Wow! Look what’s coming up at the Marie Hitchcock Puppet Theater in Balboa Park! It’s Leo and the Science Project!
If you have young children and you’ve never been to the Marie Hitchcock Puppet Theater, you’re missing out on a long-time San Diego tradition and tons of happy fun.
This coming show looks awesome! Its description: The Magic Jacket Kids are back! Join Leo, Zhuri, and Elijah as they create fun science projects for school and learn that when they work together, everyone succeeds!
(I hope these smiling characters succeed better than my poor attempts at Science Fair way back when!)
Leo and the Science Project will be presented February 21 to 23, and February 28 to March 2. Showtimes are 11 am, 1 pm and 3 pm. Grab a ticket at the box office window in front when you arrive!
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San Diego’s world-famous Old Globe performed Shakespeare’s play As You Like It today at downtown’s Central Library! It was just one stop during the 2024 Globe for All Tour, which brings fine theatrical performances to various economically, geographically, and culturally diverse communities throughout San Diego County, and even south of the border in Tijuana, Mexico.
I went to the free show, not knowing what it might be like, and WOW–what absolute fun!
The crazy, mixed-up play about rivalry, misunderstandings and triumphant love was full of physical comedy and outrageous action! The story included occasional audience participation (including holding up butterflies that we made), surprising and funny pop culture references, and even some spoken lines in Spanish. We in the audience were laughing much of the time. I loved the hilarious WWE-style wrestling match between the brothers Oliver and Orlando!
The experience was even more awesome because the professional acting, taking place in the library’s Shiley Special Events Suite, could be experienced up close and personal–just a few feet from the chairs where we sat. When the actors went “offstage” to corners of the room we could watch them, even as they changed costume.
After the conclusion of As You Like It, the audience was invited to make comments and ask questions of the cast.
Actress Emma Svitil (smiling in my first and final photo) played Phoebe. She explained that Shakespeare is loved to this day because his works tap into universal truths about humanity. He addresses love, friendship, the struggle for power, etc. His plays can be easily adapted to the times we live in. The Bard’s ingenious wordplay is amusing, too!
Everyone should take advantage of the free Globe for All Tour. Young people (and certain adults like myself) might not comprehend every word of Shakespeare’s centuries-old language, but the super expressive acting speaks for itself!
To see if there are upcoming performances of As You Like It in your community, click here.
Photography is prohibited during the performance, so I took these beforehand. The pics are of some actors and props. (As you can see, the Central Library’s ninth floor special events suite has amazing views of downtown San Diego!)
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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
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Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) was celebrated today by the Old Globe in San Diego’s Balboa Park. Lots of family-friendly activities and theatrical performances were enjoyed by the public in the Old Globe’s outdoor Copley Plaza!
I enjoyed the first performance of this magical event: actors portraying Mexican folk passed through the audience, came to a grave in front of a beautiful Día de los Muertos altar, and summoned the spirit of a deceased loved one. The spirit came and danced with them, before finally departing.
The event would go on to feature other performances, including a puppet play and Drummers Without Borders. My camera captured their smiles before I headed off, as you can see in the final two photos.
Learn more about the Old Globe’s very colorful Day of the Dead event on their web page here.
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
Building 178 at Liberty Station in Point Loma was once a popular destination for Navy recruits. As recreation center for the old Naval Training Center San Diego, it provided a variety of activities for sailors. The sizable building contained a bowling alley and a disco!
Today Building 178 is a bit torn up. I noticed this while wandering around Liberty Station, waiting for a San Diego Bird Alliance event to begin on Sunday.
As I circled the former Navy recreation center, which was built in 1942, I took photos of informative banners attached to the construction fence. They indicate Building 178 is to become the Joan and Irwin Jacobs Performing Arts Center, new home of the Cygnet Theatre.
The Cygnet Theatre is presently located in Old Town. They’ll be moving to much larger digs as soon at this major renovation is completed!
Historic Preservation Fund…Save America’s Treasures Grants…Renovation of Naval Building 178 into a world-class performing arts venue…This project is being supported in part by a grant awarded by the National Park Service, Department of the Interior.
