Berkeley Repertory Theatre Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids
Berkeley Repertory Theatre

Address	2025 Addison Street Berkeley, California United States
Coordinates	37°52′16.06″N 122°16′9.47″W / 37.8711278°N 122.2692972°W / 37.8711278; -122.2692972
Public transit	Downtown Berkeley
Type	Regional theater
Capacity	Thrust Stage: 401 Roda Theatre: 600
Opened	1968 (company) 1980: Thrust Stage 2001: Roda Theatre

The Berkeley Repertory Theatre is a professional theater company in Berkeley, California. It's known for putting on seven different plays each year. You can find their two stages in Downtown Berkeley.

History of Berkeley Rep
Plays Premiered at Berkeley Rep
See also

History of Berkeley Rep

How It Started

The Berkeley Repertory Theatre began in 1968. It was the first professional theater company in the East Bay area. Michael Leibert was the first artistic director. Later, Sharon Ott took over in 1984.

Awards and New Spaces

In 1997, the company won a special award called the Regional Theatre Tony Award. This award recognizes excellent regional theaters. In 2001, Berkeley Rep added a new, larger stage called the Roda Theatre. It can seat 600 people. The original stage, called the Thrust Stage, holds 400 people. That same year, they also opened the Berkeley Rep School of Theatre.

The Roda Theatre, one of Berkeley Rep's stages.

Leadership and Plays

The current Artistic Director is Johanna Pfaelzer. She started in September 2019. Tom Parrish became the General Manager in 2022.

Berkeley Rep performs a mix of plays. They show classic modern plays like Ghosts and Master Class. Master Class once starred Rita Moreno as the famous singer Maria Callas. They also put on many new plays for the first time on the West Coast. Some of these include The Laramie Project and Homebody/Kabul. They even show world premieres, which means the play is performed for the very first time anywhere.

New Works and Successes

Over the last ten years, Berkeley Rep has shown many new plays by different writers. Some of their shows have even moved to Broadway in New York City. For example, Bridge & Tunnel went to Broadway in 2006. The musical Passing Strange also started at Berkeley Rep and then moved to Broadway in 2008.

Berkeley Rep helps create new plays through a program called The Ground Floor. They also have a Fellowship Program. This program helps train young people who want to work in theater.

The School of Theatre

The Berkeley Rep School of Theatre opened in 2001. It teaches people of all ages about different parts of theater. The school is right next to the two main stages. It also works with local teachers and offers classes for the community. High school students interested in theater can join the Berkeley Rep Teen Council. This group is famous for its annual Teen One Acts Festival. Students write, direct, produce, and act in all the plays themselves.

Popular Musicals

In 2009, Berkeley Rep started its season with American Idiot. This musical was based on the Green Day album of the same name. It was so popular that it ran for much longer than planned. It later moved to Broadway in 2010.

Another very successful musical was Ain't Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations. This musical tells the story of the Motown group The Temptations. It started at Berkeley Rep in 2018 and was the most successful show in the theater's history. After its run in Berkeley, it also moved to Broadway in 2019.

Plays Premiered at Berkeley Rep

Berkeley Rep has premiered many new plays and musicals. Here are some of them:

1994: The Woman Warrior
1995: Ballad of Yachiyo
1998: Hydriotaphia
2006: Passing Strange
2009: American Idiot and In the Next Room (or the ... Play)
2010: Girlfriend and Lemony Snicket's The Composer is Dead
2011: Rita Moreno:Life Without Makeup
2015: Amélie, A New Musical
2016: John Leguizamo: Latin History for ...
2017: Ain't Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations
2018: Fairview
2019: ... My Aztec!

Berkeley Repertory Theatre facts for kids

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