This evening I enjoyed a walk through beautiful Balboa Park. As I approached the Spreckels Organ Pavilion, I heard the rhythmic beat of drums. I’d stumbled upon something wonderful and unexpected!
The House of Mexico, of Balboa Park’s House of Pacific Relations International Cottages, was having a celebration!
I lingered for a while and took a few photos…
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I walked past the Ion Theatre in Hillcrest early this afternoon. I’d planned to take some pics of their cool new street mural, which I’d seen several times while heading up Sixth Avenue.
Not only did I get photos of the mural, but I caught some folks setting up for the Ion Theatre Company’s big outdoor I’ll Take Manhattan gala!
The eye-popping black-and-white photomosaic, I was told, is composed of images from Ion’s 72 productions over their 10 years of history. Ion Theatre has become an important cultural presence in San Diego. According to their mission statement, they are dedicated to “forging bold, vital, diverse new work…powerful, provocative new plays from emerging playwrights… (and reimagining) classics using the lens of theatrical innovation…”
Support local artists and check out their website!
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Rubber chickens were flying this afternoon. There seemed to be a whole flock of them at the Seaport Village Spring Busker Festival! The event continues into this evening, and then more acts follow tomorrow. If you’re in San Diego, check it out!
My favorite performer was Murrugun the Mystic. This is why.
All of the buskers were fantastic! Many of these pics were taken from a bit of a distance, but they provide a taste of the fun…
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This afternoon in Balboa Park’s Spreckels Organ Pavilion, a very large crowd of people heard the singing of angels.
The great grandchildren of Captain and Maria von Trapp were live on stage, performing beautiful, exquisitely harmonized vocals during this Sunday’s free organ concert. Almost everyone loves the classic film The Sound of Music, which was based on the real life musical family’s escape from Nazi occupied Austria. Sofi, Melanie, Amanda, and August von Trapp are the grandchildren of Werner von Trapp, who was portrayed in the movie as Kurt, the youngest child. The four young musicians have obviously inherited the von Trapp magic.
The quartet of siblings have performed around the world to critical acclaim, appearing in the world’s top concert venues and on many major television shows. We in San Diego were truly fortunate to be graced with their music…and on a sunny, perfect day!
The von Trapps performed eight incredible numbers: Dream a Little Dream of Me; the old German folk song Die Dorfmusik (which was made famous by the German group Comedian Harmonists before being disbanded by the Nazis, because some members were Jewish); Storm, an original composition written by the group while living in Portland, Oregon and performed a cappella ; French pop musician Françoise Madeleine Hardy’s well known Le Premier Bonheur du Jour; The Sound of Music, by Rodgers & Hammerstein; Hushabye Mountain from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang; a new piece (I missed the name) sung with ukelele from their upcoming album, due to be released on April 14; and, of course, Edelweiss. The four voices were so pure, so buoyant, so uplifting, and melded so deliciously, a standing ovation erupted.
Wow!
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I saw on television that the Dr. Seuss Christmas tree in Balboa Park’s theatre complex was officially lighted a few days ago. I missed the event! Darn it! It looked like a whole lot of fun!
During my walk this morning, I decided to swing past San Diego’s famous Old Globe Theatre and check things out. It looks like all the colorful holiday decorations are up, and everything’s ready for the big Balboa Park December Nights festival in a couple weeks.
How The Grinch Stole Christmas has played at the Globe for seventeen consecutive seasons. Theodor Geisel, better known as much-beloved children’s author Dr. Seuss, lived in nearby La Jolla, a beautiful neighborhood just north of downtown San Diego.
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Those who attended last Sunday’s free concert at Balboa Park’s Spreckels Organ Pavilion enjoyed a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
According to Dale Sorenson, Co-Curator of the Spreckels Organ, this is the first time he’s seen San Diego’s historic outdoor organ without the facade pipes. These big pipes, which interfere with the sound from the organ’s many other interior pipes and instruments, have been removed temporarily. They are in the process of being gilded–not with gold leaf, which is very expensive and a long tedious process, but with mica. The renovation is in preparation for the Balboa Park Centennial celebration. A very special concert will be presented this New Year’s Eve, on the organ’s one hundredth birthday!
Without the facade pipes, last weekend’s concert was heard at full power! Among the majestic pieces played by San Diego Civic Organist Dr. Carol Williams were Toccata, Symphonie V by Charles-Marie Widor, Prelude in B minor, BWV 544 by J. S. Bach, and Te Deum by Charles Tournemire.
Here are some behind the scenes photos of the organ, from outside and from within!
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It’s going to be chilly and drizzly today, so I might not be going out for my customary walk. Instead, I thought I’d share a few photos of downtown’s beautiful Balboa Theatre that I took at various times last summer.
The Balboa Theatre has a long and interesting history. Built in 1924 as a vaudeville and movie palace, the large multi-story building containing offices overlooking Fourth Avenue has undergone a complex series of transformations. During World War II, it was used to house sailors waiting to ship out from San Diego. At one point the aging building was saved from demolition; finally it was nominated to the National Register of Historic Places. In 2008, the Balboa Theatre reopened after a thorough remodel, and it is now considered one of the foremost performance venues in the world. It was recently named by CNN Travel as one of the world’s 15 most spectacular theatres! Not bad!
Here are a few more pics of the exterior. I often steer my feet so that I walk past this beautiful building!
One more pic I added on a later date:
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The Trolley Dances, a unique event put on by the San Diego Dance Theater, is being held this year at downtown’s City College. I live a short walk away, so I figured I’d head that way this morning before it became too hot. (We’re experiencing mild but very toasty Santa Ana weather here in Southern California.) I thought that perhaps I could snap a few pics as a casual bystander.
The Trolley Dances involves a mobile audience, which walks from venue to venue. The dances are staged in some of the most unexpected public places. Every year the locations change.
I was successful! These photos are of the third “stage” of the 2014 Trolley Dances…
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I must confess I’ve never seen a show at the historic Spreckels Theatre. I do occasionally sit at a table in the building’s Grand Lobby. On a quiet Saturday I’ll eat lunch and write while watching pedestrians pass down the Broadway sidewalk, just outside the glass doors.
The mixed-use Spreckels Theater Building was built in 1912 and has been a cool sight in downtown San Diego for over a hundred years. While the upper stories are occupied by numerous small offices, the theatre itself was built as a 1,915-seat auditorium with an ornate Baroque interior. Over the decades, the theatre has also served as a vaudeville house and movie palace. Famous performers at the theatre have included Enrico Caruso, John Barrymore, Al Jolson, Will Rogers, and Abbott and Costello. In 1978, when Balboa Park’s famous Old Globe Theatre was destroyed by fire, the Spreckels was used as a temporary stage for the Globe. Today, as a live presentation venue, the Spreckels Theatre attracts many diverse attractions, including concerts, comedy shows, and dance and theatrical productions.
The six-story building, designed by Harrison Albright with influences from the Chicago School style of architecture, was built by philanthropist John D. Spreckels, a name you might have noted elsewhere on my blog. Spreckels was a wealthy sugar heir and leading San Diego entrepreneur. He wanted the building to commemorate the opening of the Panama Canal, much like the Panama-California Exposition, that would be held in Balboa Park in 1915.
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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.
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.
Cool San Diego Sights! 