A bright new future for Building 178…The Joan & Irwin Jacobs Performing Arts Center…Future home of Cygnet Theatre…In partnership with NTC Foundation
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
Walk into The Old Globe theatre complex in Balboa Park and you’ll observe the sculpture of a golden crown. You’ll also pass rows of festive banners and signs. Their colorful graphics tell the story of The Old Globe’s special Henry 6 Project.
The Henry 6 Project has engaged the people of San Diego with groundbreaking community outreach. Not only can the public enjoy a new adaptation of Shakespeare’s several Henry VI plays, but as one of the graphics explains: The Globe’s radically inclusive vision opened every step of the creative process to the citizens of San Diego, weaving them into the fabric of the production not only with performance opportunities, but also through innovative, direct collaborations on nearly all elements of the production design.
Last week I photographed some of these signs and banners. Read the photo captions to learn a little more about the Henry 6 Project. Better yet, head over to beautiful Balboa Park and see all of this for yourself!
The world premiere of Henry 6 at The Old Globe is a two-part adaptation of Henry VI, titled One: Flowers and France and Two: Riot and Reckoning.
To read about this unique production on The Old Globe’s website, click here!
Director Barry Edelstein’s adaptation, Henry 6, is made by, with, and for the community of San Diego.The Old Globe’s Reflecting Shakespeare program works with individuals who are incarcerated, formerly incarcerated, or justice-involved, and provides a vehicle for healthy interaction, reflection, creativity, and personal growth…Community workshops explore scenic design. Other workshops and activities concern sound, lighting and costume design and music. Nearly 200 individuals were filmed for crowd scenes projected in the production of Henry 6.38 plays over 89 years. With this summer’s production of Henry 6, The Old Globe completes the Shakespeare canon…and (has) joined a small and select list of American companies to have achieved this feat…The Globe For All Shakespeare tour was designed for on-the-road performances to be enjoyed by audiences throughout San Diego County and in Tijuana. Performed free of charge in non-theatrical venues…these productions give audiences an intimate and compelling professional theatrical experience.
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
Have you ever wondered why the Ghirardelli Ice Cream & Chocolate Shop in San Diego’s historic Gaslamp Quarter has an old-fashioned theater marquee? That’s because the building, erected in 1912, was originally a movie theater!
The Casino Theatre at 643 Fifth Avenue opened in 1913 and was one of several movie theaters in the Gaslamp that provided entertainment for ever-changing audiences over the decades. In the 1930s it was remodeled into the Art Deco style. Here’s an image from the 40s, with the Casino Café “Lunch” restaurant located next door, offering breakfast, waffles and steaks.
In the 1950s and 60s, The Casino and its movie theater neighbors at Fifth and G Street–The Aztec and The Savoy–would be open all night and show 3 big features, according to a comment here. Slowly these old theaters would fall as television’s popularity rose.
In the 1970s, while the Gaslamp neighborhood experienced urban decay, The Casino Theatre began to show X-rated movies, along with the other nearby theaters. I’ve been told sailors made up much of the clientele.
Here’s a gallery of photos of the The Casino Theatre over many years. Some of the titles you’ll read in the marquee are a bit salacious!
I hadn’t realized the marquee was seen in Marty Feldman’s 1980 movie In God We Tru$t. That image can be viewed here.
Today you’ll find a plaque near the historic building’s front entrance:
The Casino Theatre, 1912
The first theatre to be built with the new building ordinance for fire safety. It had two doors near the stage for fire escape and a five-foot-wide exterior passage on both sides and the rear for the protection of other buildings in case of fire. However, two years after construction, the northern passage was occupied by a food stand, and the southern passage contained a shoe shining establishment.
Temptation of a different sort! In a historic Gaslamp Quarter that now attracts loads of tourists, the colorfully lit old marquee teases you with ice cream, chocolate and hot fudge sundaes!
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
The annual Fringe Festival returns this week to San Diego!
For a stretch of 11 days, unusual, innovative, sometimes bizarre performances by relative unknowns will be enjoyed at venues in Balboa Park and across San Diego!
Bad Behavior. Messes Solo Circus. I Need a Beer. Puppet Bash. Kid Goblin. Taptastic. Spiked Punch. Pirates of Hamlet. These are some of the numerous theatrical acts that you’ll be able to enjoy with the purchase of affordable tickets. Proceeds go entirely to the artists!
