Memorial for Craig Noel, founding director of <br/>San Diego’s Old Globe, set for May 24 in Balboa Park

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A memorial service for Craig Noel, founding director of San Diego’s Old Globe, will be held Monday, May 24 at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion in Balboa Park.

The program, which is open to the public, will begin at 7 p.m. and will be followed by a reception on the theater’s Copley Plaza. Globe executive producer Lou Spisto said the memorial was originally going to be held at the theater but has been moved to the nearby pavilion to accommodate the expected turnout.

On the day of the service, the Globe will name its lower courtyard the Craig Noel Garden.

Noel died at 94 on April 3 at his home in San Diego.

During a career spanning more than seven decades, Noel helped to transform a small community theater into an internationally known producer and presenter of plays. After joining the company as an actor in 1937, Noel directed more than 200 works for the Globe and produced 270 others. In 2007, he received the National Medal of Arts.

-- Karen Wada

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Craig Noel dies at 94; founding director of San Diego’s renowned Old Globe