I'd never been to a Berkeley Repertory show until this year. I'm surprised because I'm such a big…read moretheatre nerd. I was served an ad on Instagram for Arthur Miller's All My Sons in March 2026. It stars Jimmy Smits (of Star Wars and the West Wing fame! That's my President Santos and Bail Organa!) and his wife Wanda DeJesus. Such big names! I took my mom to a weekday matinee. It was a packed house and skewed older (hey, it was a weekday.) The theatre was clean and intimate. There was no bad seat in there! They did have a young person's discount if you're under 35 which was nice (if you're under 35.) Maybe if Berkeley built more housing, the city would be more welcoming and inclusive to young people and there wouldn't be that discount. Bathrooms were clean. After the show (which was a tearjerker), there was a Postshow Discussion with a docent (a UC Berkeley grad student.) It was fun discussing the show with other attendees who stayed. It was like a book club! Intimate and inclusive, and then there was a surprise--Jimmy Smits and Wanda DeJesus came to listen and contribute to the conversation! (And then do autographs and photographs.) Berkeley Repertory is a community hub. I appreciate their shows and the discussions they evoke (and the space they provide to have said discussions.) The SF Chronicle raved about All My Sons and I could not rave about it more either! Time to reread Arthur Miller and also support local theatre!

Saw How Shakespeare saved my Life on Saturday evening…read more Excellent one man performance. Atmosphere and staff were great! Wonderful experience and the actor was fantastic!!

We celebrated the Grand Lake's centennial with a full house tonight watching "Singin' In The Rain."…read more I think "hoot and a half" is the technical term. Hats off to owner Allen Michaan, a true showman! After 100 years, the Grand Lake is still a helluva great spot to catch a flick.

In all the decades I've been visiting Grand Lake Theatre, I can't believe I never left a review!…read moreI've been coming here since I was a teenager, and I've always enjoyed coming here. Grand Lake Theatre was built in gorgeous art deco architecture, and makes you feel like you've been thrown back into the heydays of when visiting the cinema was a formal outing. There's a chandelier hanging above the ticket booth at the entrance, and there's a grand staircase with giant paintings and more chandeliers leading up to the theaters on the second floor. Most recently, I came here to see Frankenstein the second-to-last day it was being shown here. It was my second time seeing Frankenstein in theaters, and Grand Lake was one of the theaters listed that had it playing, so I came out here on a Tuesday night to enjoy their $6 Tuesday deals. Ngl, parking in this area is absolutely horrid. I spent at least 20 minutes circling the block, driving up and down Grand Ave, and driving through the residential areas to find parking. I was very hesitant to park in the parking lot that's just a short walk down the street from the theater because I saw homeless people loitering in that parking lot, so I was very nervous of parking my car there. Ultimately, I did resort to parking there when I had no other options, and I am very grateful my car was fine.

We've been at this dance studio for four years, and it's been a fantastic experience. My child has…read moretaken a wide variety of classes and has loved every class and teacher. She's grown so much as a dancer and is always asking to take more classes. The recitals are also a standout. They are high-quality productions with great choreography and impressive props. Highly recommend!

My daughter is in her third term of Pre-Ballet at VDZ Dance Studio. It's perfect for us. The…read moreteachers manage to capture my daughter's twirling fairy princess imagination while also instilling patience, discipline, and basic pre-ballet mechanics. As a mom who took ballet very seriously until high school, I like what I see at VDZ better than what we experienced at a different studio. And I love that they put on performances for their families! There was lots of preparation but it didn't feel stressful; watching my daughter perform a piece in the school's Nutcracker performance was incredible and she was so proud of herself. I recommend without reservations.

The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe is only on for 4 more performances- SEE…read moreIT! STREAM IT!! Marga Gomez is utterly astonishing in her talent performing this brilliant & iconic (Lily Tomlin) monologue of the 80s/90s (written by her wife Jane Wagner). It's a MUST SEE in the absolutely charming downtown Berkeley arts district theatre!

the SEARCH for SIGNS of INTELLIGENT LIFE in the UNIVERSE is fabulous. Marga Gomez does a fantastic…read morejob. It is on until August 10th. Don't miss it.

I have never seen live Improv and it was incredibly impressive…read more I hosted a small client event at Stone Soup Improv and I reached out to folks who attended after the fact and everyone loved it. So this review is only a single review, but there is research from about 20 other people behind it. Everyone I asked would give Stone Soup Improv 4 or 5 stars. My cheeks hurt until Tuesday following the show. Even the skits that bombed were funny. An absolutely great time. I would certainly recommend Stone Soup to anyone who is wavering.

