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Golden Bough Playhouse

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Coordinates:36°33′6.61″N121°55′27.95″W/ 36.5518361°N 121.9244306°W/36.5518361; -121.9244306
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For the original Golden Bough Theatre, seeTheatre of the Golden Bough.
Golden Bough Playhouse
Golden Bough Playhouse
Map
Former namesArts and Crafts Hall, Abalone Theatre, Studio Theatre of the Golden Bough, Manzanita Theatre, Filmarte, Golden Bough Cinema
AddressMonte Verde Street
LocationCarmel-by-the-Sea, California,U.S.
Coordinates36°33′6.61″N121°55′27.95″W/ 36.5518361°N 121.9244306°W/36.5518361; -121.9244306
OwnerPacific Repertory Theatre
TypeRegional theatre
CapacityGolden Bough Theatre: 290
Circle Theatre: 120
Construction
Built1952
ArchitectJames Pruitt

TheTheatre of the Golden Boughalso known as theGolden Bough Theatre,was built byEdward G. Kusterin 1924 on Ocean Avenue inCarmel-by-the-Sea, California.It was destroyed by fire on May 19, 1935. Kuster moved his film operation to the formerArts and Crafts Hallon Monte Verde Street, nearby in Carmel, which he had previously purchased. He renamed it the Filmarte, and it became the firstart housebetween Los Angeles and San Francisco.[1]In 1940, Kuster renamed the theater theGolden Bough Playhouseand presented plays and films year-round. In 1949, this second Golden Bough also burned down.

In 1952, Kuster built a three-story, two-theater facility on the Monte Verde Street site. The main auditorium, called Golden Bough Playhouse, with 290 seats, presents both movies and live performances. Beneath the main stage, a 120-seat theater-in-the-round was named Circle Theatre. Since 1994, the facility has been owned and operated byPacific Repertory Theatre,Monterey County's only year-round professional theatre company. A two-phase renovation of the aging facility began with an interior building project in 2011. A second phase of the project, including both interior and exterior renovations, was completed in 2024. The theater is the oldest indoor performing arts venue in Carmel.[2][3]

History

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Carmel Arts and Crafts Club theatres

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Main article:Carmel Arts and Crafts Club

In 1905, to foster the arts in the village ofCarmel-by-the-Sea, California,theCarmel Arts and Crafts Clubwas formed. After the 1906San Francisco earthquake,the village received an influx of artists and other creative people escaping the disaster area.Jack Londondescribes the artists' colony in a portion of his novel,The Valley of the Moon.The early Carmelbohemiansparticipated in events held at the club, including writers and poetsMary Austin,George Sterling,Robinson JeffersandSinclair Lewis.[4]

In 1906–07, the club built the town's first cultural center and theatre, The Carmel Arts and Crafts Clubhouse on Casanova Street in Carmel.[5]By 1913, The Arts and Crafts Club had begun organizing lessons for aspiring painters, actors and craftsmen.[6]American painters, such asWilliam Merritt Chase,Xavier Martinez,Mary DeNeale Morgan and C. Chapel Judson offered six weeks of instruction for $15. The dramas presented at the Arts and Crafts Club attracted considerable attention by 1914, with an article inThe Clubwomannoting, "Probably no other women's club in the country has achieved a more remarkable success in the way of dramatic ventures than has The Carmel Club of Arts and Crafts".[4]An article inThe Mercury Heraldcommented, "a fever of activity seems to have seized the community and each newcomer is immediately inoculated and begins with great enthusiasm to do something... with plays, studios and studies".[4]

In 1923–1924 the club built a new theater, theCarmel Arts and Crafts Hall,on an adjacent lot on Monte Verde Street, Carmel.[7]In 1928, theAbalone League,a local amateur baseball club and active thespian group, bought the Arts and Crafts Hall from the Carmel Arts and Crafts Club and renamed it theAbalone Theatre.The following year, the Abalone League, beset by financial trouble, offered to sellEdward G. Kusterits entire theatre operation, including the Carmel Arts and Crafts Club buildings on Monte Verde Street, an offer that Kuster accepted. Kuster remodeled the facility, renamed it theStudio Theatre of the Golden Bough,and moved all of his activities – plays concerts, traveling theatre groups, lectures – to the theatre.[1][8]

Theatre of the Golden Bough

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Theatre of the Golden Bough in 1925
Entrance and courtyard to the Theatre of the Golden Bough

In the meantime, theatrical activities in the town became so popular that Kuster had built a competing theater, the Theatre of the Golden Bough, in 1924, with its grand opening on June 6, 1924. Kuster, a musician and lawyer from Los Angeles, had relocated to Carmel to establish his own theater and school.[7]He borrowed the name "Golden Bough" from Roman mythology, where theGolden Boughrefers to a branch with golden leaves, allowing the Trojan heroAeneasto journey safely through the underworld.[9]The interior of the theater had 360 seats with wicker arm chairs. The stage had a depth of thirty feet with spot and flood lights, and acycloramaat the back of the stage gave the effect of vast spaces. The orchestra space was large enough to seat thirty to forty musicians.[10]

