played on Broadway
before coming to California. In Motion Pictures he is_ best
remembered for his characterization of Savonarola in Romola,
starring Lillian and Dorothy Gish.

Fred Smith, Baldy and Emma McGaw rounded out a strong cast
and Carol Aronovici made his first appearance on the mountain
stage as Slag, one of the beggars. Carol had been active as a young
man in almost every department of theatre, working with many
prominent Little Theatre directors. His association with the
Mountain Play was to continue except for a brief period, up to the
present day as actor, costumer and make-up man. His Berkeley
Stagecraft Studios have designed and provided costumes since
1959.

Then there was the mysterious and ubiquitous Joe Plinge. When

 

 
his name first appeared on a mountain play program, no one in the
cast knew who he was. “There is no such person,’ they all agreed,
but Garnet set them straight. Joe Plinge was the name of the
owner of a London pub who had an uncanny knack for picking
successful plays and after an opening night, the actors, including

Garnet, never failed to give an ear to Joe’s predictions. Joe rarely
missed. He became the actors’ good luck talisman, so to speak, and
Garnet brought his name to the United States. Ever after, and up
to this day, there is a Joe Plinge somewhere in the list of
characters on a mountain play program.

1928

The year had its important events. William Kent, to whom the
mountain theatre owed so much, died in. March. What a legacy he
had left behind him, not only at the mountain theatre but in his
gift of Muir Woods to the National Park System! It seemed that
everywhere in Marin Senator Kent had a hand in community
developments. He loved the land and nature’s beauties and had
worked unceasingly for their preservation.

A state senate bill had been introduced by Charles Reindollar of
San Rafael to provide for the establishment of a State Park on
Tamalpais and an appropriation of $20,000 for this purpose. The
Mountain Play Board heartily endorsed the plan ad did all of the
hiking clubs and net proceeds of the 1927 play had been turned
over as a donation for the cause. Now the Board was considering
incorporating the Theatre into the new State Park System. This
however was not to be arranged until 1936.

Answering the urgent call for original plays, Dan Totheroh, now
living in New York and writing for the Broadway stage, planned a
pageant of gypsy life called Flamenca especially for the mountain
theatre. Totheroh found it impossible to come West for the
production, Garnet was also tied up, and Baldwin McGaw took
over the direction. His wife, Emma, played the title role.

John Barry, still an enthusiastic booster of the mountain plays,
thought the play was too short but the audience seemed to enjoy
the bright colors of the gypsy costumes and the verve of the songs
and the dances. Once more, Sam Hayes played the leading role,
and other veterans were Fred Smith, Marion Brune and Carol
Aronovici. Garnet had fostered a romance between his players,
Sam and Marion, and this was the year they were married. Hayes
went on to become an actor, news commentator and sportscaster
on the National Broadcasting Company and was well-known in
later years as the Richfield Reporter. Marion returned to play in
several mountain plays and in 1962 became the President of the
Association, a position she held for eight years as Marion Hayes
Cain.

 
 

 

1929

This was a tragic year for the Mountain Play Association and for
all those actors who had worked under Garnet Holme’s direction.
Coming down a steep trail from his home in Larkspur, he slipped
and fell, sustaining such severe injuries that he died three days
later. Garnet’s death was mourned up and down the length of
California, but no more so than by the mountain players and the
countless number of fellow workers. Garnet had by this time
directed twelve of the mountain plays and was to have done Peer
Gynt. There was some talk of postponing the play until the
following year in recognition of Garnet’s many contributions. But
those who knew him well agreed that he would have wished to see
the play go on, in true theatrical tradition. So, as a compromise,
the production was dedicated to his memory and Effie Easton
delivered the eulogy.

Baldwin McGaw, having proved his directorial skill in his
production of Flamenca was chosen to direct the Ibsen classic, and
Sam Hayes to play the long and difficult title role. Baldy used the
Richard Mansfield version of the classic fantasy and since the
scenes take place in the mountains and villages of Norway, the
play was ideally suited to the requirements of the Tamalpais stage.
A number of the well-known actors in the mountain plays were
cast in important roles: Effie Easton as Aase (Peer’s mother),
Emma Knox McGaw, Raymonde Moyan, Fred Smith, Carol
Aronovici and many more — over one hundred players in all,
including Norwegian dancers and singers. The production was
considered a big success and played to an audience of 6,000, but
the day was Garnet’s as he ‘lingered on the hill where he had
played’, his ashes embedded in Pohli’s rock.

The minutes of the association record this statement by Ed
Mills, Mountain Play make-up man: ‘This is not the final curtain,
Garnet. There is much more to be played. All your friends who
loved you are in the cast and we will be with you in the last Act.’
S

 

 
 

 

A NEW ERA OF CHANGE

1930
The really big news now was the abandonment of the Tamalpais
and Muir Woods Railroad due to the falling off of patronage
because of the depression. The old-time Mountain Players were
saddened by the disappearance of the quaint little trains and the
thrilling ride on the gravity cars down to Muir Woods. However,
the event did serve as an incentive to improve the roads up to the
amphitheatre, for more and more motorists were chugging up the
steep grades, some by way of the toll road from Fairfax or the
Stinson Beach road. Nevertheless, the faithful hikers continued to
stream up the mountain trails by the thousands on mountain play
days and special transportation by stage was arranged for the cast.
The Sunken Bell by Gerhardt Hauptman drew an audience of
5,000, for the play was new to an American audience though its
story and background were suited to the mountain stage. Baldwin
McGaw was again chosento direct. Some of the well known actors
to appear were Ben Legere, Fred Smith, Lenore Everett and June
de Roche. Ed Mills, as from the beginning, was the Master of

Make-up and Mrs. Melvin ‘“‘Kitty’? Oppenheimer was his assistant.
This was not Kitty’s first appearance as she had assisted Ed Mills
many times before. Kitty had been interested in the productions
from the very first year as a hiker and friend of Dad O’Rourke.
Today she may still be found backstage and has served on the
Mountain Play Board of Directors for many years. Her active
association is one of the longest in the history of the play.

