Wikipedia

Edward G. Kuster

Edward Gerhard Kuster (August 15, 1878 – September 1961) was a musician and attorney from Los Angeles for twenty-one years before coming to Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, in 1921. He became involved in theater there and established his own theatre and school. He built the Theatre of the Golden Bough in 1924, and a second and third theater, each called Golden Bough Playhouse, the last of which opened in 1952. Kuster directed 85 plays and acted in more than 50 roles in the 35 years he lived in Carmel.

Edward G. Kuster
Born
Edward Gerhard Kuster

(1878-08-15)August 15, 1878
Terre Haute, Indiana, US
DiedSeptember 1961(1961-09-00) (aged 83)
Lugano, Switzerland
Alma materUniversity of Southern California
Occupation(s)Attorney, theatrical producer
Spouses
Una Lindsay Call
​
​
(m. 1903; div. 1913)​
Edith June Emmons
​
​
(m. 1913; div. 1920)​
Ruth E. McDowell
​
​
(m. 1920; div. 1928)​
Gabrielle Young-Hunter
​
​
(m. 1928)​
Children3

Early life and marriages

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Kuster was born on August 15, 1878, in Terre Haute, Indiana. He was the son of Charles Edward Kuster (1842–1915), a German-born Los Angeles, California, physician, and Emma Eshman (died 1905).[1] His parents took Kuster to the theatre at an early age.[2] The family moved to Los Angeles in July 1886, where Kuster attended public schools for three years. The family went to Germany where Kuster attended the Hoehere Burger school in Berlin until 1892.[1] He returned to Los Angeles and finished high school in 1896, studying the cello and becoming an avid theatre buff.[2] He went to the University of Southern California (USC) and graduated in 1900 with a degree of Bachelor of Laws.[1] Kuster also became an early automobile enthusiast.[2]

Kuster married Una Lindsay Call on May 31, 1902, in San Andreas, California.[2] Una earned her Bachelor of Arts at USC in 1908 and her Master's in philosophy in 1910. She and Robinson Jeffers, a medical student, became romantically involved. By 1912 the affair became a public scandal, reaching the front page of the Los Angeles Times. She and Kuster divorced in 1913, and she married Jeffers.[3][4] Kuster married Edith June Emmons on August 1, 1913, in Bakersfield, California.[1] They separated in 1918, and were divorced in 1920.[5]

Kuster married Ruth E. McDowell in 1920.[3] They moved to Carmel where, inspired by castles from his trip to Germany, he and his wife designed and built a small Medieval European-style stone castle in 1920; it was made of granite stones brought up from the Carmel beach.[6][7] The Jeffers had preceded the Kusters there, and the two couples became great friends.[3][8] He married Gabrielle Young-Hunter, daughter of Mary Young Hunter, in Germany in 1928.[9]

Career

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Kuster passed the California Bar Examination on March 13, 1902, joined the law office of Graves, O'Helveny & Shankland and worked there until 1903. He became the chief clerk for attorney H. W. O'Melveny until 1906 and then practiced law privately in Los Angeles, specializing in railroad rate cases, for example the Switching Case that was heard before the Interstate Commerce Commission in 1908.[1] He joined Joseph P. Loeb in the practice of law, and in 1908, they, along with brother Leon Loeb, formed the law firm of Kuster, Loeb & Loeb.[10] In May 1911, Kuster left the law office.[11] Meanwhile, he began acting in small parts at Los Angele's Majestic Theater in his spare time. He also played cello in the Los Angeles Symphony and became a stage manager and learned lighting at the Denishawn school.[12][13]

Kuster, with Perry Newberry, became involved with the Carmel Arts and Crafts Club. In 1921, he composed and orchestrated the music for the Irish play, The Countess Cathleen, directed by Herbert Heron, at Forest Theater.[14] After the success of the play, the board of the Forest Theater Society elected him president of the board. In July 1922, he directed the play Caesar and Cleopatra. His wife Ruth played Cleopatra.[15][12]

During World War I Kuster left his law practice and enlisted in the Coast Guard. During a spell of influenza he was discharged from military service and spent six months in Hawaii.[16]

First Golden Bough Theatre

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Kuster's Golden Bough teaching staff, including Ruth and Edward Kuster, 2nd couple on right

