Sarah Bernhardt's 1906 Appearance Begins the Longest-Running Act in Western Show Biz: Cal Performances Celebrates Centennial May 12, 2006

Sarah Bernhardt's 1906 Appearance Begins the Longest-Running Act in Western Show Biz: Cal Performances Celebrates Centennial May 12, 2006

Mark Morris Dance Group, John Adams, Michael Tilson Thomas, Lisa Vroman, and the San Francisco Opera Orchestra Honor 100 Years of Arts Presenting in Berkeley

Chez Panisse Founder Alice Waters to Create Gala Festivities

BERKELEY, May 4 /PRNewswire/ -- In August 1906, Sunset magazine reported on Sarah Berhnardt's performance in Racine's Phedre at the Hearst Greek Theatre in Berkeley. At the drama's close, the reviewer noted,

"the place went mad ... the shouts of thousands tore into the air and
handkerchiefs fluttered like myriad signals ... Hundreds waited among the
hills, packing close about the actress's carriage, and when she finally
appeared ... the crowd burst into cheers [and] all down the hill the
University students pursued the carriage for a final glimpse."

So began one of the most influential acts in the performing arts, Cal Performances. The May 17, 1906 appearance of the celebrated French stage actress was a benefit for the refugees of San Francisco's earthquake in April of that year. Putnam's Monthly called it "one of the great events in world dramatic history." Ever since that landmark performance, Cal Performances has witnessed a parade of stage luminaries and artistic triumphs -- from Margaret Anglin, Luisa Tetrazinni, Mickey Rooney and Olivia de Havilland, to George Gershwin, Marian Anderson, Glenn Gould and Louis Armstrong, to Cecilia Bartoli, Yo-Yo Ma, the Berliner Ensemble and Mikhail Baryshnikov -- that demonstrate that Berkeley has lived up to its reputation as "The Athens of the West."

Today Cal Performances is considered one of the five most influential presenters of the performing arts in the United States, alongside Carnegie Hall, the Brooklyn Academy of Music and the Kennedy Center. The exceptional growth in arts presentation under the direction of Robert Cole has established Cal Performances as a leader in the international arts scene and the kind of place where careers are made. European, Russian, Asian and South American artists vie for a coveted place on seasons that include the likes of the Grand Kabuki Theater of Japan, the Gate Theater of Dublin, the Kirov and Bolshoi Ballet and Orchestra companies, and such stars as Valery Gergiev, Renee Fleming, and Wynton Marsalis.

Hundreds of artists from the worlds of dance, music and theater will appear on Zellerbach Hall stage to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Cal Performances on May 12. The Centennial Celebration & Gala will be co-chaired by Ann Getty and Ambassador Kathryn Hall and will feature Mark Morris Dance Group; composer John Adams and Alarm Will Sound; Michael Tilson Thomas and Lisa Vroman; tenor Michael Hayes; and members of the San Francisco Opera Orchestra, plus more than 200 vocalists from the University Chorus, UC Alumni Chorus and the Ensemble of the Piedmont Children's Choirs, under the baton Robert Cole. Chez Panisse's culinary impresario Alice Waters and premier

party planner Stanlee Gatti will create pre- and post-performance delights worthy of a century of the best performing arts the world has to offer.

Friday, May 12, 2006 Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley Campus
6:30 p.m. - midnight Bancroft Way at Telegraph Ave., Berkeley, CA

Cal Performances' Centennial Celebration & Gala

Program:

V (2001); music by Robert Schumann, Quintet in E-flat for piano and strings, Op.44; choreography by Mark Morris; performed by Mark Morris Dance Group

"Ceiling, Sky," "Este Pais," "Song About the Bad Bys and the News, " "Consuelo's Dream," "Finale" from I Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I Saw the Sky (1995); music by John Adams; libretto by June Jordan; performed by Alarm Will Sound

Michael Tilson Thomas, piano, with soprano Lisa Vroman performing So In Love by Cole Porter, I Could of Dance All Night by Frederick Loewe and a work by George Gershwin TBA

Choral selections from Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg by Richard Wagner and Prologue to Mefistofele, by Arrigo Boito, performed by tenor Michael Hayes, the San Francisco Opera Orchestra, University Chorus, UC Alumni Chorus and the Ensemble of the Piedmont Children's Choirs, conducted by Robert Cole

Tickets: Available through the Cal Performances Ticket Office at Zellerbach Hall; at 510-642-9988 to charge by phone; at www.calperfs.berkeley.edu; and at the door.

CONTACT:

Christina Kellogg
510-643-6714
ckellogg@calperfs.berkeley.edu

Joe Yang
510-642-9121
scyang@calperfs.berkeley.edu

Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060504/NYFNSP03
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
Source: Cal Performances

CONTACT: Christina Kellogg, +1-510-643-6714, or
ckellogg@calperfs.berkeley.edu, or Joe Yang, +1-510-642-9121, or
scyang@calperfs.berkeley.edu

Web site: http://www.calperfs.berkeley.edu/

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