The Mountain Play Association (MPA, or Mountain Play) is a 501(c)3 organization responsible for the production of theatrical events at the Sidney B. Cushing Amphitheater (formerly the Mount Tamalpais Mountain Theater) within Mount Tamalpais State Park on Mount Tamalpais in Marin County, California, United States. The stone amphitheater, named for the owner of the railroad company which constructed the Mount Tamalpais Scenic Railway, is at an elevation of 2,000 feet and has 4,000 seats.

The organization was founded in 1913, and is a member of Theatre Bay Area and the North Bay Theatre Group. John C. Catlin became the first president of the Mountain Play Association. He financed the first play in the Cushing Memorial Amphitheatre in 1913. The Mountain Play presents one musical a year, in May and June. The mission statement of the Mountain Play Association reads, "The Mountain Play Association’s mission is to produce an annual, spectacular, outdoor theatrical experience that nurtures an appreciation of Mt. Tamalpais, involves and strengthens the community, and builds on decades of tradition."

The theater group venue was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on February 2, 2015, for architecture and cultural history.

History

The organization was founded in 1913, and is a member of Theatre Bay Area and the North Bay Theatre Group. The venue was named for Sidney B. Cushing, the owner of the railroad company which constructed the Mount Tamalpais Scenic Railway. Prior to the 1930s and the construction of the open air amphitheatre, the audience sat on a bowl-shaped lawn. The venue is located just below the 2,571-foot East Peak.

First performance One of the oldest non-profit theater companies in the area, the Mountain Play staged its first theatrical performances in the natural amphitheater on top of Mt. Tamalpais in Marin County in 1913. The first performance was financed by politician John C. Catlin, the first president of the Mountain Play Association. Congressman William Kent, who owned the land on the mountain where the amphitheater stood, was one of its vice presidents. Garnet Holme served as the theatre director, from 1913 until his death in 1929.

The first Mountain Play produced was Abraham and Isaac. Members of the audience hiked the eight miles from Mill Valley, or steamed up the mountain on the Mount Tamalpais and Muir Woods Railway, once billed as the "Crookedest Railroad in the World."

