article by Cathy Breslaw
Michael G. Murphy, Managing Director of the Old Globe, shared
his thoughts on the power of live theater. To illustrate his point, Murphy told
of a woman who contacted him after seeing Dog
and Pony, the Old Globe’s current production of a musical comedy. After seeing the show, the woman told Murphy
she went home and made a “major life-altering decision”. It is this kind of
experience that Murphy says is why he loves his work. He explained that part of
the mission of the Old Globe is to educate the community – He used examples of prior
productions of The Scottsboro Boys, a
musical that went on to Broadway, that was based on actual events and history
of the Black experience in the United States, Allegiance, a play about the Japanese Internment Camps which deals
with racial issues, and the classic Inherit
the Wind, that discusses the universal ongoing debate of evolution vs.
creationism. Murphy says the goal of the Old Globe is to bring great theater to
San Diego and to bring in productions that are diverse in the types of
playwrights, including both classic and contemporary plays, and ones that
include racial, ethnic and gender differences. Murphy noted that decisions for
what plays to bring in and cultivate are careful collaborations with Artistic
Director, Barry Edelstein as well as those responsible for finance, professional
training, production and fundraising.
The exciting recent news widely
publicized, is that a former Old Globe production of the musical A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder
now on Broadway, won 4 Tony Awards last week in New York. Darko Tresnjak, the former Co-Artistic
Director at the Old Globe, who also directed the production in San Diego, went
on to win a Tony for Best Director of a Musical. Other Tonys for the show were
for Best Costume Design by Linda Cho, Best Musical, and Best Book of a Musical
by Robert Freedman. The Old Globe is a regional theater has developed a strong
national reputation for having the artistic staff, craft shops, and vision to
create high-level theater drawing good actors and producers from all over the
U.S. and beyond. Murphy also notes that the Old Globe brings in plays that are
at all stages of development from second productions of shows, new works, as
well as classics that are re-worked for a contemporary spin on universal
themes. Murphy urges new theater-goers to go to the theater more than once –
see all types of plays from musicals to serious drama, to dance. There are
discounts for folks under 30 years of age as well as the Globe’s national
participation in Blue Star, a program that offers discounts to members of the
military.
