Forest Theater
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[edit] Forest Theater, Carmel, Califonia
In 1910, the Forest Theater, the first outdoor theater west of the rockies, was built, with poet Mary Austin and actor/director Herbert Heron leading the endeavor. Numerous groups presented plays and pageants. Original works and the plays of Shakespeare were the prime focus.
The property was deeded to the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea in order to qualify for federal funding and, in 1939, the site became a WPA project. After several years, the site re-opened as The Carmel Shakespeare Festival, with Herbert Heron as its Director, and, with the exception of the WWII years of 1943-44, the festival continued through the 1940's. In 1949 the Forest Theatre Guild was incorporated, and, under the leadership of Cole Weston, the 60-seat indoor Forest Theater was created.
For most of the 1960's, the outdoor theater lay unused and neglected. In 1968, Marcia Hovick's Children's Experimental Theater leased the indoor theater and continues today. In 1972 the Forest Theater Guild was reactivated and continues to produce musicals, adding a film series in 1997. In 1984, Pacific Repertory Theatre began producing, reactivating Herbert Heron's Carmel Shakespeare Festival in 1990. In 2005, PacRep presented the theater's highest-attended production, Disney's Beauty and the Beast, to an audience of over 10,000 ticket holders.
