Concertgoers know the Greek Theatre as one of the Bay Area's best outdoor venues. It started as a statement about what UC Berkeley wanted to become.
The 'Athens of the West'
According to UC Berkeley, the theater was a 1903 gift from William Randolph Hearst, built on a natural amphitheater in the hills above campus. It was the first building by campus architect John Galen Howard to be finished, and it was modeled on the ancient theater at Epidaurus, with a few Roman elements. The university lists its capacity at 7,200.
UC Berkeley's 2003 centennial release says university president Benjamin Ide Wheeler, a Greek scholar who had judged at the first modern Olympics in Athens in 1896, pushed to bring a Greek amphitheater to campus. Local historian Steve Finacom told the university the theater 'vividly expressed Berkeley's aspirations to be the Athens of the West.'
A president on opening day
Wheeler invited Theodore Roosevelt to speak at the 1903 commencement. The theater wasn't quite done, so the university says Julia Morgan oversaw banners and muslin-covered frames to make it look finished. The formal opening was Sept. 24, 1903, with a student production of Aristophanes' The Birds, performed in Greek.
Famous nights
The university says Sarah Bernhardt performed Racine's Phèdre there in 1906 as a benefit for victims of the San Francisco earthquake and fire. In 1934, Max Reinhardt staged A Midsummer Night's Dream with a cast that included Olivia de Havilland and Mickey Rooney, leading the audience by torchlight from the Faculty Glade to the theater. Audiences have also seen Jerry Garcia, the Dalai Lama and Corazon Aquino.
Each year the theater also hosts the Big Game Bonfire Rally before the Cal-Stanford game. The university says it ends with the reading of 'The Spirit of California' in the dark, lit only by the bonfire and audience candles. For a recent show there, see our story on Weird Al at the Greek.