These two July 1956 images show the flags that lined the path into San Diego’s Balboa Park for the inaugural Fiesta del Pacifico. According to the SD Union-Tribune, it began on July 18, 1956, and was a
Spanish-flavored summertime promotion built around an outdoor pageant in Balboa Stadium called, “The California Story.” The pageant featured 1,300 performers in a retelling of California history in two acts, with music by Meredith Willson.
In the first photo, you’ll notice the little A-Frame promoting Robin Hood, which was being performed at the Starlight Theater in Balboa Park for the 1956 Summer Season:
This 1950s image shows the San Diego Museum of Art and a number of vintage autos:
The below shot shows the Home Economy Building from the 1915 Exposition that once stood to the right of the Museum:
It was torn down in 1963 and replaced by the Timken Museum of Art (shown below). I’m not sure why they chose this contemporary design which stands out like a sore thumb from the rest of the Exposition structures, but I would guess that someone from the Frank L. Hope and Associates architectural firm wanted to put their personal stamp on it. And they sure did. At least the art inside is stellar.
See more Balboa Park in San Diego photos at my main website.
The Hollywood Bowl is a familiar venue, with its distinctive Art Deco concentric circle design. Above is an image from 1954, showing the design iteration from Allied Architects Association, which was a colation of LA-based talent who designed public buildings. This design lasted until 2003. Below is a 1955 shot of the Starlight Bowl, located in San Diego’s Balboa Park. While the design is obviously more angular, one can’t help but come to the conclusion that it was inspired by its northern Hollywood neighbor.
Here’s the Starlight Bowl’s history from the Save Starlight website, which does prove a connection for its acoustic design with the Hollywood Bowl:
The Starlight Bowl was built in 1935 for the 1935-36 California International Pacific Exposition in Balboa Park. Designed by architect Richard S. Requa, who was the lead architect of the 1935 Expo. The bowl’s acoustical engineering was by Vern D. Knudsen, who also helped design Hollywood Bowl.
Originally called The Ford Bowl the amphitheater was built in tandem with the Ford Building (now the San Diego Air & Space Museum) as a showcase for Ford vehicles. Symphony concerts were held out of the bowl, and broadcast live from coast to cost. This was considered the artistic peak of the exposition.
After the expo closed, the symphony continued to perform regularly in the Ford Bowl along with various other events and vaudeville performances. In the late 1940’s after the Navy had taken over the park during World War II, the city renamed the facility the “Balboa Bowl” In 1946, a group of local operetta fans incorporated as the San Diego Civic Light Opera and using the title “Star-Light” they had begun performing light opera and musical comedy. The Bowl was always very popular during this time in the 40’s and 50’s, as the place to be and be seen in San Diego.
In 1955, the shows presented at the Balboa Bowl were The Mikado, Wonderful Town, Brigadoon, Kiss Me Kate, Song of Norway, and South Pacific (sorry, couldn't find a program for that one!).
Back to Save Starlight:
In 1984 “Starlight Bowl” became the official name of the facility and, the following year a major addition was designed by architect Gerald Garapich for $2 million including a stage house for proper handling of scenery (“the green box”). Soon thereafter, though, the company began a long slide away from prosperity and into deficit. Productions were cancelled and entire seasons followed. Occasional revivals faded away until September 2010, when the last scheduled show was presented. Therefore the bowl fell into neglect.
The neglect can be seen in the below photos I shot back in 2017:
That 1984 Green Box really spoiled the architectural beauty of the Bowl:
One of the main reasons the Bowl lost popularity were the loud planes that flew directly overhead, either forcing pauses in plays or drowning out whatever was going on at the time.
The commemorative sign that was placed outside the Bowl:
Recently, Save Starlight had some good news to report:
Save Starlight now holds exclusive negotiating rights with the City of San Diego to secure a long-term lease for the Starlight Bowl. This is a monumental milestone that brings us significantly closer to making renovations and full-scale programming a reality. That said, the process of securing the lease and starting physical renovations will still take several more months. In the meantime, we continue to incur operating expenses—everything from planning and legal fees to outreach, grant writing, and administrative costs.
Can it be saved? Will the already financially strapped City invest money in a venue that is located directly in the flight path of the airport? All will be revealed, as the saying goes.
In the video below, you can see a clip of the Rolling Stones playing at the Starlight in 1964. Edited from the description:
This News 8 archive footage unearthed in 2021 features the Rolling Stones arriving in San Diego for their first show in America's Finest City. The concert was part of the Stones' second tour in the United States and they played at the Starlight Bowl in Balboa Park on Nov. 1, 1964. At the time, it was called the Balboa Park Bowl.
This pristine vintage video is mostly silent but captures the enthusiasm of the crowds gathered to greet Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Jones, Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts. We do get to hear the screams of the adoring fans at the show around 00:40 and even catch a few notes of their performance of the blues cover, “Walking the Dog” starting at 00:45.
At the time, drummer Charlie Watts was age 23. Mick Jagger was age 21.
See more San Diego Balboa Park photos at my main website.
Although I've walked/driven by it many times, it wasn't until this month that I actually ventured a closer look at the Starlight Musical Theatre in San Diego's Balboa Park. Constructed for the 1935-1936 California Pacific International Exposition, it was originally named The Ford Bowl because the auto manufacturer sponsored the outdoor concerts that occurred there.
The venue has sat empty since 2011. Falling into disrepair and decay, it has been a blight on the landscape of San Diego's jewel.
And here you can see the largest reason why this unique theatre did not do well over the years.
Touring the area with my mom who was visiting from the other coast, there was a steady stream of noisy planes flying directly over the stage.
Not really good for hearing music or dialogue. Still, it does appear that hope is on the way in the form of "Save Starlight," an organization that is working to restore, revive and revitalize Starlight Bowl by using creative technology to address opportunities and challenges for its location and architecture.
