STARLIGHT'S LEGACY

Artist that have performed at Starlight

See historical footage of The Rolling stones playing on Starlight’s Stage.

Many of you now, and locals remember this venue for its musical theater and the famous “freeze” actors would do mid scene. Starlight has always been a favorite place of San Diegans and its visitors to gather and enjoy a variety of performances, Symphonies, vaudeville, comedy, rock concerts, theater shows, circus acts, organ and piano performances, even many locals graduated High School at Starlight. Its past is unique and ever evolving.

The Starlight Bowl was built in 1935 for the 1935-36 California International Pacific Exposition in Balboa Park. Designed by architects 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 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...