The theater was located on Ocean Avenue, the main street in Carmel, between Lincoln Street and Monte Verde Street; in front was The Court of the Golden Bough, with a group of shops. Kuster was a musician and lawyer fromLos Angeleswho relocated to Carmel to establish his own theatre and school. Kuster's wife built theCarmel Weavers Studio,with a ticket booth, in the Court.[11]The first production at the theater wasMaurice Browne's play,The Mother of Gregory,withEllen Van Volkenburgin the title-role.[12]The play was followed by a nine-week drama school.[13]

In 1928, Kuster leased the theatre to a local movie exhibitor, the Manzanita Theatre. He then traveled to Europe for a year to study production techniques inBerlinand to negotiate for rights to produce English and European plays in the United States. 1929, after his return, he leased the theatre to a movie chain for a period of five years. Kuster stipulated that the name "Golden Bough" could not be used for a movie house, so it was renamed the Carmel Theatre.[7]

Fire and later years

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The Theatre of the Golden Bough after the 1935 fire

In 1935, Kuster renegotiated his lease with the movie tenants, allowing him to produce a stage play one weekend each month. On May 17, 1935, Kuster opened his production of the playBy Candlelight.Two nights later, on May 19, the Theatre of the Golden Bough was destroyed by fire. Arson was the suspected cause of the blaze. Kuster moved his film operation to his Arts and Crafts Club Hall on Monte Verde Street, renamed it the Filmarte, and it became the first "art house" between Los Angeles and San Francisco.[1]

In 1950, Kuster sold the Golden Bough Court, the property that once surrounded the theater's entrance, to Sumral and Ruth Otrich. This slice of land, measuring 47 ft (14 m) by 80 ft (24 m), is situated behind the present-day Cottage of Sweets (formerly theCarmel Weavers Studio). Otrich invested $50,000 (equivalent to $633,195 in 2023) to construct threeEnglish Tudor-style shops and three apartments on a second floor.[14][15][16]Nearby was the restaurant calledSade's(now Portabella).[15]Today, these buildings are part of the Golden Bough Court, where only the facade of the original Theatre of the Golden Bough remains and opens to an arcade courtyard featuring various shops.[14][15]

Golden Bough Playhouse

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Golden Bough Players Circle on Casanova Street

In 1940, Kuster returned to Carmel; the Monte Verde Street theatre's lease had expired, and he renamed it Golden Bough Playhouse and again presented plays and films year-round. In the summers of 1940 and 1941, he directed the Golden Bough School of Theatre.[8]In 1949, after remountingBy Candlelight,this second "Golden Bough" also burned down.[8][17]

By 1950, Kuster created a nonprofit corporation to build a new theater at the same location. In 1952, having raised $185,000 (equivalent to $2,122,632 in 2023), he built a three-story, two-theater facility on the site. The main auditorium, called Golden Bough Playhouse, with 330 seats and a large stage, was designed to present both movies and live performances. Beneath the main stage, an intimate 125-seat theater-in-the-round was named Circle Theatre. The new Golden Bough Playhouse opened its doors on October 2, 1952, with a Monterey Symphony Orchestra concert.[7][8][18]The first theatrical production at the venue wasThe Merchant of Venice,opening on December 12, 1952.[19]

Kuster died in September 1961. In 1965 the facility was sold to United California Theatres, a movie chain later absorbed byUnited Artists Theaters.For the next 29 years the larger theater was a first-run movie house known asGolden Bough Cinema.The Circle Players continued to rent Circle Theater for two more years until a city building inspector noted several deficiencies in the electrical system. Lacking funds for repair, Circle Theater closed in 1967.[7]

Pacific Repertory Theatre years

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In 1994, United Artists sold the theatre toPacific Repertory Theatre(PacRep).[20]On September 22, 1994, the Golden Bough Playhouse reopened withGilbert and Sullivan'sThe Mikado,followed by Shakespeare'sA Midsummer Night's Dream.[8]These were followed in 1995 by productions ofArthur Miller'sDeath of a SalesmanandDavid Hirson'sLa Bêtein the Circle Theatre.[8]By 1997, the second phase of a capital campaign concluded when a $300,000 challenge grant from theDavid and Lucile Packard Foundationwas successfully matched. This reduced the debt outstanding on the mortgage to $275,000.[8]In 1999, PacRep initiated a $1.6 million campaign to clear the remaining mortgage and undertake enhancements to the Playhouse.[8]Olympia Dukakisand her husbandLouis Zorichpresented their adaptaion ofAnton Chekhov'sThe Cherry Orchardin July and August, 2001.[21]

