♪♪♪ David Ogden Stiers: Oh, for a muse of fire that would ascend the brightest heaven of invention.

A kingdom for a stage, princes to act, and monarchs to behold the swelling scene.

David: The opening of a play written four centuries ago to celebrate the birth of the new Globe Playhouse.

Now we invoke Shakespeare's timeless poetry to introduce a tale of life, death, and finally rebirth.

It is the story of this very special theatre.

♪♪♪ David: It's quiet now.

Yet even during these silent moments, this structure of wood and glass, concrete and steel, is burning with a spirit all its own.

Home for the Old Globe is San Diego, California.

In the heart of the city's renowned Balboa Park, comfortably embraced by a grove of eucalyptus trees, this highly acclaimed theatre has endured a half century of struggles, a lifetime that began during a tragic period in America's past.

David: 1934, and the country is in the grips of a depression that has shattered the lives of millions of Americans.

In the Midwest, people were flocking to Chicago's Century of Progress World's Fair to briefly escape the nation's troubles.

Among the varied exhibits of technological wonders was a taste of the romantic past, a village offering a bit of merry old England.

High walls separated this illusionary world from the rest of the fair.

At its heart stood the most popular attraction, the first modern attempt to reproduce Shakespeare's famed playhouse, the Old Globe Theatre.

Within this temporary structure, Chicago audiences could pity the tragic Lear, laugh at impish Puck, and despise the evil Lady Macbeth, as these authentically staged Elizabethan plays were presented in streamlined one-hour versions.

This bold experiment was so successful that the Old Globe was invited to take part in a new Exposition planned for San Diego the following year.

Other popular attractions to be featured at the upcoming California Exposition would include a midway, Midgetville, and the famous Sally Rand with her provocative bubble dance.

This carnival atmosphere would seem inappropriate for the presentation of Shakespeare's classic plays, and yet the original Globe Theatre was not located in one of the elegant sections of 17th century London but in an area that was quickly becoming the amusement center for the entire city.

Here the playhouse competed for a boisterous audience composed of noblemen and peasants alike.

Londoners became so attached to their Globe Theatre that less than a year after the structure burned to the ground in 1613, it was recorded.

male: "And the next spring, it was new builded in a far fairer manner than before."

David: Over 300 years later, an ocean and a continent away, a steam shovel broke the ground at the San Diego Exposition, setting in motion a new dramatic force.

The Old Globe was being reborn.

The wooden O quickly took shape.

Like Shakespeare's Globe, the roof opened to the sky.

The mastermind behind the exhibit, both in Chicago and San Diego, was Thomas Wood Stevens, one of the founding fathers of modern American theatre, whose dream was to present Shakespeare's plays to modern audiences, much as they had been performed four centuries earlier.

Stevens painstakingly researched the few scattered records that remained of the original Globe Playhouse before designing his theatre.

He then assembled a group of enthusiastic players and carefully molded them into a dedicated Elizabethan acting troupe.

To make his dream a reality, Stevens collaborated with B. Iden Payne, the country's leading Shakespearean director, whose authentic staging of the productions would help to bring these ancient plays to life for the Exposition crowds.

With only 31 days to build the entire structure, the finishing touches were being put on the theatre as Stevens rehearsed his actors.

It would soon be time to see if these Southern Californians would embrace the man from Stratford.

male: Buenos Días, señoras y caballeros, we give you the fiesta at San Diego.

California's traditional hospitality handed down for generations from the gracious days of the Spanish Dons, is beckoning millions of guests to San Diego's California Pacific International Exposition.

And now for a trip back to the 16th century to see the lads and lasses of merry old England dance upon the village green.

Gracious Queen Elizabeth looks on to applaud the measures set to a tune piped on an ancient flute.

David: In an exhibition celebrating the future of man, Stevens had forged a link with the past.

♪♪♪ David: Inside the theatre, the timeless quality of Shakespeare's poetry presented in the Globe's intimate atmosphere, completely enchanted the Exposition crowds.

