Lyric Opera San Diego was a

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

-based theatre company specializing in

Comic opera Comic opera, sometimes known as light opera, is a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending and often including spoken dialogue. Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th-century Italy. By the 1730s, a ne ...

Operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs, and dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, length of the work, and at face value, subject matter. Apart from its s ...

, and

Musical theatre Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movemen ...

. The company was founded in 1979, primarily for the purpose of performing

Gilbert and Sullivan Gilbert and Sullivan was a Victorian era, Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900), who jointly created fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which ...

Savoy opera Savoy opera was a style of comic opera that developed in Victorian England in the late 19th century, with W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan as the original and most successful practitioners. The name is derived from the Savoy Theatre, which impr ...

s. At the time it was known as the ''San Diego Gilbert and Sullivan Company''. The focus of the company changed in 1990 when Leon Natker was hired as General Director; the artistic director was J. Sherwood "Jack" Montgomery. The company was renamed ''San Diego Comic Opera''. The company expanded its repertoire from Gilbert and Sullivan to include musical theatre, song

revue A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own duri ...

programs, comic operas, and operettas. The mission statement was revised: “To provide a regional model for the production of Comic Opera, Operetta, and Musical Theater that develops new generations of artists and audiences by producing a season of fully mounted productions and education programs.” In 2003 the name was changed again, to ''Lyric Opera San Diego''. The company was a member of

Opera America __NOTOC__ Opera America, styled OPERA America, is a New York-based service organization promoting the creation, presentation, and enjoyment of opera in the United States. Almost all professional opera companies and some semi-professional companies i ...

, the national organization for opera companies. Driven by their commitment to find and develop new talent, the company helped launch the careers of several young San Diego artists, of whom many are now performing on national and international stages. In summer 2006 Lyric Opera San Diego launched its Summer Academy, created to train middle and high school students in the arts of the stage, including acting, singing, dancing and theatre production. In 2011 the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and it has produced no shows since that time.

North Park Theatre restoration

In 2001 the company was offered the opportunity to take part in the restoration of the historic North Park Theatre, located at 2891 University Avenue. Originally built in 1928, this once-thriving 1,200 seat movie theater closed in 1989. After lying vacant for more than 15 years, the North Park community and the Redevelopment Agency of the City of San Diego were undertaking a revitalization campaign for the community. The centerpiece of their plan was the restoration of the North Park Theatre as an 800-seat live performance venue. A 390-space parking garage was also built to accommodate the increased traffic. Entering into a partnership with developer Bud Fischer, the company embarked on a two-year fundraising campaign to raise $8 million toward the renovation of the theater. In 2003 the final name change was effected and the company became Lyric Opera San Diego, to better reflect its goals, its accomplishments, and its future plans. The fully renovated, state-of-the-art theater opened in October 2005 as ''The Stephen and Mary Birch North Park Theatre'', with Lyric Opera San Diego as its managing tenant. This made the company one of only twelve opera companies in the United States that own or operate their own venues, and the only one in California. However, mortgage and other costs proved an enormous financial strain on the company. Lyric Opera put the property up for sale in January 2011, but was unable to find a buyer. In October 2011 the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. There were no productions in 2012, and as of November 2012 their website offered only advertising links to shows by other companies. The Birch North Park Theatre was still in use for occasional film festivals and musical or theatrical performances. As of October 2013 the web page was a dead link.

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control Musical groups established in 1979 California culture California opera companies 2011 disestablishments in California Defunct organizations based in California