The Mission Playhouse is thrilled to announce that, for the third year in a row, we are participating in the Los Angeles County Arts Commission (LACAC) Internship Program! LACAC is providing funding for two full-time paid summer interns at the playhouse: a Historical Costume Intern and a Programming/Marketing Intern.

The “Historical Costume Intern” will work with the Mission Play costume collection that was unearthed in the Playhouse attic in 2015. The historical background for this project began in 1912, when LA Times journalist, John Steven McGroarty, wrote the epic Mission Play. First performed in 1913, on an outdoor stage near the San Gabriel Mission, the performances moved to the newly constructed San Gabriel Mission Playhouse in 1927. By the end of the play’s run in 1945, there had been over 3000 performances, to at least 2.5 million people!

During this span of 33 years, McGroarty’s wife Ida designed most of the beautiful costumes for the cast of 150 actors, dancers, and musicians. From rough-cloth robes for Franciscan Monks, delicately beaded and fringed suede garments for Native American children, to sequin-adorned skirts and brass buttoned trousers for the Spanish Dancers, the costumes were an integral and celebrated part of the lavish productions.