♪♪♪ David: By the end of the first five-month season, the players had performed before an audience of 327,000, nearly twice as many people as were living in San Diego at the time.

During the Exposition's final season in 1936, the Old Globe under a new roof, continued to be popular.

Patrons could still feast on English cookery in the adjacent Falstaff Tavern, or choose from imported curios in the old curiosity shop.

But when the fair closed its gates for the last time, the theatre was only one of many temporary buildings designated for destruction.

The pieces were to be used for scrap.

The Globe was silent now, but its spirit had touched the very heart of San Diego.

As many of the familiar Exposition attractions were hastily removed, a group of concerned theatre lovers quickly banded together and bought the Old Globe back from a wrecking crew for a mere $400.

The theatre complex was saved from the scrap heap, only moments before it was to be destroyed.

Then a troupe of amateur actors called The Barn Players adopted the Old Globe and joined with other local theatre organizations to form the nonprofit San Diego Community Theatre.

Despite the depression, the little acting group managed to raise the initial $7500 needed to remodel this flimsy wooden structure into a modern playhouse.

After more than a year of work, the Globe finally reopened on December 2, 1937, with the first modern play ever presented in the theatre.

It was a new era for the Old Globe.

By their fifth season, the community players had attracted a loyal following.

The second production, appropriately titled "Goodbye Again," had just finished a successful run, when suddenly-- [bombs exploding] male: December 7, 1941, a date which will live in infamy.

David: San Diego mobilized for war.

Only 48 hours after Pearl Harbor, beautiful Balboa Park was occupied by the military and converted into an annex of the San Diego Naval Hospital.

The Falstaff Tavern was turned into a ship service store, but in the Old Globe, there was still time for entertainment.

Bob Hope: This is Bob broadcasting for the Waves of San Diego, California, Hope.

You know what a wave is?

That's a sea dog with a bow that's a wow.

[crowd cheering] David: Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, and many other celebrities shared the theatre with such popular amateur shows as "Leave 'Em In Stitches."

The Old Globe stage was rarely silent.

After the war, the dedicated volunteers who had kept the spirit of the community theatre alive, began the arduous task of converting the Navy facility back into a playhouse.

To ensure a proper start for the theatre, Craig Noel, one of the original community players, was hired as the professional artistic director to serve as a guiding force for the Old Globe and its followers.

It was a transformed theatre that greeted San Diego on October 29, 1947, when its doors were opened to the city for the first time in 6 years.

The following seasons witnessed increasingly ambitious productions as the Old Globe began to fulfill the promise of a true community theatre.

Then in 1949, the local state college invited famed director B. Iden Payne to come and conduct a summer workshop of Shakespeare.

Lacking the proper stage facilities, the college joined forces with the Old Globe Theatre and, purely by chance, the Summer Shakespeare Festival was born.

Fifteen years after he had helped Thomas Wood Stevens stage Shakespeare's plays for San Diego's Exposition crowds, B. Iden Payne reawakened the magic of Shakespeare performed on the stage of the Old Globe.

The lads and lassies of merry old England danced upon the village green once again as the poetry of "Twelfth Night" drifted out among the eucalyptus trees.

The Bard had come back to San Diego.

The winter seasons now began to attract substantial crowds as Payne returned each summer to delight audiences with the annual San Diego National Shakespeare Festival.

But in 1953, the college and the Old Globe parted ways, and the Summer festival was replaced with the hit Broadway play, "Mister Roberts," one of the most popular productions in the Globe's history.

Yet it was the absence of Shakespeare that season, which ironically led to the first national recognition for the Summer festival.

This unexpected notoriety, together with community concern, assured the Bard a permanent home in San Diego.

The following summer, a trio of his plays was presented in repertory, and the Old Globe matured and soon flourished in the national spotlight: the only community theatre in the country offering a Shakespeare festival.

