[1] The origins of Cal Performances date from 1906, when stage actress Sarah Bernhardt appeared at the William Randolph Hearst Greek Theatre to help rebuild public morale after the devastating San Francisco earthquake and fire in April of that year.
The origins of Cal Performances date from 1906, when stage actress Sarah Bernhardt appeared at the William Randolph Hearst Greek Theater to help rebuild public morale after the devastating San Francisco earthquake and fire in April of that year.
Bernhardt’s wild popularity combined with the Greek Theatre’s spectacular design and atmosphere, set in motion the tradition of performing arts presentation in Berkeley.
In the words of theater director Samuel Hume, it was the event that “placed the Greek Theatre definitely in the field of the commercial theatre.” William Dallam Armes, Chair of the Musical and Dramatic Committee, realized that the Theatre’s large seating area (of about 6,500) made it economically feasible to invite big-name artists of national and international standing such as Bernhardt.
Soon after the Greek Theatre opened, University faculty and administration realized the need for a smaller stage suited to productions requiring an intimate setting.
[2] Traditional and non-traditional artists regularly appear on or near the UC Berkeley campus in the theaters and concert halls managed by Cal Performances, including Mikhail Baryshnikov, Wynton Marsalis, Cecilia Bartoli, Bryn Terfel, Mark Morris, Yo-Yo Ma, Philip Glass, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Merce Cunningham, Pina Bausch, Bill T. Jones, Peter Sellars, and Robert Lepage; as well as artists based in the San Francisco Bay Area like John Adams, Lou Harrison, Margaret Jenkins, Paul Dresher, Kronos Quartet, Joe Goode, Kaila Flexer, Jon Jang, and Sarah Cahill.