1931

An original play was written especially for the mountain this year
by the veteran actor Frederick Smith, who had long been familiar
with the physical aspects of the theatre. He planned his play The
Trail of the Padres to fit into the unique setting and wisely chose a
colorful background of early Spanish days in California. This was a
romantic story, affording many opportunities for dancing and the
lilting music of guitars.

The director was Everett Glass, well known at the University of
California for his work with the Sam Hume Players. In the cast
was the name of Nestor Paiva, soon to go to Hollywood and
become prominent in motion pictures and as the villain in the
record-breaking run of the old melodrama, The Drunkard. Fred
Smith played in his own pageant and June de Roche, so good in
Sunken Bell, was again the heroine.

——
At this time, the Mountain Play Association announced that
permanent planting of fresh greenery had been done in the
amphitheatre to enhance the rustic setting and a series of rock
terraces was begun to insure better seats for the ever-increasing
audiences. The native rock was obtained from the road
excavations and $1,000 was set aside to implement the work.
Emerson Knight, a local landscape artist, had been engaged to
work out a master plan for a more permanent theatre.

Various committees were occupied with other improvements:
Constructing restrooms and dressing tents, planting grass
throughout the theatre and building a cabin in the grove for props.
Donations were coming to aid with the work. The water problem
was still a factor to cope with and men were hired to haul two
50-gallon barrels to the site in time for the play.

1932

The Mountain Play Association chose Rob Roy now for its
dramatic story and vivid highland costumes and also because of
the worldwide observance of the centenary of the death of its
author, Sir Walter Scott. The director was again Everett Glass.
Before and during the play, members of the Pipers’ Band of the
San Francisco Caledonian Club played incidental music on their
bagpipes. This was a magnificent sound on the mountain and it has
often been suggested that the play should be repeated. Following
the performance, there was a tree-planting ceremony at which Dad
O’Rourke, the Grand Old Man of the Mountain, turned the first
spadeful of earth.

1933

Another translation from the classics of Europe The Daughters of
Jorio by Gabriele D’Annunzio, proved once again that the Board
of Directors and the Reading Committee selected wisely and
daringly from the best of theatrical literature. Everett Glass was
again the director and Nestor Paiva’s name appeared in a leading
role.

1934.

The Girl of the Golden West was not a happy choice for the next
production. The California Gold Rush background of the
melodramatic story was fitting, but unfortunately, almost all the
scenes required an indoor setting. The audience was asked to
believe too much when a blizzard imprisoned the leading
characters in a mountain cabin on a 101 degree day. Everett Glass
produced and directed this production and did what he could to

overcome the obstacles that prevented the melodrama from being
a complete success.

 

 
 

|
|

O’Rourke had by now a new co-worker as Vice-President in Al
Pinther who moved through the chairs to be President in 1934, an
office which he held for fifteen years. Mr. Pinther had been
involved since 1913 when he sold tickets at the gates for the first
performance. He had been elected to the Board in 1919 and from
then on the Mountain Play organization was to benefit from his
strong hand in its affairs. There was no department in which he
did not participate. In years when the future seemed uncertain, he
always sought for and found an answer. It is most likely due to
this leadership through the middle years and up to the present
time that the play is still in existence. In 1964 Board members,
aware of this great influence on its affairs, presented him with a
plaque and voted him President Emeritus.

Other very influential members who had contributed much to
the on-going work were Arthur Blake (who served many years as

chairman of the important Grounds Committee), William Halliday,
Harvey Hansen, Harry Hertenstein, John Mazza, C.F. Runyon and

Ralston White. .. and in more recent years, Hilary Crawford, Sr.,
Helen Eliot, Olga Madsen and Emma Reiman.

But of the deepest interest to the admirers of the mountain
plays were the improvements that had been made on the theatre
area and especially on the amphitheatre itself, during the year
preceding the 1934 production. Its permanency was now insured
in the hearts of a widely-spread community. By now, the finances
had dwindled, however, as so much money had gone into upkeep
and improvements. Sponsors were sought after — both
organizational and individual. The Alpine and Sierra Clubs came to
the fore again as did Mrs. Caroline Livermore, the noted
conservationist. Members of the California Alpine Club rounded
up by Al Pinther, planted wild Iris on the slope facing the stage
where they still bloom.

1935

The question of how to continue and save expenses was solved
when The Ross Valley Players agreed in 1935 to repeat their
splendid production of The World We Live In by Josef and Karel
Capek, Czechoslovakian writers.

It was an intriguing fantasy based on the parallel between the
lives of human beings and those of insects and was also a war
satire. This proved to be one of the most popular of the mountain
plays, appealing to the imagination of an audience that had lived
through one world war and could hear the distant rumblings of
another war to come. Cameron Prud’ Homme, the Ross Valley
Players’ director and a young local actor of wide experience took
over. A few years later he too, in New York, joined the
professional theatre. Because of his virility and rugged good looks,
he soon became popular as a character actor in several Broadway
hits.

 

 
Fifty year Mountain Play
veteran, Al Pinther

 

 
   

 

 

 

   

1937 saw the completion of the rock terraces, built by the C.C.C.

 
1936

By now State Park Conservation work was involved in strong
activity and the National Park Service maintained a camp
headquarters in Muir Woods. Emerson Knight, with the help of
Stanleigh Arnold, had secured a friendly interest in Washington
and the Civilian Conservation Corps work had been extended to
the theatre site development to carry out his plans. Close
cooperation now existed between the State Park Commission and
the Board Committee under Arthur Blake. Over a period of years
until 1940 the magnificent present stone surfacing was ac-
complished. The theatre stands as a tribute to the major efforts of
dedicated Mountain Play members, the cooperation of government
agencies, and the labors of those workers in the C.C.C. who dug

out and placed the heavy native materials.
Now the trustees of the deed originally granted to the

Association signed the property over to the State of California
with the proviso that the Mountain Play should continue as
before. The organization was at the same time incorporated as a
non-profit group.

