Editing Carmel-by-the-Sea, California (section)

=== Performing arts ===
[[File:Sunset Center outside patio (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Sunset Center]] is home of the [[Carmel Bach Festival]]]]
In 1907, Carmel's first cultural center and theatre, the Carmel Arts and Crafts Clubhouse, was built.  Poets Austin and Sterling performed their "private theatricals" there.<ref name="californianprepress.com" /> By 1913, The Arts and Crafts Club had begun organizing lessons for aspiring painters, actors, and craftsmen.<ref name="ReferenceB">Monica Hudson, Carmel-By-The-Sea, Arcadia Publishing, 2006</ref>

As theatrical activities grew, two competing indoor theatres were built between 1922 and 1924: the Arts & Crafts Hall and the Theatre of the Golden Bough, designed and built by [[Edward G. Kuster]] and originally located on Ocean Avenue. In 1935, after a production of ''By Candlelight'', the Golden Bough was destroyed by fire. Kuster, who had previously bought out the Arts and Crafts Theatre, moved his operation to the older facility and renamed it the Golden Bough Playhouse. In 1949, after remounting ''By Candlelight'', the playhouse again burned to the ground.  It was rebuilt and reopened in 1952.<ref name="ReferenceB" />
[[Image:George Sterling by Arnold Genthe.jpg|thumb|upright|[[George Sterling]] helped establish the arts colony in Carmel and is credited with making the town famous.<ref>{{cite journal |last=O'Day |first=Edward F. |date=December 1927 |title=1869–1926 |journal=Overland Monthly |volume=LXXXV |issue=12 |pages=357–359}}</ref>]]
In 1931, the Carmel Sunset School constructed a new auditorium, complete with Gothic-inspired architecture, with seating for 700. Often doubling as a performing arts venue for the community, the facility was bought by the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea in 1964, renaming the venue the Sunset Theatre. In 2003, following a $22 million renovation, the [[Sunset Center]] re-opened with the 66th annual Carmel Bach Festival.<ref>{{cite web |author=SunStar Media |url=http://www.carmelcalifornia.com/index.cfm/carmel_performing_arts.htm |title=Carmel Performing Arts &#124; Carmel-by-the-Sea, California |publisher=Carmelcalifornia.com |access-date=January 7, 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130427115549/http://www.carmelcalifornia.com/index.cfm/carmel_performing_arts.htm |archive-date=April 27, 2013 }}</ref>

In 1949, the first [[Forest Theater|Forest Theater Guild]] was organized. For most of the 1960s, the outdoor theater lay unused and neglected, with the original Forest Theater Guild having ceased operations in 1961.<ref name="sfgate.com">{{cite news | url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2011/08/03/carmel_forest_theater.DTL&ao=2 | work=[[The San Francisco Chronicle#Web|SFGate]] | title=Forest Theater a 'bohemian grove' for Shakespeare fans – Page 2 of 2 | date=August 2, 2011 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120310130333/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fg%2Fa%2F2011%2F08%2F03%2Fcarmel_forest_theater.DTL | archive-date=March 10, 2012 | df=mdy-all }}</ref> In 1968, Marcia Hovick's Children's Experimental Theater leased the indoor theater and continued until 2010. In 1972, a new Forest Theater Guild was incorporated and continues to produce musicals, adding a film series in 1997.<ref name="sfgate.com" />