The intimacy of the converted Elizabethan stage combined with the theatre's uncompromising commitment to quality, made the Old Globe a haven for actors seeking to experience the exhilaration of live theatre.

Christopher Reeve, Michael Learned, Daniel J. Travanti, Academy Award winners Jon Voight and Christopher Walken are just a few of the artists to have appeared on the Globe stage.

Others like Robert Hays, Marion Ross, and Victor Buono went on to find stardom after promising starts in this theatre.

As the Old Globe's national reputation grew, the winter seasons continued to provide an outlet for local theatre talent.

By the early '60s, yearly attendance for both the winter season and summer festival had reached nearly 100% capacity.

To meet the demands for more space, a new production and administrative wing was added in 1965, and soon after, the Falstaff Tavern was remodeled into the Cassius Carter Centre Stage, where experimental works could be performed.

The little wooden theatre that had started out as nothing more than a temporary home for a season or two of Shakespeare was now known around the world for its glorious summer festivals and high standards of artistic excellence.

But fate is a temperamental mistress.

Her most violent challenge to the community's commitment.

was about to be unleashed.

March 8, 1978, a warm spring day was dawning.

But in these early morning hours, the city was awakening to discover that its Old Globe Theatre was slowly dying.

For the past 43 years, this quaint little playhouse had succeeded in making its way into the hearts of San Diegans.

In one tragic moment, an arsonist's match had sent all those dreams up in a spectacular blaze of fire.

Sixty firemen worked for over an hour battling flames erupting seventy feet into the air and, miraculously, the adjoining structures were saved.

But when its roof collapsed, the Old Globe itself was destroyed.

♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ Those who loved the theatre gathered to mourn their loss, and their grief quickly turned to anger.

male: As violent as the fire or as stupid as the mistake that allowed it to happen or as barbarous the punishment.

female: I see it meant a lot to you.

male: Yeah, it meant a lot to me.

It's a great loss to the community.

David: The endless hours of work, the love and devotion which had infused the very walls had disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

All that was left were the charred remains and the painful memories of longtime friends like Delta Martin, one of the original members of the community players.

Delta Martin: Our group raised the money to rebuild them and buy them for the buildings from the wreckers to whom they'd already been sold, and I've been working steadily at it ever since.

It's now--has been one of the great regional theatres of the world.

I'm sorry.

David: For a moment, all seemed lost.

But a lifetime of struggle and determination could not be ended so easily.

male: It's my home.

And we'll build it again and this time it'll be better.

David: A meeting was quickly called to organize for the Globe's rebuilding as individuals from around the country responded to the fire with an outpouring of good wishes and donations.

It was time to bring a new Old Globe into the world.

Craig Noel rallied the forces as he proclaimed-- Craig Noel: But one cannot destroy the human spirit.

Thank you.

David: So in less than a week, the then current production of "The Sunshine Boys" reopened at a downtown theatre to complete its run.

As for the fast approaching summer festival, an outdoor stage was quickly constructed in a nearby wooded glen.

And only 100 days after the fire, an eager audience was welcomed to the 29th annual San Diego National Shakespeare Festival by acclaimed director Jack O'Brien.

Jack O'Brien: There was nothing here and today the miracle continues and we're very excited and proud about it.

David: Attention was now focused on rebuilding the Old Globe itself.

Craig: And that morning as I watched the flames and the smoke and the stench, I knew that there was hope and a chance that we could restore our past and build for our future.

David: A fundraising drive was started to raise the $6.3 million needed to replace the original structure with one as charming and intimate, yet also completely modern.

As the Globe's blackened walls were removed, concerned friends joined in the rebuilding campaign.

Christopher Reeve: We got our training at the Old Globe, so if you want to--if you want to keep us alive and keep us going, that's why we have to rebuild this theatre.

David: A gala fundraiser was highlighted by a speech by national fundraising campaign chairman, Charlton Heston.

Charlton Heston: Actors need theatres.

I need the Old Globe.

I haven't yet played there, but when it's rebuilt, I hope to.