Improv is hard, man. I know that from attempting it at a couple of workshops within the last year,…read moreduring which I bounced from the high of getting something really right to the low of feeling the trickle of yolk on my face. Which is why I applaud the six brave souls of Stone Soup Improv, who hit way more highs than lows in the show I attended last night. Stone Soup consists of three guys and three gals, though gender was highly irrelevant during their entertaining romp of a show in which roles were often reversed to strong comedic effect. Female performers played mustachioed bartenders in a Western and a stalking boyfriend in a Paris nightclub. Blokes were suddenly aged mothers and passionate daughters in scenes from a Spanish soap opera. Mind you, this show had much more than gender reversal going on: there were talking wristwatches, two-faced customer service representatives, kung fu masters, bullfighting dentists, world knitting championship competitors - all conjured up out of the imagination of the performers, with seeds planted by the audience. There were memorable moments sprinkled throughout the show, my favorites being the poetry slams performed by Jonathan Stern and Dan Rosenthal (about dish soap lingerie and eagle scouts, respectively) and the song composed on the spot by the magnetic Jennifer Simmons built around random words lobbed in by the audience (you try coming up with lyrics on the theme of Nantucket, including the words pterodactyl, eukelele and fink). And even occasionally less successful skits became classic - when Ryan Fuller turned to Stern in the middle of one scene and said " I'm lost", the audience roared, sharing Fuller's confusion. A couple of skits fell a little flat, but that's the beauty of improv - you shut the scene down, wipe the slate, and start over. In the interests of full disclosure, I should make it known that I work with three members of this cast. Regardless though, I'd recommend this show to anyone looking for a night of unpredictable comedy where just about anything can happen.

Berkeley Symphony kicked off their 2025-2026 opening season with a full house at the First…read moreCongregational Church of Berkeley. Dina Gilbert was guest conductor Gabriel Cabezas, cellist. Visions of Elysium opened with Elysium and closed with Ludwig van Beethoven Symphony #3 Every selection on the program was fantastic, Elysium was my favorite. After the concert, attendees were treated to a free reception sponsored by Jane Hammond with wine by Knuttel Winery. If you haven't been to the Berkeley Symphony, get to a concert this season!

Top quality. This is a "period orchestra" i.e., a specialist in music written post 1940. That is…read morenot to say you'll never hear Beethoven, Schubert, Mendelssohn etc. - those guys inspired the composers you'll hear here. You'll get to hear outstanding compositions that you don't already own in your vast CD collection, and conductor Joana will let you know why. Programs are oriented to hang well together. Composer in residence, Gabriela Lena Frank will help keep them on track. Joana Carneiro, already of International fame, hails by way of Lisbon, Portugal and assoc. of the L.A. Phil under Esa Pekka Solonen brings a new vitality to the pit. Kent Nagano whose baton ruled the roost for 25 years will occasionally pop in from the Bavarian State Opera, or Montreal Symphony for old times sake. This is not a competitor to SFO or OEBS, it is a cohesive group of professional musicians with a uniquely exciting playlist. Come early for composer & conductors confab. Four or Five concerts per year, phenomenally active Music in the Schools program in all of Berkeley's elementary schools, and several in-progress concerts by living composers.

They were very organized and really helpful with finding your seats. I would come here again for…read moreanother show!

This is a really lovely, historic old theatre. I've been here a handful of times. Most recently, I…read morecame for a comedy show. The theatre is ornate! Look up at the ceiling, and around at the walls. Head up the curving staircase! Snap a photo of the marquee and the tall neon sign. The building is opulent! It's very close to BART, so it makes transportation to the venue a breeze. Avoid driving or you're likely to get your car broken into like I did when I came to a Yelp Elite Event nearby. :( Also, take note, they have a very strict no outside food or drinks policy. I had a very tiny purse, and I had a small package of crackers from Colombia my friend had just gifted me, and the staff took them off me! I also had a chomp stick and a package of roasted chestnuts. (I hadn't had dinner and was worried we wouldn't have time to eat before the show, so I packed a couple of tiny snacks in my bag). The door person was super nice and she said she'd hold them for me until after the show. Unfortunately, after the show, she went to get them from the locked ticket booth and someone took them! So a fellow staff member snatched my snacks. That's pretty messed up. I mean, I should have looked up the policy before I attended, but it's also pretty messed up that a staff member took my stuff after they were being held for me. The staff member said she had it with her own stuff; she was very surprised that they went missing as well. Other than the snack snafu, the seats were very comfortable and the pitch between the seats is generous! There was so much leg room! Plus, I didn't feel cramped at the shoulders. This is such a rarity for a theater and deserves mentioning! There are bathrooms both upstairs and downstairs. Overall, this is a great venue with a convenient BART accessible location! I'll be back.

I love seeing concerts at the Greek. Such an intimate space without a bad seat in the place. I…read morelove watching the sun set as the opening act warms up the crowd and gets us ready for the main act. It's a whole vibe. The only issue I have is since the seats are on elongated stone steps, so the person sitting behind me at one show was tapping their foot on my jeans. It's not enough to stop me from attending shows there though.

Recently attended a concert here at the Greek Theatre and had a blast. We saw a band called Royel…read moreOtis and while I don't know a ton of their music, they put on a pretty good show. Going to the Greek is always a good time. The vibes, ambiance, and sound system are so dialed in, I can't imagine a bad concert here. I've seen all types of shows (EDM, Indie, R&B, Reggae) and it truly never disappoints. On this last visit, we got there after the opener so it was already pretty packed. As I get older, dealing with the crowds and being in the pit isn't for me anymore. Luckily we were able to grab a seat at their viewing deck located on the top left of the stage. It had a few levels with seats and a bar type thing to put food and drinks on. It was honestly the most comfortable I've been at a concert. Nobody in front or behind us, and so much room! Although I ate a hefty snack before the event, I still ended up with some tater tots, nachos, and couple of beers. I think for 2 drinks and the nachos it was close to $60 with tip, so definitely normal for concert venue prices. The nacho cheese was cold but oh well I still enjoyed them. Definitely looking forward to returning in October to see Jungle!