It was inevitable that in always searching for the best, a play by
the popular and controversial dramatist, George Bernard Shaw,
should be selected for a performance on the mountain. Androcles
and the Lion, a farcical comedy based on the Greek story of a
little tailor and a friendly lion, proved to be a humorous choice.
Earl Lee, anactor with the Duffy Players and the National
Broadcasting Company, was the director of a splendid cast headed
by Carl Kroenke as the Emperor and Lee, himself, as Androcles.
Walter Fell and Elmer Collett made their first appearances as
actors on the mountain, but by no means their last.

1937

Thunder in Paradise became the fifth original play especially
written for the mountain theatre. This was a story of primitive
Hawaii, set in the latter part of the 18th century at the time of the
islands’ discovery by Captain Cook. C.J. Cook, the young author,
was a direct descendant of the British explorer.

The thrilling climax of the pageant was the sacrifice of the
heroine to the fiery blast of the volcano, Mauna Lea, and Pohli’s
Rock, starkly overlooking the amphitheatre, effectively
represented the volcano. Ella MeSpeddon of Berkeley was the
tragic leading lady and Nancy Coleman, then one of the actresses
of the N.B.C. staff, a future Hollywood star, played the second
lead. Both Elmer Collett and Walter Fell appeared in important
roles.

 

 
 

Reginald Travers, the well-known local director and founder of
the San Francisco Players’ Club, from which many of the actors
were recruited for roles in the mountain plays, was the director.
This was Travers’ first assignment and he was to direct many more
mountain plays. Betty Horst, a Ruth St. Denis dancer and the
founder of her own dance studio in San Francisco, arranged and
directed the dancers.

It is interesting to recall here that the weather played another
practical joke on the Mountain Play Association that year. From
early morning and straight through the playing time, thick,
swirling fog obscured the stage and shifting curtains of mist gave
the play an almost unearthly quality. It was also bitterly cold and
the players, scantily clad in the costumes of ancient Hawaii,
shivered. The large audience shivered too but they stayed in their
seats to see the last spectacular scenes. Many said that the fog
enhanced the mysterious effects.

Also to be noted was the changing of that year’s date of the
mountain play in order to meet with the celebration of the
opening of the Golden Gate span and to commemorate the sat
farewell of the proud old ferry boats. For the old-time hikers, they
had played such an unforgettable part in the leisurely trek to the
mountain theatre.

Another sad farewell was said that year to Dad O’Rourke who
was so affectionately known to the Mountain Play organization. A
plaque was dedicated to him on one of his favorite spots near the
theatre, known as “The Edge of the World’. A bench was placed
there overlooking the ocean with words, ‘Give me these hills and
the friends I love. I ask no other Heaven.’ Dad was followed in
death by Effie Easton who had contributed so much for so long.
The old devoted leaders were gradually going. As is always
necessary, the group began searching for new blood and Hilary
Crawford, a San Francisco attorney, made the opening address and
was elected President, an office he served well for six years. Harry
Hertenstein, credited with set construction for many years, held
the office of Vice-President through the same period, succeeding
Crawford for a three-year term in 1954.

1938

The legend of the sleeping maid of the mountain was repeated for
the third time to celebrate the Silver Jubilee of the mountain
plays. Reginald Travers directed and Totheroh came up from
Hollywood to assist and make some changes in his script to meet
the requirements of the renovated mountain amphitheatre. Ella
McSpedden, Kathleen Sherman, Walter Fell and Paul Langton
were assigned the leading roles. Langton was another mountain
player to gain fame in Hollywood. An audience of 6000 enjoyed
the dramatic dances created by Betty Horst.
1939

Charles Caldwell Dobie, a successful San Francisco playwright and
short story writer, created the 1939 production The Valiant
Cossack. His play of old Russia was another original script, written
for the Bohemian Club and first presented in their open-air theatre
on the Russian River. Dobie was granted permission from the club
to have his play repeated on the mountain. It was a spirited,
action-filled story and adapted itself easily to the requirements of
the mountain stage.

Les Crandall, an extremely gifted artist, came from Chicago for
the purpose of designing the stage settings, costumes and props,
and his sister Mary Crandall, a member of the Board, was his
assistant. The Master of make-up was Everett Mason assisted by
Kitty Oppenheimer, a pair that was to work together until
Everett’s death in 1967. Travers and Betty Horst teamed up to
once more create an exciting event.

1940

By this time, 40 tiers of stone seating terraces extended to the top
of the amphitheatre. Restrooms and a property room of
indigenous stone had been added to the permanent improvements
and new drinking fountains had been installed. The Mountain
Theatre was indeed becoming one of the finest of its kind.

The second production of the popular play The World We Live
In by Josef and Karel Capek was directed by Reginald Travers and
costumed by Les Crandall. This novel insect play drew another
large audience and was to be repeated twice in later years. For the
record, it should be noted here that Helen Eliot Joyner was in
charge of production and later was to appear on the mountain
stage as a splendid character actress in such parts as the blind
mother in Tamalpa, the Duchess in Alice in Wonderland and Daisy
Chapman in Rough an’ Ready. Paul Langton was splendid in the
leading role and Marion Hayes Cain returned to play the Chrysalis.

