SAN DIEGO ARTS : Theater

- It was 50 years ago today that Craig Noel taught the Globe to play. Actually, the man who later became the Old Globe Theatre to many San Diegans first took someone else’s direction at the Globe as an actor.

On Dec. 2, 1937, Noel appeared in John Van Druten’s “The Distaff Side,” the first production of the newly organized San Diego Community Theatre (which became the Globe). “The Distaff Side” ran for four performances.

For a free copy of a San Diego arts trivia book (if one is ever written), how many people saw that show? For a lifetime supply of Old Globe press releases, how many people (more or less) will see “Holiday,” the first production this season on the Globe stage?

We’re not sure what they mean, but the answers, according to Globe spokesman Bill Eaton, who swears by Shakespeare on their accuracy, are 701 (for the four performances of “Distaff Side”) and (an estimated) 26,000 (for the 50 performances of “Holiday”).