National tour of ‘Little Women’ delayed by fire

The launch of the national tour of the Broadway musical “Little Women,” starring Maureen McGovern, scheduled to begin Tuesday at the Civic Theatre in San Diego, will now open on Sept. 2 because of a fire that occurred backstage at the theater in the early morning of Aug. 18.

Some set pieces for the production were damaged in the fire, believed to have started when drapes were ignited by a halogen lamp backstage, said Joe Kobryner, Broadway/San Diego general manager.

Water damage occurred when the fire triggered the theater’s sprinkler system. No one was in the theater at the time, Kobryner said.

“Thank goodness the system worked like it was supposed to,” he said. “The sprinklers came on and contained it to a very limited area. It could have been a lot worse.”

Tickets for the canceled performances may be exchanged for the remaining Friday, Saturday and Sunday shows; the “Little Women” tour continues at the Orange County Performing Arts Center Sept. 6 to 18.