1941

This was followed by a poetic fantasy of ancient China, built on
the story of the Princess Turandot, A Thousand Years Ago by
Percy Mackaye. The same legend was Puccini’s source for his
colorful opera. In perfect weather, 5,000 hikers and motorists
were entranced by Les Crandall’s elaborate sets and costumes and
the dances and rituals arranged by Betty Horst. Travers was the
director and Paul Langton and Consuelo Young carried the
dramatic love story.

 

 
 

 

1942-1945

In the year of 1942, the United States was embroiled in the
Second World War and the Mountain Theatre was taken over by
the U.S. Army. Until 1946 there were no plays presented on the

mountain.

1946
For the reopening of the mountain theatre in 1946 Tamalpa was
revived — its 4th production. The Mountain Play Association

spared no pains in making this a memorable time with new
costumes, dances and rituals, as well as some original incidental
music, composed and arranged by Charles Hart, a professional
local musician, well-known in radio. Ella McSpedden was again
Tamalpa. Walter Fell and Elmer Collett also played important
roles. Norma Christian portrayed Ah-Shawn-Nee, a part that she

was to make her own.
Good newspaper coverage and many magazine stories brought a

record-breaking attendance to the mountain and the financial
structure improved greatly because of it.

194.7

Better roads and trails brought a different type of audience to the
mountain — much more of a family gathering with picnic lunches
and many small children — even dogs on leashes, although frowned
upon when they barked at the strangely-garbed characters
appearing on the stage.

To appeal to this type of audience (children, teen-agers and
adults) became the concern of the Mountain Play Association, and
a dramatization of Alice in Wonderland seemed to be the answer.
Elaine Haslett was the lovely Alice, the first of two other Alices to
troupe on the mountain. Les Crandall did himself proud with his
costumes and props, suggested by the famous Tenniel drawings,
and again Betty Horst directed the dancing groups. A day of
sunshine brought out the greatest audience ever to attend the
Mountain Play. School busses brought 1,100 children and some
7,000 crowded into the amphitheatre.
1948

The famous actor E.H. Southern’s romantic hit If I Were King, by
Justin Huntly McCarthy, was the next mountain play success. It
was based on a fictitious episode in the life of Francois Villon, the
French vagabond poet. John King, a splendid local actor and
himself a director, played Villon, and Elaine Haslett, the Alice of
the year before, was the tragic Huguette. Reginald Travers directed
and Les Crandall designed the beautiful Medieval costumes,
rainbowing the mountain stage in brilliant color.

1949

Totheroh’s third original play written for the mountain theatre,
and this time for a very special occasion, was Rough an’ Ready.
California, celebrating its Centennial years fostered a series of
pageants staged in historical spots from the Mother Lode country
to as far south as Death Valley. Rough an’ Ready was Marin
County’s contribution to the observances.

Comedy was accented in Rough an’ Ready which dealt with
such famous characters as Bret Harte and H.P.T. Comstock, the
discoverer of the fabulous Comstock Lode and his involvement
with a Mormon and his seven wives. An itinerant theatrical troup
presenting a laughable melodrama was also involved. Totheroh
came up from Carmel to direct his play, bringing with him Ken
Smith to create the important role of Chief Justice Morgan. The
comedy was so well received by a large audience that it was
repeated twice in the years to come.

Mary Ann Stewart of San Francisco College played the leading
role of the Mormon’s gold-digger, Sairy, and Norma Christian and
Helen Eliot were outstanding in a large cast. Four of Elmer
Collett’s small children took part in Rough an’ Ready, as well as
their father and mother, the first of a long line of families that
erew up in the mountain plays. Walter Fell played the cuckolded
H.P.T. Comstock. Walter was also now serving as Secretary for the
Association and later became the President.

 

 
 

 

 

 

Director Reginald Travers and Al Pinther backstage with cast during intermission of 1950 Robin Hood.
 

 

 

1950

Robin Hood, by Reginald de Koven, produced next, was not the
same version that had been presented on the mountain in 1918.
For the first time, a muscal comedy was the offering, with a
rollicking chorus of fifty and a large orchestra. The hikers trouped
up and down the mountain to the tuneful strains of ‘O, Promise
Me’ and ‘Brown October Ale’. Reginald Travers, noted for his
productions of musical comedies at the Players’ Club, was the
director.

1951

The Percy Mackaye pageant-play A Thousand Years Ago, so well
received in 1941, was repeated now ten years later. Jules Irving,
one of the founders of the Actors’ Workshop and a college teacher
of drama, with his wife Priscilla Pointer, played the two leads.
Clarence Miller also from San Francisco State’s Theatre
Department directed this production.

Due to the celebration of Armed Forces Day in San Francisco
and heavy fog in Mill Valley, the audience was small (less than
3,000) in comparison with the usual capacity crowd. The
Mountain Play Association was prepared to meet losses with its
standing funds now but costs of production were rising rapidly.

1952

The Land of Oz by L. Frank Baum in 1952 was another
production, like Alice, to please the small fry and adults alike. In
spite of a bus strike, an audience of 6,000 hiked or motored up
the mountain. Clarence Miller directed. Many familiary players:
Norma Christian, Walter Fell, Bill Gibson (a player of 20 years’
standing) and Helen Eliot. Les Crandall came again to design the
imaginative costumes and props. Crandall’s loyalty to the
mountain play was evidenced by his coming in his annual
vacations all the way from Chicago for only one performance. He
was just another example of the devotion and teamwork that the

volunteer workers, players and committee members had for this
unique outdoor entertainment.

 

 
 

 

 

MAYORS OFEICE
SAN FRANCISCO May 25, 1926.

Mrs. D. BE. F. Easton,
Whitcomb Hotel,
San Francisco.

Dear Mrs. Easton:

Through the courtesy of the Sperry

Flour Company, I am in receipt of your pigeon-
gram, sent from Mt. Tamalpais, by “Lady Drifted

Snow", last Sunday.

According to the pigeon-gram it was
sent at 2:00 o'clock and reached San Francisco at

2:25 o'clock P.M.

