Starlight Bowl sign and the season that never came.
On the south side of Balboa Park, at the edge of a canyon next to the San Diego Air and Space Museum, you’ll find this rusting sign. It remains hopeful above the shuttered ticket windows of the Starlight Bowl, once home to the San Diego Civic Light Opera. The sign announces a 65th season that never came.
A couple years ago the San Diego Civic Light Opera went bankrupt. Which is a shame. For a long happy time during the warm summer months the outdoor theatre featured musicals and other popular productions. I remember watching the Pirates of Penzance and the Taming of the Shrew here when I was very young. The coolest thing I remember was how the actors would all freeze and shows would be suspended for several seconds when noisy, low-flying airplanes approaching Lindbergh field passed directly overhead.
Display glass near entrance which used to show upcoming productions is vacant.The outdoor Starlight Bowl has an audience of weeds.
I walked around to one side for a view of the beloved Starlight Bowl and held my camera above a chain link fence for the above photo. The outdoor stage now has an audience of weeds.
Side view of the Starlight Bowl, which has been sadly abandoned for years now.
Just some photos taken in Balboa Park of people enjoying life.
Glassblower at work in Balboa Park’s Spanish Village.Folks walk past fountain near Reuben H. Fleet Science Center.Girl tries to grab brass ring on Balboa Park carousel.Man plays guitar in Spanish Village gazebo.People ride the Balboa Park Miniature Railroad.Street performer plays an Australian didgeridoo.Two artists on El Prado paint colorful canvases.Two young men enjoy slacklining in Balboa Park.Boy plays with ball while man reads Balboa Park plaque.Man sails small boat near Balboa Park fountain.Handmade boat near Balboa Park fountain.
Here comes a batch of photos taken Friday afternoon and early evening at 2013 December Nights. If you haven’t been to Balboa Park’s massive holiday festival, you’re really missing out. Hundreds of thousands of people turn out during the two day event, enjoying colorful lights, decorations, music, Christmas carols, food, entertainment, and just a whole bunch of fun. Every corner of the park is crammed with stuff to see and do. And it seems half of San Diego comes out to experience it all!
Some might recall that December Nights was once called Christmas on the Prado. Fortunately, the event is as joyful, bright, inspirational and heart-warming as ever. And the crowds seem bigger than ever!
Vendors set up festive booths in courtyard in front of the Museum of Man.Front of the Old Globe Theatre features a banner of the Dr. Seuss Grinch.How the Grinch Stole Christmas holiday tree in theatre complex.Getting ready for crowds in Balboa Park’s central plaza on Friday afternoon.Funnel cakes, lemonade and kettle corn for the holidays!December Nights crowd grows in Spanish Village by late afternoon.Santa awaits beyond colorful decorations in Spanish Village.Enormous Christmas tree decorates the stage of the Spreckels Organ Pavilion.One nativity scene in the large creche at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion.Tijuana school kids dressed as vaqueros and angels wait to perform.Children perform by big Christmas tree on Spreckels Organ Pavilion stage.The December Nights fun zone rides will become more active after dark.This guy’s shirt wishes everyone a Merry Solstice.Food and yummy smells can be found all over Balboa Park.Sunset nears and the tower atop San Diego Junior Theatre building turns gold.A December day fades above Balboa Park and the clouds are tinged with color.Now the evening crowd is really growing at December Nights!Glee Club of Australia kids sing and dance in Spreckels Organ Pavilion.One of several Santas in Balboa Park.San Diego Junior Theatre kids sing Christmas carols.Balboa Park Miniature Train in front of San Diego Zoo lit with Christmas lights.Balboa Park fountain and Natural History Museum lit up for December Nights.
Santa Claus and his magical reindeer were recently seen flying through Balboa Park. A photo was snapped as he sped from the central plaza toward the Spreckels Organ Pavilion. There he is waving at happy children and thrilled park visitors!
A second photo was snapped as the reindeer lifted off into the blue San Diego sky, pulling Santa’s sleigh up and away back toward the North Pole!
Old Saint Nick has to prepare for Christmas!
UPDATE!
Santa returned the following year! Here he is!
Santa’s sleigh is back again for another Christmas in Balboa Park!The flying reindeer take once more to the San Diego sky!
