Page 37 - 2015 Travel Guide to California

It is San Francisco, though, that quali-
fies as California’s theater epicenter. Home
of the legendary American Conservatory
Theater (A.C.T., which premiered Cole
Porter’s High Society in 1997), the city offers
live performance for every taste. The
Eureka (which premiered Angels in
America), the Magic Theater (which estab-
lished playwright Sam Shepard), Z Space,
Aurora and Shotgun are just a few of the
city’s native companies—not to mention
the politically charged San Francisco Mime
Troupe, now in its 57th rabble-rousing year.
For superb solo performance, check out
both Intersection for the Arts and The
Marsh (“A breeding ground for new per-
formance”), which has built an enviable
reputation with its four intimate theaters
in both San Francisco and Berkeley.
A terrific recent addition to the Bay Area
theater scene is WE Players, led by visionary
artistic director Ava Roy. In collaboration
with the National Park Service, WE Players
have performed Hamlet on Alcatraz, The
Odyssey on Angel Island and Macbeth at Fort
Point. Check their website (see sidebar) for
their upcoming site-specific shows.
Half a dozen California regional play-
houses have won Tony Awards—the highest
distinction in American theater. These
include the Berkeley Repertory Theatre, 30
minutes by car or a short BART ride from
San Francisco. They continue a tradition of
inspired experimentation, with a roster that
has included works by artists such as Mary
Zimmerman and Green Day, and solo shows
by artists including Rita Moreno, Anna
Devere Smith and many others.
And while you’re in the East Bay, don’t
overlook “Cal Shakes”—the California
Shakespeare Company—with its gorgeous
open-air venue in the Orinda hills.
Other terrific theaters include the South
Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa, the San Jose
Repertory and the Sacramento Theater
Company. Finally, the state hosts no less
MICHAEL TILSON THOMAS conducts
the San Francisco Symphony at Davies
Symphony Hall, above; California
Musical Theatre’s Broadway
Sacramento presentation of Jersey Boys
at the Community Center Theater,
Sacramento, left.
than five cutting-edge Fringe Festivals—
Google “Fringe Festival California” to find
up-to-date listings.
Symphonies, Opera & Ballet
Designed by visionary architect Frank
Owen Gehry, the Walt Disney Concert Hall
in downtown LA was designed to be one of
the most acoustically perfect performance
spaces on earth. It’s also one of the planet’s
most striking buildings, inside and out—
as well as the home of the renowned and
innovative Los Angeles Philharmonic. Cal-
ifornia’s other preeminent orchestra is of
course the San Francisco Symphony, under
the musical direction of Michael Tilson
Thomas, at home in the Louise M. Davies
Symphony Hall.
There was a time, not too long ago, when
the pride of every major city in the world
was its opera house. Opera still maintains
a huge following in California, with nearly
30 companies across the state—five in the
LA area alone. The San Francisco Opera and
Los Angeles Opera are two of the largest in
North America, with global reputations for
set production and excellence. Kudos as
well to the renowned Long Beach Opera,
now in its fourth decade.
But California’s two most prominent
cities don’t have a monopoly on great
music. San Diego, Sacramento, Oakland,
Santa Cruz and Santa Barbara all support
superb orchestras of their own.
Ballet in the Golden State has an equally
impressive pedigree. The San Francisco
Ballet, founded in 1933, was the first pro-
fessional ballet company in the United
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