Again thanking you for your thought
of me and with kindest personal regards, I am

Very sfngerely yours,

An innovative custom of sending greetings from the Mountain Play.

 

|

 

 
 

1953

Tamalpa had by now become the official mountain play with
plans to repeat it every few years. The lead role was played by
Hildur Mahl, a student of drama at San Francisco State College,
and the Piayutuma was Bill Witt, a drama teacher. Two veteran
players once more appeared — Norma Christian in her favorite role
of Ah-Shawn-Nee, and Helen Eliot as the blind mother. Other
veterans were Walter Fell and Bill Gibson. Richard Glyer from San
Francisco City College Drama Department directed. For the first
time, a sound system had been installed. The natural speaking
voice was being replaced by the ubiquitous microphone.

1954

This was followed by another Richard Glyer production — The
Tempest by William Shakespeare. Unlike the Mountain Players’
production of As You Like It, The Tempest was difficult to adapt
to the mountain stage. Though a splendid performance was given

by Elmer Collett as Prospero, the production was not a critical
success.

1955

To counteract the comparative failure of The Tempest, one of the
favorites of the mountain play audiences, The World We Live In
was revived and Clarence Miller was brought back to direct. This
time, the leading role of the Vagabond was played by Ron Hayes,
the son of the late Sam Hayes and Marion Hayes Cain. Ron first
went to the mountain play in 1929, literally a babe in arms, when
his father played Peer Gynt. It was his ambition as he grew up and
became involved in theatre himself to play on the mountain as his

parents had done. Ron is now a successful actor in Hollywood TV
presentations.

1956

The Birds, the classical Greek comedy by Aristophanes was
produced and Richard Glyer directed for the third time. This was
an ambitious undertaking that, like The Tempest, was difficult to
produce on the mountain, too classic in nature for popular appeal,
and the attendance dropped to less than 2,000. This caused
dissension in the Board of Directors and there was talk of
abandoning the production of plays on the mountain. The
newspapers took up the rumor with headlines, bringing forth
much concern from those who loved the mountain and the plays

produced.

 
 

 

THE DAN TOTHEROH ERA

 

Totheroh with valued co-worker Lucille Shreve.

 

 

 

 
1957

After the intervening years that followed Garnet Holme’s long and
consistent role as director of the plays, it was nostalgic to return
leadership to the man who had already been so involved with the
past of the mountain and so sentimental toward the activity in the
future. Dan Totheroh had been an actor in the early plays, had
written three original plays for the theatre, and directed one.

Many of his intervening years had been spend in New York and
Hollywood where he was known as an established playwright.
Now he had come to live permanently in San Francisco and
seemed to be the man of the hour. The Board of Directors was
pleased to offer him the directorship of the revival of his own
play, Tamalpa. Renewed efforts were made to effect good
promotion and recruit able workers on the crews as well as large
numbers of extras for the pageantry.

On May 26, 1957, the 6th performance of Tamalpa was played
on the mountain, blessed by a bright and warm and an audience of
over 3,000 loyal adherents. The cast was a strong one, with Shirley
Dockstader, Guy Van Doren, Norma Christian and Helen Eliot.
David Forsberg played Petanya, a pantomimic role that, because
of Forsberg’s training as a dancer, he was well qualified to sustain.

1958

Because of the success of this comedy in 1949, The Board chose
Rough an’ Ready, again, to lure an audience that laughed at the
antics of H.P.T. Comstock and the litthke Mormon and his seven
wives. New faces were playing featured roles in this second
performance of Rough an’ Ready. Bill Forenay played Carter,
Joanne Jaklevick was the amorous Sairy, while Mike Morris was
Comstock. Veteran players who appeared in the roles they had
created were Helen Eliot and Norma Christian.

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1959-1960

In 1959 the Peabody version of The Pied Piper was repeated, with
Dan Scarlett as the Piper, and in 1960 another performance of
Alice in Wonderland. These two pageant-plays were always
popular and brought out large audiences.

1961

Totheroh’s adaptation of one of the tales of Robin Hood, was the
first play to be presented for two consecutive Sundays, instead of
the traditional one. This established the present performance
schedule. Always ready to help in civil affairs, the advance ticket
sale for Robin Hood benefited the National Foundation of the
March of Dimes. Dan Scarlett played Robin Hood and others
remembered were: Bob Salvas, Phil Vizcarra, Larry Allen (an
amusing Friar Tuck), Rick Beban, Kathy Merserreau, Norma
Christian and Elmer Collett.

A striking effect in this production was the surprise of Robin
Hood’s archers on Pohli’s rock, silhouetted against the sky, and
from which the archers sent messages down to Robin Hood on the
humming wings of their arrows.

1962
Now a new version of Rip Van Winkle was presented on the
mountain. This was named Rip of the Mountain to give it a local
flavor and was Totheroh’s adaptation of the Washington Irving
story. Otto Porton, a splendid Little Theatre actor and a
Dutchman with an authentic accent, played Rip. His own dog,
Heidi, was Rip’s companion, a thespian in his own right, romping
across the stage with apparent enjoyment.

Others in the large cast were Norma Christian, Bill Gibson,
Sandy Keppel and two newcomers. Rick Beban led the Little-Old
Men of the Mountain in a scene directed by Marion Cain.

1963

This year was the 50th Anniversary of the production of plays on
the mountain: (1913-1963) and Tamalpa was presented for the
seventh time.

Mention should be made here on this important date of the
various families who have gladly served through the years, many of
whom still perform or else concern themselves with back-stage or
on-the-grounds tasks. In such a short history, it is impossible to
name them all, but some to be included here are the George
Koerners, the Elmer Colletts, the Keppels, the Justice Richard
Sims, Jr., The Dick Heins, the Hawkins family, the Ken Morgans,
the Carol Aronovicis, the Lionel Stotts, Jr., the O’Brien family,
the Kitchaks, the Huestons, and so many more.

