In the early
1920s a young girl named Rowena Cade had a vision of a theater by the bay to be
built into the granite cliffside. She set out to accomplish just that. With the
help of a couple men she did create and build a perfectly gorgeous theater in
the most spectacular setting. The theater seats 750 and is truly magnificent.
The acoustics are nearly perfect.
We watched part of a rehearsal for an
upcoming play, and seated halfway in the theater we could hear everything word---without
the use of any microphones. The summer theater season runs 17 weeks and puts on
mostly Shakespearean plays.
Ms.
Cade never married. This was her life’s work. Fortunately she lived until 1983
so she could enjoy the fruits of her labors.
There were interruptions, like WW II and hardships along the way, but
her dogged determination produced a positively lovely theater. Flowers were
growing everywhere in the theater in the form of rock gardens. The ocean many
many feet below made a wonderful backdrop for the theater.
What
a wonderful lasting legacy. The scenery and surroundings are superb!
Unusual Wall Covering
In one English castle I visited the walls in the
‘king' room were covered with the most magnificent Chinese wall paper. It
actually consisted of many oblong canvas panels about 40 X 24", floor to
ceiling.
A
docent told us, “No two full-length panels are the same. The design depicts all
seasons, except winter, with trees, flowers, and birds. About two feet from the
floor on each panel you’ll see a different decorative vase/jar. The birds are
done in pairs, but no two pair are the same.
“In days of old, wallpaper was precious, and when one
moved they took their wallpaper with them, therefore the ‘paper’ is not glued
to the walls.”
It appeared to be stretched canvas, and the
designs matched perfectly at the seams. All I could think of was what a job it
would be to move and reassemble all those panels—like a Chinese puzzle!
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