ORINDA, CALIFORNIA – After a too-long wait, performers will once again tread the boards of Cal Shakes’ former theater in Orinda.
The former Cal Shakes amphitheater in the Orinda hills has officially reopened under a new name: Siesta Valley Bowl. The venue, long known as Bruns Amphitheater and remembered by generations of Bay Area theatergoers as the outdoor home of California Shakespeare Theater, is now beginning a new life as an open-air concert and performing arts venue.
For anyone who ever picnicked before a summer show, watched actors perform under the trees, or simply wondered what would happen to the space after Cal Shakes shut down, this is a big local development.
It is not Cal Shakes returning in its old form. The nonprofit theater company dissolved in 2024 after years of financial pressure. But the stage itself — the actual outdoor amphitheater tucked into the hills near Orinda — is back in use.
And the first chapter is music.
Siesta Valley Bowl held a soft launch on May 30 and opened its inaugural season on June 5 with Jonathan Richman, the famously idiosyncratic singer-songwriter and former frontman of The Modern Lovers. The venue is now rolling out a full season of concerts that runs through October.
The upcoming lineup includes The Breaks and The Headhunters on July 2, DakhaBrakha on July 23, Stanley Clarke on July 25, Jake Shimabukuro on Aug. 7, Rebirth Brass Band and The Soul Rebels on Aug. 8, Earthless on Aug. 21, Beats Antique on Sept. 12, Jerry’s Middle Finger on Sept. 19, Cecile McLorin Salvant on Sept. 22, Al Di Meola on Sept. 26, Steep Canyon Rangers on Oct. 16, and Super Diamond on Oct. 24.
That is a very different calendar from the old Shakespeare summers, but it also gives the space something it badly needed: regular public life again.
The property is owned by the East Bay Municipal Utility District, which approved a 15-year lease last fall with the nonprofit Siesta Valley Foundation. The agreement gives the foundation control of the 9-acre amphitheater property and sets up the venue as a performing arts campus with concerts, theater, community events, environmental education, and conservation work.
EBMUD described the plan as a way to preserve a regional arts landmark while adding community and watershed education uses. The agreement also calls for an EBMUD native plant and bird garden and a Watershed Community Center. So you can learn about your water supply and ecology while also enjoying great music!
As great as the theater itself was, part of the magic of Cal Shakes was always the setting, of course. The venue sits in the Berkeley-Orinda hills and has stunning views behind the main stage.
Cal Shakes’ closure left a real hole in the local arts landscape. The organization had roots going back 50 years and built the Bruns Memorial Amphitheater in 1991, giving the company a permanent outdoor home. For decades, audiences came to Orinda for Shakespeare and other classics under the stars.
The new version of the venue appears to be aiming wider. Siesta Valley Foundation says its mission includes culture, conservation, and community, with live music, theater, film, dance, public gathering spaces, educational workshops, and watershed stewardship.
For now, though, the concert calendar is the most visible sign of life. The first announced season focuses heavily into music, with jazz, funk, world music, bluegrass, brass bands, psychedelic rock, and tribute acts all on the schedule. It is a surprisingly ambitious first run for a venue that many locals feared might stay dark for years.
The venue is intimate by modern concert standards. EBMUD previously listed the amphitheater capacity at 540 seated or 750 standing, while Siesta Valley Bowl has described itself as a 1,000-person outdoor amphitheater.
There are also practical details for anyone thinking about going. Siesta Valley Bowl is a cashless venue, according to current ticketing information. On-site parking is sold separately, and overflow parking is available at Orinda BART, with shuttle or rideshare options from there.
For a site that could easily have become a sad local memory, that is a very good outcome. The old Cal Shakes stage is back. Now it has to prove what its next act will be.
