Theatre and Arts Foundation of San Diego County.

A non-profit, California corporation founded in 1954 to promote San Diego County cultural development through educational lecture programs, special events, international friendship programs, and the performing arts. The Theatre and Arts Foundation of San Diego County supported and helped to fund the La Jolla Playhouse and facilitated its location on the campus of the University of California, San Diego.

From the description of Records, 1947-1980 [sound recording]. (University of California, San Diego). WorldCat record id: 37952404

Historical Background

The Jolla Playhouse was established in the spring of 1947 by Hollywood actors Mel Ferrer, Gregory Peck and Dorothy McGuire under the management of producer David Selznick of the Actors Company of Hollywood. The Playhouse was created to showcase motion picture actors and actresses and to fulfill a public desire for legitimate professional theatre in San Diego. The Playhouse soon enlisted the financial sponsorship of the La Jolla Kiwanis Club. Between 1947-1954, the Playhouse featured classic and new plays, as well as modified versions of Broadway successes. Celebrites such as Vincent Price, Eva Gabor, Vivian Vance, and Charleton Heston performed on stage with the La Jolla Playhouse.

In 1954, the La Jolla-San Diego County Theatre and Arts Foundation, later renamed the Theatre and Arts Foundation of San Diego County, was incorporated to promote cultural development through the performing arts and to conduct a campaign for funds to build a performing arts center for the benefit of the community. At the time, the La Jolla Playhouse staged productions at the La Jolla High School auditorium. That same year, the Foundation was granted non-profit, tax-exempt status and assumed sponsorship of the La Jolla Playhouse. Marian Longstreth became the Foundation president and began developing a public appreciation of the arts through educational lectures, outside attractions, and a robust fundraising campaign. The Playhouse relied on local, membership and corporate donations, and, by 1961, had acquired acreage on the campus of the University of California, San Diego, to build a sizable theatre, but lacked major funding for the building.

The Theatre and Arts Foundation hosted the "Meet the Scientist" Lecture Series that featured presentations by internationally prominent local scientists to high school students, as well as the premiere showing of Gregory Peck's film "To Kill a Mockingbird". The Foundation also became involved with the Yokohama Friendship Commission of San Diego, undertaking a book exchange project and fabric exhibition with San Diego's sister city of Yokohama, Japan.

In 1978, the University of California's Board of Regents approved the new theater plans and two years later ground was broken, only after a substantial contribution from Mandell Weiss. The opening night at the new theater was June 24, 1983, thirty-six years after the first mention of the La Jolla Playhouse.

From the guide to the Theatre and Arts Foundation of San Diego County. Records, 1947-1980, (Mandeville Special Collections Library, UCSD)