This friendly guy was playing the guitar while sitting on the bridge that crosses Balboa Park’s reflecting pool. (If you can call it a bridge–it’s just a walkway, really.)
One cool feature of Balboa Park is the profusion of street performers. I got a fast pic of this magician setting up on El Prado in front of the reflecting pool. That’s the Botanical Building in the background–one of the largest wood lath structures in the world!
While I didn’t see this sleeveless magician perform last Sunday, I did savor the music of a nearby harp player and listened to a guy playing a funky didgeridoo!
UPDATE! Here’s a pic from a performance, taken on a later day:
Sleeveless magician performs card trick for rapt audience.
This Sunday afternoon’s free concert at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion featured two of this year’s Spreckels Organ Scholarship winners! The scholarship is provided by the Spreckels Organ Society to promising young organists. Both young ladies who played were terrific!
This photo was taken as I entered the pavilion. Lots of folks were out and about on this beautiful sunny day, and a fair number of people were enjoying the music on the benches.
Here’s a pic of Trinity Schulz speaking to the crowd. She then went on to play “How Firm a Foundation”.
This pic shows Suzy Webster. She played a fun “Chopsticks for Organ”, and then Prelude and Fugue in C Minor, by J.S. Bach.
An opening in a fence near Balboa Park’s theatre complex leads back south into the San Diego Museum of Art’s grassy Sculpture Garden. Step through with me!
After slowly crossing the outdoor space, gazing at interesting, often organic abstract artwork, we pause in the shade of the Sculpture Court and turn back for a photo. Here it is!
In the background, you can see the Museum of Man’s colorful dome and the California Tower. Behind us is an open air cafe.
UPDATE! Here are more photos that I took during various future visits!
California Tower high in the blue sky behind unusual, thought-provoking art.Aim I, Alexander Liberman, 1980. Biased sliced aluminum tubes.Cubi XV, David Smith, 1964-64. Stainless steel.Two Lines Oblique: San Diego, George Rickey, 1993. Stainless steel.These interesting abstract sculptures are free to view in Balboa Park.Figure for Landscape, Barbara Hepworth, 1960. Bronze.Reclining Figure: Arch Leg, Henry Moore, 1969. Bronze.Peeking through one sculpture back across the lawn.Another view of the Sculpture Garden on a day with lots of people about. In this shallow pool is Accelerated Point, made of copper, by artist Claire Falkenstein.Turning to the north, we see more artwork in the Sculpture Court.Sonata Primitive, Saul L. Baizerman, 1940-48. Copper.The May S. Marcy Sculpture Court was dedicated in 1968.Man cleans small pool containing fascinating art.This sculpture is titled Night Presence II, 1976, by artist Louise Nevelson.The cafe in San Diego Museum of Art’s unique Sculpture Court.
Here come two bonus pics taken in early 2015! A cool new eatery, Panama 66, has been operating now for many months in the Sculpture Court…
Sign directs people to Panama 66 in Balboa Park.Diners enjoy Panama 66 food and refreshment in the Sculpture Court of the San Diego Museum of Art.
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This small monument to William Shakespeare is located just across from the outdoor Lowell Davies Festival Theatre, not far from the Old Globe Theatre. The San Diego Museum of Art’s Sculpture Garden can be glimpsed in the background, beyond a fence.
The words beneath the Bard’s sculpted head and pen compose the memorable conclusion to his Sonnet 18:
“So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.”
These nearby tables in Balboa Parks’s theatre complex are a fine place to find life in the written word.
You’re looking at the Old Globe Theatre. It’s modeled after the original Globe Theatre in London, where Shakespeare enjoyed watching many plays that he’d penned. This beloved building is a popular San Diego landmark.
The Tudor-style building was originally constructed in 1935, and was first used for the California Pacific International Exposition to stage Shakespearean plays. In 1978 it was burned down by an arsonist. A nearby festival stage was quickly erected so that performances could go on, then the Old Globe was rebuilt with the generous help of many San Diegans.
Since 1949, The Old Globe has hosted an annual summer Shakespeare Festival. During the summer and winter, the theatre puts on about 15 different shows including modern plays, comedies, musicals and classics.
Many productions that originated here have gone on to Broadway. These shows have won nine Tony Awards and almost 60 nominations!
Karen and Donald Cohn Education Center next to Old Globe Theatre.
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