Lile Cruse
Lile was born on March 30, 1934 in Modesto, California, to Tom and Adelaide Cruse. Knowing that dairy farming was a lonely life, Lile's parents gave him an alto saxophone when he was 11. He played throughout high school and majored in Music Education at Chico State University, earning a BA and MA. He called himself a B-flat (average) student until senior year, when he began student- teaching. Lile recalled that when he conducted for the first time, he fell in love. When faced with joining the service, Lile enlisted in the Navy, attended the Naval School of Music, and played in the Navy band at Barber's Point on Oahu.
Lile taught band and choir at several high schools in Northern California and created the instrumental music program at the American School in Japan.
In 1970, he accepted the position of Directors of Bands at Cabrillo College in Aptos, for both Classical and Jazz music. He soon became chair of the Performing Arts division and created Cabrillo Stage, a professional musical theatre company on the Cabrillo campus in 1981. For many years he was also a popular adjudicator for several music festivals throughout California, including the Pacific Jazz Festival and Folsom Jazz Festival.
Lile retired from the Cabrillo College Music Department in 1993, and focused his attention on producing Cabrillo Stage, which he did through their 2003 season. Of all the shows he produced in his 22 years at Cabrillo Stage, Evita, Sweeney Todd, Honk! and West Side Story were his favorites. He always said that while Michele was his beloved wife, Musical Theatre was his mistress.
Lile greatly impacted the lives of thousands of students, friends, colleagues, cast members, musicians, staffers and tens of thousands of audience members.