In 1923, Kuster built the Theatre of the Golden Bough.[16] It opened on June 3, 1924, at almost the time as the Arts and Crafts Theater, the first two indoor theatres in Carmel. Kuster built the Carmel Weavers Studio in front of the theatre, for his wife Ruth in September 1922 (now Cottage of Sweets).[17][18] Kuster had Michael J. Murphy build the Seven Arts Shop in a Tudor Storybook style in 1923 next to the Golden Bough theatre and hired Gottried to build Sade's nearby.[12][19][20]

In 1926, Kuster obtained the first U.S. rights to The Threepenny Opera seven years before it opened on Broadway. He was criticized, when he put on the plays They Knew What They Wanted and Beggar on Horseback.[12][21] Maurice Browne and wife Ellen Van Volkenburg directed its the theatre's acting school.[13][22] In 1927, Kuster studied theatre production techniques in Berlin and Munich for a year.[12][13] During Great Depression, Kuster had to lease out the theatre for a period of five years, which then operated as a movie theatre.[23][24]

In 1929, Kuster purchased the struggling Arts and Crafts Theater and the Carmel Arts and Crafts Club. He remodeled the theatre facility and renamed it the Studio Theatre of the Golden Bough. He then moved all his plays concerts, traveling theatre groups, lectures and other theatre activities to the renamed Studio Theatre.[22]

Fires and rebuilding

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Further information: Golden Bough Playhouse
 
Golden BoughTheatre Fire in 1935

In 1935, Kuster renegotiated his lease with the movie tenants to perform a stage play one weekend each month. On May 17, 1935, at the Golden Bough, Kuster opened his adaptation of the Austrian comedy By Candlelight, by Siegfried Geyer [de] and Karl Farkas. Two nights later, the theatre was destroyed by fire. Arson was suspected. Kuster left Carmel and opened a 200-seat Golden Bough Playhouse in San Francisco, where he had produced plays at the San Francisco School of Theater from 1932 to 1934.[16] He directed two seasons for the Fresno Players; his By Candlelight was the opening bill in October 1937 of the Golden Bough Theatre Guild's fall and winter season. He and his wife, Gabrielle, were in the cast.[25] In 1938, labor union problems forced him to give up the project. Later that year he moved to Hollywood for two years as the personal assistant to Max Reinhardt. While there, he taught classes and directed English and American plays in Reinhardt's Theatre Workshop.[26]

In 1940, Kuster moved his film operation to Carmel and called it the Filmarte Group. He also restarted the Carmel Arts and Crafts Theatre, renaming it the Golden Bough Playhouse and again put on plays, foreign films, and movies. For two summers, 1940 and 1941, he directed the Golden Bough School of Theatre.[16] Kuster revived By Candlelight on May 16, 1949. However, on May 21, this second Golden Bough also burned down. Once again, arson was suspected.[27] The production moved to the Sunset School Auditorium.[28]

Kuster built a two-theater facility on the site. A third Golden Bough facility was built. The facility opened on October 2, 1952, with a Monterey Symphony Orchestra concert.[23] On May 18, 1956, Kuster ended his thirty-five years of acting and directing by appearing as Grandpere in the play The Happy Time.[16]

