It might be surprising to many that the outdoor Mountain Play — which is held each Spring at the top of Mount Tamalpais — has been in motion for more than 110 years. In the early days, the only way to reach the show’s site, atop Mt. Tam, was by hiking on foot or riding the Mount Tamalpais Scenic Railroad, also known as the “crookedest railroad in the world.”
Since then, attending the Mountain Play has been a beloved, annual rite for thousands of Bay Area residents through all of its evolutions: a shift from the production of traditional plays to musical style productions; the development of the 4,000-seat Cushing Memorial Amphitheater; and the paving of roads to the mountain top, therefore eliminating the need for hiking and winding train rides.
The Mountain Play Association, a Marin nonprofit which produces the play, is determined to keep the tradition of the Mountain Play alive and well, despite ongoing challenges of increasing production costs coupled with shrinking audiences — a dilemma faced by many theater companies in the U.S. especially in the post-pandemic era.
In 2024, the association presented Kinky Boots, based on music and lyrics by 80s icon Cyndi Lauper, which chronicles the journey of a man who enlists a charismatic drag queen to help him save the floundering shoe business he inherited from his father. While Kinky Boots drew in 5,500 loyal fans and raised $350,000 in ticket sales, it was not enough to fund production costs.
“Audiences jumped to their feet after every performance of Kinky Boots, roaring their support,” said Eileen Grady, Mountain Play Association’s Executive Director and Artistic Producer. “We made a lot of people happy, but unfortunately ticket income this year only covered one third of the season’s expenses.”
Mountain Play Association has announced that its board of directors is sponsoring a $100K matching program to help boost the nonprofit’s fundraising efforts. For more information and for info on how to support the Mountain Play Association, please visit mountainplay.org.
A freelance writer in Marin who writes about family, kids and parenting, Glass is the mother to one son, one dog and a hamster named Miss Geri. When she’s not writing, trekking up steep hills in Marin or driving her kid to sports practice, she and her family spend time in their tiny cabin in Lake Tahoe. She avidly supports the California Academy of Sciences, a world class science museum and research institution, and the Institute on Aging which provides much needed services to Bay Area seniors and disabled adults. Glass is obsessed with baking the perfect loaf of banana bread, something she makes so often she no longer needs to look at a recipe card.
