Take BART to see a live show
Oakland's Fox Theater is set up like a grand film house even though it now hosts live music events. Photo courtesy of DoTheBay.
It’s no surprise that theater districts and live performance hubs are thoughtfully placed near BART stations since venues that draw crowds also draw cars and traffic. Luckily, BART is close to a number of the Bay Area’s most enticing performance venues. We rounded up some of the best places to catch a live show where you can leave the car (and the parking headaches) behind.
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East Bay
A view of the stage at the historic Paramount Theatre. Photo courtesy of Visit Oakland.
You can’t talk about Oakland’s performance venues without bringing up the city’s historic Fox Theater and Paramount Theatre. Both venues host headliners, ceremonies and civic events and can seat more than 2,500 guests. The Paramount’s opened in 1931 and is considered one of the finest examples of a Depression-era Art Deco building. Paramount Pictures commissioned famed San Francisco architect (the Castro), Timothy Pfleuger, to design the venue. His iconic lighting installation was, and still is a marvel.
Similarly, the Fox Theater was built in 1928 and was intended as a grand movie house. It continued to screen films until television disrupted the industry. Today, the gilded beauty mainly hosts musical acts from around the world. Smaller music venues like The New Parish and Crybaby add to the neighborhood’s dynamic music scene. Both venues, located in Oakland’s Uptown District, are easily accessible from the 19th St Oakland Station. The district is also full of great bars and restaurants, so no need to make additional stops.
Berkeley Rep's modern structure hosts world-class premieres and plays. Photo courtesy of Berkeley Rep.
Having a world-class public university close to Berkeley’s theater district has its advantages, and there’s no doubt that it contributes to the type of plays perfored at both the Berkeley Repertory Theatre and the Aurora Theatre Company. The Downtown Berkeley Station is steps from these premiere venues, but there are even more venues within a few blocks. Music fans now have The UC Theatre for headliners, the Cornerstone for music and beer and the California Jazz Conservatory for jazz.
There’s also something for everyone at Walnut Creek’s Lesher Center for the Arts. From plays to music and dance performances, the massive venue hosts different kinds of events throughout the weekend. Many of the East Bay’s classical music and ballet groups use the location as a home base for their respective performance calendar. The Walnut Creek Station is a short distance away. Travel a few more blocks and you’re in Downtown Walnut Creek with endless dining options.
San Francisco
The new Orpheum's Art Deco interiors. Photo courtesy of SF Datebook.
The Orpheum Theatre was part of the ‘Orpheum Circuit’, a group of national theaters that hosted vaudeville acts, according to the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce. The original building was built in 1887, but it was destroyed in the great earthquake. The new Orpheum was rebuilt in 1928 and continued to host vaudeville acts until the golden age of cinema became the standard form of entertainment for such large venues. During the ‘80s, the Shorenstein Hays Nederlander Organization bought the theater and it became a routine stop for touring performances. Similarly, the Golden Gate Theatre was also a popular vaudeville venue and took a similar path. Both, along with the Curran, are the go-to venues for touring Broadway shows and special engagements.
The American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) staged its first production in 1967. Since then, the conservatory has trained some of Hollywood’s most prolific performers like Denzel Washington, Nicholas Cage, Annette Bening and Danny Glover. A.C.T.’s experimental theater space, The Strand, is nearby on Market St. and hosts limited engagements. All of these performance venues are easily accessible via Powell St Station.
Enjoy live opera in the majestic War Memorial House. Photo courtesy of the San Francisco Opera.
San Francisco’s iconic Davies Symphony Hall, home to the San Francisco Symphony, anchors this part of town west of Van Ness Ave, and not far from the Civic Center/UN Plaza Station. It’s part of the San Francisco War Memorial & Performing Arts Center, which also includes the home of the San Francisco Ballet and San Francisco Opera (War Memorial Opera House) and Herbst Theatre. SFJAZZ Center on Franklin St is the preeminent place to experience live jazz. The facility includes state-of-the-art acoustics and pit-like seating. The building, constructed in 2013, is a counterpoint to the classical-style structures that hold performances nearby.
Not far from San Francisco’s financial center and in the heart of SOMA is Yerba Buena Gardens, an outdoor public venue known for an eclectic mix of live acts, most of which are free. Adjacent to the physical footprint of the gardens is Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, which hosts transformative art exhibitions and dance performances, often at the Blue Shield of California Theater. Montgomery St Station is within blocks of this exciting green space.
What are some of your favorite BARTable performance venues?
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