Death

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Kuster died, at age 83, in Lugano, Ticino, Switzerland, while traveling with his wife in Europe. He was buried in Lugano. Gabrielle returned to Carmel Valley, California. She died in August 1978.[29]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Guinn, James Miller (1915). "Biographical". Historic Record Company. p. 371. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d Hotelling, Neal. "Some things never change: LA lawyer greeted with suspicion", The Carmel Pine Cone, January 8, 2021, pp. 27A–28A
  3. ^ a b c Karman, James (1915). Robinson Jeffers Poet and Prophet. Stanford University Press. p. 17. ISBN 9780804795500. Retrieved April 2, 2022.
  4. ^ "Love's Gentle Alchemy To Wed Broken Lives". Los Angeles Times. February 28, 1913. p. 17. Retrieved April 3, 2022.
  5. ^ "Edward Kuster Given Divorce". Los Angeles Times. April 10, 1920. p. 15. Retrieved April 1, 2022.
  6. ^ Dramov, Alissandra (2016). Historic Homes and Inns of Carmel-by-the-Sea. Arcadia Publishing Incorporated. p. 32. ISBN 9781439656747. Retrieved February 11, 2023.
  7. ^ Paul, Linda Leigh (2000). "Kuster/Meyer House". Cottages by the Sea, The Handmade Homes of Carmel, America's First Artist Community. Carmel-by-the-Sea, California: Universe. pp. 64–69. ISBN 9780789304957. Retrieved April 5, 2023.
  8. ^ "Planners OK Carmel Point mansion". Monterey Herald. March 13, 2008. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
  9. ^ "The late Gabrielle Kuster: "She was herself the poem"". The Carmel Pine Cone. Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. August 17, 1978. Retrieved April 3, 2022.
  10. ^ "Joseph Loeb, Attorney, Dies". Los Angeles Times. July 20, 1974. p. 24. Retrieved December 15, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ Bates, Joseph Clement (1912). "History of the Bench and Bar of California". Bench and Bar Publishing Company. Retrieved April 3, 2022.
  12. ^ a b c d e Hale, Sharron Lee (1980). A Tribute to Yesterday: The History of Carmel, Carmel Valley, Big Sur, Point Lobos, Carmelite Monastery, and Los Burros. Santa Cruz, California: Valley Publishers. p. 83. ISBN 9780913548738. Retrieved March 18, 2022.
  13. ^ a b c Gilliam, Harold; Gilliam, Ann (1992). Creating Carmel: The Enduring Vision. Salt Lake City: Peregrine Smith Books. pp. 134–136. ISBN 9780879053970. Retrieved March 21, 2022.
  14. ^ "Forest Theater To Present An Irish Play". The Californian. Salinas, California. August 17, 1921. p. 5. Retrieved April 1, 2022.
  15. ^ "Carmelites Stage Caesar And Make Hit". The San Francisco Examiner. San Francisco, California. July 3, 1922. p. 3. Retrieved April 1, 2022.
  16. ^ a b c d e Watkins, Rolin G.; Hoyle, Millard F. (1925). History of Monterey, Santa Cruz and San Benito Counties, California: Biographical. Illinois: S.J. Clarke. pp. 370–371. Retrieved January 28, 2024.
  17. ^ "Ocean Avenue to Have Another New Building". Monterey Daily Cypress and Monterey American. Monterey, California. September 13, 1922. p. 1. Retrieved April 7, 2022.
  18. ^ "The Weavers of Carmel". Oakland Tribune. Oakland, California. November 19, 1922. p. 64. Retrieved April 4, 2022.
  19. ^ Dramov, Alissandra (2019). Historic Buildings of Downtown Carmel-by-the-Sea. Carmel-by-the-Sea, California: Arcadia Publishing. p. 77. ISBN 9781467103039. Retrieved April 4, 2022.
  20. ^ Seavey, Kent (2007). Carmel, A History in Architecture. Carmel-by-the-Sea, California: Arcadia Pub. p. 74. ISBN 9780738547053. Retrieved April 4, 2022.
  21. ^ Flower, Richard (2014). "Edward Kuster and The Threepenny Opera". Stories of old Carmel: A Centennial Tribute From The Carmel Residents Association. Carmel-by-the-Sea, California: Carmel Residents Assoc. pp. 105–106. OCLC 940565140.
  22. ^ a b Hudson, Monica (2006). Carmel-by-the-sea. Carmel-by-the-Sea, California: Arcadia. pp. 29–30. ISBN 9780738531229. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
  23. ^ a b Temple, Sydney (1987). Carmel By-The-Sea: From Aborigines to Coastal Commission. Angel Press. pp. 137–154. ISBN 0-912216-32-8.
  24. ^ Grimes, Teresa; Heumann, Leslie. "Historic Context Statement Carmel-by-the-Sea" (PDF). Leslie Heumann and Associates1994. p. 42. Retrieved January 18, 2022.
  25. ^ "'By Candlelight' Will Be Presented". The San Francisco Examiner. San Francisco, California. October 13, 1937. p. 20. Retrieved April 3, 2022.
  26. ^ "Hncendiarism Hinted In Carmel Theatre Blaze; Losses Huge". The Californian. Salinas, Californi a. May 20, 1935. p. 1. Retrieved April 2, 2022.
  27. ^ ""By Candlelight" Is Jinx, Fire Destroys Carmel's Golden Bough Theater". The Californian. Salinas, California. May 21, 1949. p. 1. Retrieved April 3, 2022.
  28. ^ "Golden Bough Players Present "By Candlelight"". The Californian. Salinas, California. May 28, 1949. p. 12. Retrieved April 3, 2022.
  29. ^ "Edward G. Kuster Reminisces". Harrison Memorial Library. Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. May 31, 1960. Retrieved April 1, 2022.
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