 

 

es ae eee SW ,. a eae

Stes

 
  

Pageantry during 1960 Alice in Wonderland.
 

 

 

 

 

 

The list of active Board members through more recent years
also holds names of many deducated and active people not
formerly mentioned, such as: Harry Butler, Bill Carson, Bill
Carter, Hilary Crawford, Jr., Bob Kitchak, Neal Lambly, Harvey
Mielenz, Ken Morgan, Tim Murphy, Dave Ohman and Lloyd
Roach.

Everett Mason, assisted as he had been for many years by Kitty
Oppenheimer and his wife Jean, did his usual creative make-up job
that year. What characters he created by painting the face with an
artist’s skill! He was truly the master of make-up and had served
both the San Francisco Ballet Company and San Francisco Opera.
Everett Mason, in spite of a long illness, continued to be the
professional make-up man until his death.

‘a

 

Everett Mason making up Carol Aronovici as Bret Harte in 1965 Rough an’

Ready.
1964- 1965-1966

Repeats of three of the mountain pageants followed: Flamenca,
Rough an’ Ready and Peer Gynt. Phyllis Courtney, who made her
first appearance on the mountain as Wona in the 1963 production
of Tamalpa, was the Flamenca in 1964 and then the next year
took over the role of Daisy Chapman in Rough an’ Ready,

bringing to it her own charming gift of comedy. Gordon
Townsend, a young local actor, gave a remarkable and most

 
professional portrayal of Peer Gynt, and Regge Walden gave a
skillful performance as Aase, Peer’s mother. David Forsberg was
the King of the Trolls and Janet Rigsbee as Solveig were both
acclaimed. Peer Gynt proved, as it had in 1929, that the audiences
enjoyed great literature.

1967

Totheroh now adapted another classic to the mountain. Kismet
the Eastern name for Fate or Destiny, concerned a day from dawn
to dusk in the life of a picturesque beggar and rogue in the ancient
city of Baghdad of the Arabian Nights. The costumes and sets
were some of the most elaborate ever attempted on the mountain
stage, and the dances, choreographed by the talented professional,
Margot Jones, were spectacular. Margot Jones was the first dance
instructor to bring an inter-racial group to the mountain stage.

Chuck Auerbach played Hajj, adding another splendid
characterization to many other roles he had played with the local
Cove Players. Rick Beban, who grew up with the mountain
theatre, played the hero, the Caliph of Baghdad, a far cry from the
small boy who played the Dormouse in the 1960 production of
Alice in Wonderland. Janet Jacobs was a lovely Marsinah and Jane
Watts a beautiful and menacing Kut-Al-Kulub.

The improved sound system by Bill Carter and Louis Rusconi,
engineer from Audio-Video Associates, brought the actors’ voices
to the last tier of seats. This team throughout recent years has
been responsible for the vast improvements of sound at the
amphitheatre. For this production, Lucille Shreve was again Dan
Totheroh’s valuable assistant director.

Just before this production, the Mountain Play Board
celebrated its 50th production with a special banquet. At this time
accolades were given to many old timers, movies of the plays were
shown, and members and guests felt renewed and rededicated to
the years before them.

Splendid, colored films have been made of the plays for a
number of years now through the efforts of Board members
Walter Fell, Emmett Smith and Robert Moore. They are shown to
the delight of the cast each year at post-play get-togethers. These
have become a valued collection now and should serve as an
excellent source of promotion for the future.

1968

Another Totheroh adaptation came next, Alice Through the
Looking Glass, from the Lewis Carroll work. The death of Elmer
Collett at this time, whose talents as an actor had added so much
to the mountain plays, was a tragic blow to those who worked
with him. Memorial services for him were conducted in the
theatre.

 
 

|
:
:

 

 

 

Alice Through the Looking Glass saw many new faces on the
mountain: Sean Stephens as Alice, Mark Clark as the White King,
John Calaway as the White Knight, and Elizabeth St. Davids and
Joan Tibbetts as the outrageous Red and White Queens,
outstanding in their comic routines. Margot Jones was again thé
dance director and she was inspired by the delightful music,
composed by Thompson Chesnut — the first mountain play, by
the way, to have a completely original score. The sets and
costumes were striking and created great comment.

1969

The 52nd annual production brought an exciting innovation to the
Mountain Theatre. The great Czechoslavakian satire, The World
We Live In, written by the Capek Brothers in 1922, was presented
for the fourth time. Though highly appreciated as a drama in
1935, 1940 and 1955, it became a wholly new experience as a
musical pageant in the hands of an imaginative director from the
College of Marin Drama Department, Robin Jackson.

Mr. Jackson, having presented the performance previously at
the college as a multi-media experience in the round, was invited
to gather his players together for a greatly enlarged production in
the magnificent amphitheatre.

Enhanced by an original music score, on-stage musicians,
electronic sound effects, modern dance and fantastic masks, the
production was indeed a departure from former Mountain Play
offerings. David McCauley, playing the lead role of the Vagrant,
gave an outstanding performance, sang what were formerly long,
spoken soliloquies. Remembered in a long list of vigorous
performance were Mrs. Robin Jackson, Petra Chambers, Bill
Grace, Don Carroll and Bob Deckleman.

As a commentary on the human existence, the drama proved
itself to be again contemporary to our ever-changing times. The
production was accepted as innovative contemporary theatre by
the young but criticized as alarmingly frank by the more
traditional Mountain Play followers. However, the local press
acclaimed it as vibrant, living theatre.