List of performances

Performance Dates Year Play(s)NotesMay 21, 28; June 4, 10, 11, 182023Into the WoodsMay 22, 29; June 5, 11, 12, 192022Hello, Dolly! 2021 No play (theater closed for COVID-19 safety) 2020Summer2019Grease May 20, 27, June 3, 9, 10, 17 2018 Mamma Mia Summer 2017 Beauty and the Beast, and Hair Summer 2016 West Side Story Summer 2015 Peter Pan Summer 2014 South Pacific Summer 2013 The Sound of Music (100th anniversary) Summer 2012 The Music Man Summer 2011 Hairspray Summer 2010 Guys and Dolls Summer 2009 Man of La Mancha Summer 2008 Wizard of Oz Summer 2007 Hair Summer 2006 Fiddler on the Roof Summer 2005 Oklahoma! Summer 2004 My Fair Lady Summer 2003 Annie Summer 2002 Bye Bye Birdie Summer 2001 Oliver! Summer 2000 A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum Summer 1999 West Side Story Summer 1998 Hello, Dolly! Summer 1997 South Pacific Summer 1996 My Fair Lady Summer 1995 Guys & Dolls Summer 1994 Fiddler on the Roof Summer 1993 The Music Man Summer 1992 Oklahoma! Summer 1991 Wizard of Oz Summer 1990 Anything Goes Summer 1989 Brigadoon Summer 1988 South Pacific Summer 1987 King & I (75th Anniversary) Summer 1986 Peter Pan Summer 1985 The Sound of Music Summer 1984 Fiddler on the Roof Summer 1983 The Music Man Summer 1982 Oklahoma! Summer 1981 Annie Get Your Gun & Henry V Summer 1980 Carnival Summer 1979 Indians Summer 1978 Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum Summer 1977 Clothes Summer 1976 Celebration '76 : American music and dance retrospective Summer 1975 Music of America Summer 1974 Rough an' Ready Summer 1973 Picnic and hike, guest of honor State Senator Peter Behr excerpts from Oklahoma! and Jacques Brel Summer 1972 Rough an' Ready Summer 1971 Playboy of the Western World Summer 1970 Tamalpa Summer 1969 The World We Live In Summer 1968 Alice Through the Looking Glass Summer 1967 Kismet Summer 1966 Peer Gynt Summer 1965 Rough an' Ready Summer 1964 Flamenca Summer 1963 Tamalpa Summer 1962 Rip of the Mountain Summer 1961 Robin Hood Summer 1960 Alice in Wonderland Summer 1959 The Pied Piper Summer 1958 Rough an' Ready Summer 1957 Tamalpa Summer 1956 The Birds Summer 1955 The World We Live In Summer 1954 The Tempest Summer 1953 Tamalpa Summer 1952 Land of Oz Summer 1951 A Thousand Years Ago Summer 1950 Robin Hood Summer 1949 Rough an' Ready Summer 1948 If I Were King Summer 1947 Alice in Wonderland Summer 1946 Tamalpa 1945 No play because the grounds were in use by U.S. Army 1944 1943 1942 Summer 1941 A Thousand Years Ago Summer 1940 The World We Live In Summer 1939 The Valiant Cossack Summer 1938 Tamalpa Summer 1937 Thunder in Paradise Summer 1936 Androcles and the Lion Summer 1935 The World We Live In (from Ross Valley Players) Summer 1934 The Girl of the Golden West Summer 1933 The Daughter of Jorio Summer 1932 Rob Roy Summer 1931 The Trail of the Padres Summer 1930 The Sunken Bell Summer 1929 Peer Gynt Summer 1928 Flamenca Summer 1927 The Gods of the Mountain Summer 1926 Rip Van Winkle Summer 1925 Drake 1924 No play due to hoof and mouth disease epidemic Summer 1923 Tamalpa Summer 1922 The Pied Piper Summer 1921 Tamalpa Summer 1920 As You Like It Summer 1919 Tally-Ho Summer 1918 Robin Hood and The Three Kings Summer 1917 Jeppe-on-the-Hill Summer 1916 William Tell May 1915 Rip Van Winkle May 1914 Shakuntala Summer 1913 Abraham and Isaac

Sidney B. Cushing Memorial Amphitheater

In 1916, Kent deeded the theater to the MPA. Twenty years later, MPA turned the theater over to the Mount Tamalpais State Park, which then surrounded it. In the 1930s the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) worked to install the massive serpentine stones that now form the 4000-seat Sidney B. Cushing Memorial Amphitheater.

In 1930, the Mount Tamalpais and Muir Woods Railway stopped running. It was the site of the KFRC Fantasy Fair and Magic Mountain Music Festival, a historic rock music festival in June 1967.

Since 1977, when Marilyn Smith took over as executive director, the Mountain Play presented Broadway musicals on the mountain. In 2014, they presented South Pacific, from May 18 through June 15. Past productions have included Hairspray, Fiddler on the Roof, and Hair.

In 1980, the Mountain Play introduced sign language interpretation at its May performances on Mt. Tamalpais. In the early 1980s, special accommodations were developed for patrons with wheelchairs, including the grading of a path to the theater and the construction of a shaded wheelchair platform. In 1993, the Mountain Play expanded its 10-year-old programs for the visually impaired to include professional describers who provide simultaneous audio description. Equipment was upgraded in 1997, which enables users to sit anywhere in the theater rather than in a specially designated area.

A "Day on the Mountain" outreach program was introduced in 1993 to introduce low-income/at-risk children both to musical theater and to Mt. Tamalpais. Working with Bay Area social service agencies, the Mountain Play provides tickets and transportation to the show, pre-performance workshops and guided nature hikes on the mountain. Since 1995, the Mountain Play has also presented an annual performance at the Redwoods retirement center in Mill Valley for an audience of elderly patrons who can no longer make it up to the mountain.

See also Marin Art and Garden Center National Register of Historic Places listings in Marin County, California

References

External links

Official website