Arts & Culture in El Cerrito

At the Berkeley Playhouse, performances often begin before audiences even make it to their seats. The innovative theater company erects installation pieces in the lobby that encourage playgoers to engage and interact with upcoming performances through movement, writing, and music, deepening their understanding of the worlds they’re about to enter. Once in their seats, they revel in productions featuring multicultural and multigenerational casts, whether they’re watching a performance from the mainstage season or a production from the youth program.

The Black Repertory Group began in 1964 as a church drama club. Now helmed by executive and artistic director Dr. Mona Vaughn Scott, the group has built upon its core work as "keepers of the culture" by supporting artists and youth with creative and educational programs.

From the cabernet-hued curlicues on the carpets to the gilded columns and soaring ceilings, the Alameda Theatre is steeped in history. During the Second World War, soldiers crowded in to watch films in the auditorium, which also has spent stints as a practice area for rock bands and as a skating rink. The theater was recently brought out of dormancy with an extensive renovation project that restored the glow to its art-deco façades and towering neon sign. Gold leaf, some still intact from the building’s construction in 1932, leads eyes up to a screen 50 feet in width.

A packed schedule of first-run films flickers to life on the big screen, with showings in 3-D letting audiences see explosions leap from the flat surface or watch pieces of the Hulk’s hard-to-program VCR fly past. The historic theater also showcases classic films such as The Graduate or The Wild One every week, and hosts a talent show every Friday and Saturday evening.

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Redeem your Groupon at will-call the night of your chosen performance. Seats will be in the main floor/orchestra section (the goldenrod section of this chart) and are distributed on a first-come, first-served basis. Be sure to arrive 15–20 fashionably early minutes prior to showtime.

Humor, song, and drama all unfold at the ACT's historic theater—originally opened in 1910—which blends austere neoclassicism with the occasional baroque flourish. The theater was built during the reconstruction after the 1906 earthquake, only to be struck by 1989's Loma Prieta earthquake, surviving significant damage and undergoing an extensive renovation and seismic stabilization that have enabled it to continue staging fine drama and overcome its reoccurring earthquake nightmares.