The Mountain Play Association does not intend to rest on its
laurels of the past. It looks forward to many changes on the
mountain as it seeks new actors and willing workers to replace
those who have stepped aside. And — most important — the
Association is always on the search for new _ pageant-plays
especially written for such a stage, even as the Greeks, centuries
ago, wrote plays to meet the challenge of their great
amp hitheatres.

 

 

 

 
 

College of Marin performers during finale of the 1969 The World We Live In.

 
 

 

 

 

is i, We i hase [Ldn
L Rp CK SPRINGS

coe 1913 2 pm

(In case of inclement weather SundayMay 11)

~ ABRAHAM AND ISAAC’
(An Ancient iracle Play)

and

Malvolio \Scenes from :
« | WELETH NIGHT

 

( Lge ee AU STIN RAMON. POHL sas F ed

Program for first Mountain Play performance.

 

 
 

|
|
|
|

John C. Catlin’s foreword on the program at the first
performance in 1913 seems particularly contemporary in feeling
to our times:

‘In the Mountain Play there is a message, a message and a prayer.
They are from The Mountain to the People.
This is my message.

‘Come unto me, O People. Ascend my lofty peaks, drink from
my purling streams, rest in my shaded canyons. In the winds
rushing through my trees, in the thunder of my cataracts and in
the song of my waters, listen to the voice of my Creator.

This is my prayer.

‘Take me. O People, for of right I am thine. Set into motion
your laws and purchase my freedom from the bondage into which
I have been sold. Break my chains, that | may again be thine.

‘From this spot where you now hold festival, I have been
witness of many a world drama. I saw Sir Francis Drake,
storm-tossed and sinking, driven blindly by the long-sought haven
that lies at my feet. I watched the devoted Franciscans and weary
soldiers come to the Golden Gate and stand spellbound by the
glory of their discovery. | saw the pioneers come to their golden
land and build a city. I saw that city sink to ashes and I saw it rise
again.

‘Now I wait for dreams greater and yet more glorious from my
children. So to you I offer up my prayer. Take me, O People, unto
thyself. Dedicate me to the ages. Amen.’ ”’

 
 

 

i SSS sri SU es nS SSS SSS

 

Veteran actor Elmer Collett.

 

Author, actor Frederick Smith
in his 1931 The Trail of the Padres.

 

Marion and Sam Hayes performed in 1928 Flamenca.

 

 
 

1938 Tamalpa cast members Ella McSpedden, Marian Van Nuys, Walter Fell

with author Dan Totheroh.

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1949 Rough an’ Ready Mary Ann Stewart, Norma Christian, author Dan
Totheroh, Helen Eliot, director Reginald Travers.

 
1913
1914
1915
1916
1917
1918
1919
1920
1921
1922
1923
1924
1925
1926
1927
1928
1929
1930
1931
1932
1933
1934
1935
1936
1937
1938
1939
1940
1941
1942
1946
1947
1948
1949
1950
1951
1952
1953
1954
1955
1956
1957
1958
1959
1960
1961
1962
1963
1964
1965
1966
1967
1968
1969
1970

 

Abraham and Isaac, a miracle play, and Malvolio scenes from Twelfth Night
Shakuntala — Kalidasa, translated from the Sanskrit by Dr. Arthur Ryder

Rip Van Winkle — Washington Irving

William Tell — Schiller

Jeppe-on-the-Hill — Ludwig Holberg

Robin Hood — Alfred Noyes

Tally-Ho — Joaquin Miller

As You Like It — Shakespeare

Tamalpa — Dan Totheroh

The Pied Piper — Peabody

Tamalpa — Dan Totheroh

Area closed. Hoof & mouth disease epidemic
Drake — Garnet Holme

Rip Van Winkle — Washington Irving

The Gods of the Mountains — Lord Dunsany
Flamenca — Dan Totheroh

Peer Gynt — Henrik Ibsen

The Sunken Bell — Hauptmann

The Trail of the Padres — Frederic Stuart Smith
Rob Roy — Sir Walter Scott

The Daughter of Jorio — Gabriela D’Annunzio
The Girl of the Golden West — David Belasco.
The World We Live In — Josef and Karel Capek
Androcles and the Lion — Bernard Shaw
Thunder in Paradise — Cecil James Cook
Tamalpa — Dan Totheroh

The Valiant Cossack — Charles Caldwell Dobie
The World We Live In — Josef and Karel Capek
A Thousand Years Ago — Perey Mackaye
1945 Grounds in use by U.S. Army

Tamalpa — Dan Totheroh

Alice in Wonderland — Lewis Carroll

If I Were King — Justin Huntly McCarthy
Rough an’ Ready — Dan Totheroh

Robin Hood — Reginald de Koven

A Thousand Years Ago — Percy Mackaye
Land of Oz — L. Frank Baum

Tamalpa — Dan Totheroh

The Tempest — William Shakespeare

The World We Live In — Josef and Karel Capek
The Birds — Aristophanes

Tamalpa — Dan Totheroh

Rough an’ Ready — Dan Totheroh

The Pied Piper — Peabody

Alice in Wonderland — Lewis Carroll

Robin Hood — Dan Totheroh

Rip of the Mountain — Dan Totheroh
Tamalpa — Dan Totheroh

Flamenca — Dan Totheroh

Rough an’ Ready — Dan Totheroh

Peer Gynt — Henrik Ibsen

Kismet — Edward Knoblock

Alice Through The Looking-Glass — Lewis Carroll
The World We Live In — Josef and Karel Capek
Tamalpa — Dan Totheroh

 
 

 

 

 

Credits

History preparation by Dan Totheroh, with supplemental notes from the
minutes of the Tamalpais Mountain Play Association by Marion Hayes Cain.

Photographs

Cover Photo — Moulin Studios
Congressman William Kent, Courtesy of S.M. Kent
Tamalpais and Muir Woods Railway, Collection of Lucretia Little

Design

Bill Carson

 
 

 

   
  
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
    

This is to serve as an update of our history to the present; listing the more recent productions for the
record, and commenting briefly on current situations that have created production problems and af-
fected programming.