[audience applauding] David: But it was the community's response to the tragedy that was most overwhelming as people donated whatever they could.

Everything from a dance-a-thon to Pumping for the Globe, even an ice sculpture helped raise thousands of dollars.

And an official Old Globe Week was climaxed by a star-studded telethon.

female: I pronounce this groundbreaking-- David: Twenty months after the fundraising effort began, the goal was finally reached.

A private donation, the largest to a San Diego arts organization, assured the rebirth of the Old Globe, cornerstone of the new Simon Edison Center for the Performing Arts.

A wrecker's ball cleared the last remaining traces of the original structure.

It was gone forever.

Yet from the ashes, a new Globe would arise, "new builded in a far fairer manner than before."

A playhouse was designed to fit into the existing space.

The city's love for this theatre inspired the craftsmen in every stage of construction.

♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ David: As the building neared completion, attention turned to the first production to be presented on this stage.

Who better to welcome the theatre to life than Shakespeare himself?

Craig Noel would direct "As You Like It," a comedy that was to wash away any remaining traces of the tragedy that last played in this space.

Craig: --of the harpsichord.

So that's what I'm hoping that all of you will do, that you will be able today to make friends with the hall.

We have a great deal of work to do yet on this production.

And so if you would-- David: Noel gathered his players for the first rehearsal in the theatre while craftsmen worked to finish construction.

The site evoked memories of Thomas Wood Stevens on the very same spot, nearly 50 years before.

Now the staff of the theatre could take possession of their elaborate new facilities.

Costumes were designed and fitted, and impressive sets built.

To celebrate the opening, not one night, but an entire week of special events was created.

First, the symbolic key to the theatre was presented to the city.

Then a select audience of construction workers, architects, and the original Globe players attended the last dress rehearsal.

Finally, the climactic moment had arrived.

Grand Opening Night.

Celebrities mingled in the crowd outside as anticipation grew.

Inside the theatre, the patrons were seated, an invocation was delivered by Richard Chamberlain.

Richard Chamberlain: So here we are in this gorgeous new theatre, a glorious place in our community and a greater place in our hearts.

David: And the excitement of theatre filled the new Old Globe with Shakespeare's romantic tale of a man who refuses to accept his fate, a story that ends happily for all.

♪♪♪ David: Finally, those who had worked so hard to make this dream a reality were recognized as Charlton Heston at last had his day on the stage of the Old Globe.

Charlton: --to be congratulated.

I must point out to you that the theatre no longer belongs to San Diego.

It's too important a theatre in the American scheme.

It belongs to the whole country.

David: In the excitement of this special moment, the tragedies of the past were forgotten, replaced with promises of what the future would hold.

A dazzling performing arts center with three distinctly different stages, providing the people of San Diego the finest in live theatre.

The year of celebration ended with a summer's fair of six different plays which only hinted at what these performing spaces are capable of offering.

On the festival stage, Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew" was joined by Molière's "Miser."

David: In the intimate Cassius Carter, "Billy Bishop Goes to War," was followed by a tense "Gin Game."

And in the Old Globe itself, Oscar Wilde's classic, "The Importance of Being Earnest," shared the stage with one of Shakespeare's most enchanting works, "The Tempest."

But it was merely the beginning.

The following winter season opened with an historic live national broadcast.

And when the Queen of England graced the new theatre with a visit a few weeks later, the international status of the Old Globe was reaffirmed.

David: And to think, it all began on this spot nearly 50 years ago in a small temporary structure that the people of San Diego would not allow to be destroyed.

The Globe is a playhouse of many rebirths.

And if the past is any indication, the story of this theatre is far from over.

David: "Our revels now are ended.

These, our actors, as I foretold you, were all spirits and are melted into air.

Into thin air.

We are such stuff as dreams are made of.

And our little life is rounded with a sleep."

♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ male announcer: This program was made possible by grants from-- And by KPBS-TV San Diego.