Commentary : In the End, Globe’s Arsonists Destroyed Only a Building

Sweet are the uses of adversity, which like the toad, ugly and venomous, wears yet a precious jewel in his head; and this our life, exempt from public haunt, finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in every thing.

--William Shakespeare

Without a doubt, the senseless arson that roared through the Old Globe Theatre on March 8, 1978, was an immediate disaster. But in the long term, from a vantage point 10 years removed, it seems clear that from those ashes in Balboa Park rose something much stronger and, perhaps, more lasting.

“I can’t really in all honesty say (the fire) is the best thing that happened to us,” Old Globe executive producer Craig Noel said recently. On the other hand, “I’m not sure if we hadn’t had the fire whether we could have raised the money for the third theater. I don’t know.”

Before 1978, the Old Globe consisted of two theaters, with total seating for about 670 people. Through the previous decade, Noel had campaigned for a third, year-round stage, arguing that the added seating was necessary if the Old Globe was to be recognized as a fully professional regional theater.

After the arsonist’s work was done, the $750,000 already raised and earmarked for a third theater was used for building a temporary outdoor stage which, in a macabre postscript to the 1978 fire, was destroyed by a second arsonist.

But from those two fateful Balboa Park blazes rose a community outrage that not only reconstructed the Old Globe but made it a new, improved Old Globe that included--to Noel’s delight--that third theater. It wasn’t the year-round stage he wanted, but no one can deny that the Old Globe is one of America’s most-respected regional theaters.

“I think the people had more or less taken the theater for granted (for more than 40 years),” Noel said. “Out of the fire have come a lot of good things.”

The outpouring of financial support for the Old Globe was immediate, and that summer in 1978, the Globe’s traditional National Shakespeare Festival was held on the newly constructed 619-seat Festival Stage in an adjacent canyon.

By the time the doors to the new Old Globe opened in 1982, revealing a computer-designed, state-of-the-art stage, the Globe had shifted into high gear. Gone was the partly amateur season, replaced by a year-round, professional operation.

Today, the Old Globe Theatre thrives, boasting a schedule that mixes classical, modern and original plays with musicals--all staged by some of the finest artists in the land.

More importantly, the Old Globe’s comeback has become a model of commitment to the rest of the local arts community. The ominous cloud of dark smoke greeting the dawn that warm day signaled the indomitability of a people--the artists and audiences who provide the real mortar for a successful theater.

Whatever the arsonists’ intentions, the result was simply the burning down of a building. San Diego’s Old Globe is no more a building than Shakespeare’s Old Globe was a building. It is a cultural spirit, a love for story-telling that has bonded societies as long as there have been stories to tell.

The Old Globe, as a name, has special meaning, of course. It means Shakespeare and Shakespeare means theater. That was undoubtedly part of what caught the imagination of a core of San Diego enthusiasts who watched the 50-minute versions of Shakespeare during the 1935 California Pacific Exposition and decided to keep the spirit alive here.

When the Expo closed that year, the local group bought the temporary stage constructed in Balboa Park and put a roof over it. Thus began a tradition that has held a special place in San Diego theater ever since.

Police say there have been people who were suspected of setting the fires and the case has not been closed, but no arrests have been made and with the statute of limitations already run out on their crimes, the villains of this tragedy will almost certainly get away.

Meanwhile, the Old Globe made do after the fire, doing its summer shows on the Festival Stage and its winter shows at various theaters downtown. In the grandest tradition, the show did go on.

From 1978 until 1982, the Old Globe performed downtown at the Spreckels Theatre with pieces like the musical “The Robber Bridegroom” and at the California Theater with pieces like the comedy “Present Laughter.” The added expenses of putting on winter seasons downtown created a $709,000 debt.

Since the first fire, the theater has expanded its annual operating budget eightfold. It has raised $9.6 million for reconstruction, and retired nearly $2 million in related debts. Through successful business management, the Old Globe has eliminated all but $450,000 of its building debt.

Meanwhile, the theater has taken off artistically. It received the special Tony Award for excellence for a regional theater in 1984. It has begun producing original plays and musicals almost yearly by new and established playwrights.

Last year, the theater premiered Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s musical “Into the Woods.” This year, it premiered “The Boiler Room” by Reuben Gonzalez, an unknown playwright.

There are lessons for other arts institutions in the Old Globe’s success. Its focus on quality has bred more quality. While constantly striving for excellence on stage, the theater has beat its drum loudly and constantly.

Sadly, it seems to take such crises as fires and potential bankruptcies--the potential loss of the arts themselves--to draw a community out of its apathy.

By ceaselessly beating its drum, the Old Globe has developed what it claims is the largest subscription audience of any regional theater in the country: 53,000 subscribers.

Tomorrow’s challenge at the theater is a different kind of adversity from fires or finding audiences. The nonprofit operation strives to hold its ticket prices at a moderate level, but the cost of doing business continues to escalate.

“Our search is not for audiences,” Noel said. “We have good audiences. The future of the arts depends on how successful we are in increasing the contributed income for the arts.”

This year, the Old Globe must raise $2.1 million in donations, almost three times its total budget 10 years ago.

But based on the Globe’s experience since the fire of 1978 and the fact that it has 10 staffers devoted solely to fund raising, you can bet it’s not going to lay back and wait for that money to walk in the door.

Unlike most Shakespearean tragedies, the Old Globe fire saga has a happy ending. Shakespeare, you suspect, would love the spirit at San Diego’s Old Globe, where triumph overcomes defeat and people delight in turning adversity into sweet success.