In 2006, the Carmel Historic Resources Board gave approval for modifications to the building,[22]and in 2008, PacRep presented plans to the Carmel Planning Commission. The first phase of remodeling was completed 2011 and included safety updates, a digital projection system, and a double-revolving stage. Fundraising for the second phase, to include a reconfiguration of the audience seating and the lobby, began in 2017, helped by a $2.3 million donation in 2018.[23][24]The phase 2 remodel began in 2021 and was completed in September 2024.[8][25]

References

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  1. ^abc"Back Again, Intriguing history of Carmel's Golden Bough Theatre",Alta Vista Magazine/Monterey County Herald,August 28, 1994
  2. ^Kent L. Seavey (July 3, 2002)."Department of Parks and Recreation"(PDF).National Park Service.RetrievedMarch 30,2022.
  3. ^Grimes, Teresa; Heumann, Leslie; Laffey, Glory Anne (2023)."Historic Context Statement: Carmel-by-the-Sea"(PDF).The City of Carmel-by-the-Sea.
  4. ^abc"Archived copy"(PDF).Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2011-07-08.Retrieved2014-01-07.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. ^"When the Carmel 'Bohemians' met The Ladies of The Arts & Crafts Club"(PDF).The Salinas Californian.2005-12-24. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2011-07-08.
  6. ^Hudson, Monica.Carmel-By-the-Sea,Arcadia Publishing, 2006
  7. ^abcdeTemple, Sydney (1987).Carmel By-The-Sea: From Aborigines to Coastal Commission.Angel Press. pp. 137–154.ISBN0-912216-32-8.
  8. ^abcdefghi"Golden Bough Theatre (290 Seats)".Pacific Repertory Theatre.Carmel-by-the-Sea, California.Retrieved2023-07-16.
  9. ^"Opening of Theatre of the Golden Bough".Carmel Pine Cone.Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. June 7, 1924. p. 6.Retrieved2024-02-19.
  10. ^Watkins, Rolin G. (1925).History of Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties, California.Chicago, Illinois: S.J. Clarke. pp. 364–365.Retrieved2024-01-30.
  11. ^Watkins, Rolin G.; Hoyle, Millard F. (1925).History of Monterey, Santa Cruz and San Benito Counties, California: Biographical.Illinois: S.J. Clarke. pp. 370–371.Retrieved2024-01-28.
  12. ^"The Drama".Dramatic Publishing Company.15–16: 33. 1924.Retrieved2024-02-19.
  13. ^Daisy F. Bostick (March 29, 1924)."Gay Carmel to Act Up in Own Theater".San Francisco Bulletin.San Francisco, California. p. 23.Retrieved2024-04-18.
  14. ^abDramov, Alissandra (2022).Past & Present Carmel-By-The-Sea.Charleston, South Carolina:Arcadia Publishing.pp. 44–45.ISBN9781467108980.Retrieved2023-03-08.
  15. ^abc"Plan Shopping Center for Golden Bough Site".Carmel Spectator.Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. February 2, 1950. p. 9.Retrieved2023-08-01.
  16. ^"The Golden Bough Court".Carmel Spectator.Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. June 6, 1950. p. 12.Retrieved2023-08-01.
  17. ^"A Repeat Performance",Carmel Spectator,May 26, 1949, front page and pp. 4–5
  18. ^"Golden Bough Re-Opens Tonight".Carmel Spectator.Carmel, California. 24 October 1952. p. 4.Retrieved28 August2024.
  19. ^"New Golden Bough Production".Carmel Spectator.Carmel, California. 12 December 1952.Retrieved28 August2024.
  20. ^Rubin, Sara."A twice-burned Carmel theater has a history even more dramatic than a play that seems cursed",Monterey County Now,December 20, 2018
  21. ^Ehren, Christine (13 July 2001)."Dukakis and Zorich Enter Chekov's Cherry Orchard in CA July 13-Aug. 5".Playbill.Retrieved29 August2024.
  22. ^Brownfield, Mary (22 December 2006)."Golden Bough theatre may be demolished".Carmel Pine Cone.Archived fromthe originalon 29 September 2007.Retrieved31 August2017.
  23. ^Baine, Wallace (15 March 2017)."Carmel's PacRep takes the first steps to transform its Golden Bough Playhouse".Monterey County Herald.Retrieved31 August2017.
  24. ^Schley, Mary."Bertie Elliott gives $2.3M to Pacrep",The Carmel Pine Cone,October 12-18, 2018, pp. 1A and 15A
  25. ^Shuler, Barbara Rose."A comedy to welcome back Golden Bough",Monterey Herald,September 18, 2024, via MSN
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