As you have read, our earliest audiences consisted of large numbers of individuals who hiked up the
mountains, enjoyed the performances in this marvelous environment and returned - on foot - down the
mountain. There were others who rode the wonderful crookedest railroad in the world. Some even

motored.

As our audiences increased, automobiles to a great extent replaced the other modes of arrival and de-
parture.

The railroad was no more.

For years the Marin Municipal Water District generously allowed us their facilities for parking, to ac-
comodate the growing number of vehicles on performance days. The road however, remained basically
the same since the natural aspect of the area is uppermost.

Traffic congestion increased. The understaffed park officers found maintenance and fire control ex-
tremely difficult. The Marin Municipal Water District felt great concern, and decided against allowing
mass parking on their property.

Since 1970, the Mountain Play Association has devoted a great amount of time to resolving the pro-
blems of parking and transportation. Additionally, we shared a common problem with other non-pro-
fit cultural groups - financing. We had maintained a low price of admission over the years to encourage
family groups so important to support the continuing tradition of the Mountain Play Association.
However, production costs as with everything else, have increased and much productive time was di-
verted to the business of developing alternative revenue.

This is where we are at the present time, the above problems still unresolved.

 

1971 ‘Playboy of the Western World” was directed by Robin Jackson, who had de-
monstrated his considerable creative talents in the 1969 ‘‘The World We Live In.”

  
      

1972 For this year’s production, the well established ‘“‘Rough ’n Ready” was given a
musical score, with Dan Totheroh’s blessings, by a young group of creative talents
that gave it a new contemporary dimension.

    
   
 

Dan Caldwell directed, John Balmer Musical Director, responsible for the score
and Teddy Kern the Choreographer.

 
   
 
  

 
 

Faced with several immediate problems, impossible to overcome in the time al-
lowed, we substituted a mountain play picnic with various musical groups
volunteering their services in order to carry on the annual “Day on the Mountain”’

 
   
 
  

 
 

‘‘Rough ’n Ready” was repeated in yet another musical version, directed by Jim
Funk. Kristi La Bianca was Musical Director/Composer and Jim Pearsall the
Choreographer.

 
   
 
 

A Music Festival, consisting again of dance, singing and instrumental groups from
the Bay Area with the common theme of American Music, past to present.

 
   
 
 
 

  
  

Playboy of the Western World Synge
1972 Rough ’n Ready Totheroh/Balmer
1973 Picnic

1974 Rough’n Ready Totheroh/La Bianca
Music Festival

 
       
 

1971
1972
1973
1974

This is to serve as an update of our history to the present; listing the more recent productions for the
record, and commenting briefly on current situations that have created production problems and af-
fected programming.

As you have read, our earliest audiences consisted of large numbers of individuals who hiked up the
mountains, enjoyed the performances in this marvelous environment and returned - on foot - down the
mountain. There were others who rode the wonderful crookedest railroad in the world. Some even

motored.

As our audiences increased, automobiles to a great extent replaced the other modes of arrival and de-
parture.

The railroad was no more.

For years the Marin Municipal Water District generously allowed us their facilities for parking, to ac-
comodate the growing number of vehicles on performance days. The road however, remained basically
the same since the natural aspect of the area is uppermost.

Traffic congestion increased. The understaffed park officers found maintenance and fire control ex-
tremely difficult. The Marin Municipal Water District felt great concern, and decided against allowing
mass parking on their property.

Since 1970 the Mountain Play Association has devoted a great amount of time to resolving the
problems of parking and transportation, and in 1976 an alternative plan utilizing shuttle buses was
initiated. Also, we share a common problem with other non-profit cultural groups---financing. We had

maintained a low price of admission over the years to encourage family groups so important to
support the continuing tradition of the Mountain Play Association. However, production costs as

with everything else, have increased and much productive time was diverted to the business of devel-
oping alternative revenue.

This is where we are at the present time, the above problems still unresolved.

1971 ‘Playboy of the Western World”’ was directed by Robin Jackson, who had demonstrated
his considerable creative talents in the 1969 ‘“The World We Live In.”’
1972 For this year’s production, the well established ‘‘Rough ’n Ready” was given a musical

score, with Dan Totheroh’s blessings, by a young group of creative talents that gave it a
new contemporary dimension.

Dan caldwell directed, John Balmer Musical Director, responsible for the score and
Teddy Kern the Choreographer.
1973 Faced with several immediate problems, impossible to overcome in the time allowed, we

substituted a mountain play picnic with various musical groups volunteering their
services in order to carry on the annual ‘“‘Day on the Mountain.”’

1974 “Rough ’n Ready” was repeated in yet another musical version, directed by Jim Funk.
Kristi La Bianca was Musical Director/Composer and Jim Pearsall the Choreographer.

1975 A Music Festival, consisting again of dance, singing and instrumental groups from the
Bay Area with the common theme of American Music, past to present.

1976 “Celebration 76” was an afternoon of music and dance celebrating the Bicentennial ,
directed by Robin Jackson.

1977 *‘Clothes’’, an original musical play based on ‘‘The Emperor’s New Clothes’’, original
idea and songs by George Leonard, written by Susan Trott, Drama Director Michelle
Swanson, Original Score Steve Riffkin, Production Coordinator Marilyn Smith.

1978 ‘‘A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum”’ with same production group as
previous year.

 

Playboy of the Western World Synge 1975 Music Festival

Rough ’n Ready Totheroh/Balmer 1976 Celebration 76 Robin Jackson

Picnic 1977 Clothes Leonard/Trott/Riffkin
Rough ’n Ready Totheroh/La Bianca 1978 A Funny Thing Happened

on the Way to the Forum Leonard/Trott/Riffkin