Bay Area theater where Zendaya got her start faces permanent closure due to financial difficulties
ORINDA, Calif. (KGO) -- Cal Shakes, established in 1974 as part of Berkeley Shakespeare Festival, is on the edge of insolvency as they get ready to stage their fall production. They have to raise a total of $350,000 by Thursday to keep afloat.
Their open air amphitheater in Orinda is a place many call a hidden gem.
"A hidden gem or even a best kept secret, which for a time was delightful while it was sustainable but it is not a solid business plan to build a future on," said Clive Worsley, executive producer for Cal Shakes.
Cal Shakes pays a nominal fee to lease the land from East Bay Municipal Utility District each year in an idyllic valley near the Caldecott Tunnel where they built the amphitheater in 1989.
This month, a summer drama camp took center stage. Next month rehearsals are supposed to start for this years production of "As you Like it," slated for performances starting Sept. 14. But post pandemic ticket sales have not been able to make up for the lack of fundraising.
"This is desperate times - it is, it is," Worsley said, 'We expected some fundraising opportunities to manifest and they did not."
VIDEO: Oakland native Zendaya donates $100,000 to her former theater company Cal Shakes Conservatory
A GoFundMe was launched, and a famous alumnus of Cal Shakes made a donation.
"I taught Shakespeare to fourth and fifth graders in Zendaya's mom's classroom at Fruitvale Elementary school so I got to know Zendaya through that and she started taking classes here at Cal Shakes, and was in our summer conservancy programs like these youngsters down here," Worsley said, 'She and her boyfriend Tom paid me a visit here a few months back and we had a delightful conversation and I told them we're doing weddings up here and I teased them that we're ready for them whenever they have a date."
That's Spiderman actor Tom Holland.
Cal Shakes has influenced many lives including a fight choreographer, Dave Maier, who works with San Francisco Opera and ACT.
"My whole artistic life has been shaped by the work I've done here at Cal Shakes so I'm hoping we can get it together and survive," Maier said.
If Cal Shakes gets $350,000 to move forward, the goal is to transition the venue into a multi-disciplinary performing arts center. If you want to make a donation, click here.
