"The Mission Play - Facade of the Mission Playhouse, and its semi-tropical garden"

Abstract/Description: Sepia-toned postcard image shows façade of the Mission Playhouse, which predated the existing San Gabriel Mission Playhouse that opened in 1927. The facility was built by John Steven McGroarty for his famed "Mission Play". Postcard inset with text reads "'The Mission Play is to California what the Passion Play is to Oberammergau.' / The Mission Play, the world's greatest pageant-drama, produced on its own stage, the largest in the West and in the most unique play-house in the world, under the shadow of the San Gabriel Mission near Los Angeles, Cal." The world-renown production, which held over 3,000 performances until its final season in 1932, told the dramatic story of the founding of the California missions by the Franciscan Fathers under the leadership of Father Junipero Serra. Postcard split-back reverse printed with "UNOGRAPH / PROCESS / THE UNION LITHOGRAPH CO. / LOS ANGELES."
Subject(s): Theaters--California--San Gabriel
Mission San Gabriel Arcángel (San Gabriel, Calif.)
1911-1920
McGroarty, John Steven, 1862-1944
Mission Play