The two main venues for the Fringe Festival in 2024 are the Marie Hitchcock Puppet Theater and the Centro Cultural de la Raza in Balboa Park. Tickets can be purchased outside each show or online.
I’ve randomly bought tickets to several shows in the past, not knowing what to expect. I noted the actors are all striving hard to achieve success. The performances can be a bit unpolished or crazy or unconventional, but they’re super creative and fun!
To see the full lineup and schedule, and detailed information about this wonderful festival, click here!
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!
Stunning. Powerful. I’m not sure how I can adequately describe one performance today at the La Jolla Playhouse WOW Festival.
Two acrobatic dancers from the Taiwanese circus troupe 0471 Acro Physical Theatre in their performance of Duo acted out the passion and turmoil of love. The crowd watching in UCSD’s Revelle Plaza was completely mesmerized.
Not only was the performing couple incredibly athletic, but they convincingly displayed the many emotions of troubled but enduring love. There was reluctance, passion, the pushing away, the pulling together. There were moments of sky reaching ecstasy.
There was interesting symbolism, too. It seemed to me the clothing they carried and displayed at times was symbolic of an ideal partner as lovers might see it. But the hesitation, indecision, conflict, resentment and other emotions made the actors, whirling about without that fancy clothing, more human, more true. Through the motion of their bodies, they transmitted their inner impulses and desires.
How the two acrobats could expressively move and fly about for half an hour nonstop was jaw-dropping. I thought their acting was even more impressive. It expressed what love is.
I saw people in the audience with hands over their heart.
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!
This coming Thursday–March 28, 2024–the Balboa Theatre in downtown San Diego will have been opened for 100 years!
Those walking down the sidewalk past the historic building might notice some intriguing graphics that celebrate the big anniversary.
Look at my first photograph, taken this morning. Beside the stage door on Fourth Avenue you can see promotional material from 1924.
The Opening Night of San Diego’s Newest Motion Picture House Finished at Cost of $800,000 would feature Lilies of the Field. The film’s stars, Conway Tearle and Corinne Griffith, would also make a personal appearance.
Over the course of a century, the Balboa Theatre has undergone many changes, all the while remaining an important part of life in downtown San Diego.
Additional graphics along the sidewalk tell more of the Balboa Theatre’s unique story:
The Balboa Theatre’s Famous Morton Organ
…The organ has more than 1400 keys and is connected to a series of 2,000 pipes that produce the sounds of a range of musical instruments, including drums, trumpets, and a xylophone!
Because of its unusually ornate “wedding cake” console carvings and unique details, the Balboa ‘s is believe to be the first of only five Wonder Morton Organs ever built and one of only four that survive today…
Balboa Theatre organist Edward Swan, who provides organ accompaniment for up to 12 hours every day, claimed that the Morton organ was the finest he had ever played.
In 1929, the original Balboa Theatre organ was relocated to the Fox Theatre, now Copley Symphony Hall.
The 4-manual, 23-rank Wonder Morton Organ currently installed at the Balboa was constructed in 1929 for the Loew’s Valencia Theatre on Jamaica Avenue in Queens…
There will be a special showing at the Balboa Theatre this Friday to celebrate the big 100 year anniversary. The Flying Fleet, a 1929 silent movie that features scenes in San Diego, will be accompanied by the current Wonder Morton theatre pipe organ.
You can learn more about the event by clicking here!
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!
The Balboa Theatre in downtown San Diego is celebrating its centennial. The old vaudeville/movie theatre opened in 1924, survived a threatened demolition, and has experienced a beautiful restoration. Today the Balboa Theatre is a popular concert and event venue whose splendid interior and pipe organ recalls what entertainment was like in San Diego a century ago.
I’ve learned a special event is coming on Friday, March 29, that honors both the historic theater’s centennial and San Diego’s military. The Flying Fleet, a silent movie released in 1929, will be returning to life, accompanied by the Wonder Morton theatre pipe organ played by Ken Double.
Much of The Flying Fleet was filmed in San Diego. Scenes depict two love smitten pilots training at Naval Air Station North Island. The romantic drama includes action from the United States Navy’s first aircraft carrier USS Langley! You might consider The Flying Fleet a melodramatic prequel to Top Gun!
Is your budget feeling stressed? Tickets are a whopping $3.50!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!
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