Black Repertory Group

Saw Cabin in the sky. This is my new favorite theater! Best show I have seen in years! Will come back often!

Had a great time listening to Dr. Umar lecture! No drama was also a plus. The tickets where over sold which was a negative. But the over experience was good. They should consider remodeling the theaters stage it is very outdated.

Great place for brothas ans sistas to gain knowledge and celebrate our history as well as future. We need more aces like this and kept up to move our agenda further. There other entertainment besides sports! Its small so come early, next to the BART

Wonderful experience visiting for the first time to see Amen Corner by James Baldwin. The set and actors were great! There were three intermissions — and while short, the entire show lasted three hours which was a bit long for me despite how well they did.
What I didn’t expect were the vendors with so many great gift items, perfect for the season. And they sold food too — those jerk chicken wings looked and smelled great. but I’d already eaten. In any case, check out this play and even consider making a donation to the theater. They are living their purpose and you will be happy that you supported it!

Went to see Christopher Williams here. He didn’t show up. The show started at 10pm and they waited until 12:30am to tell us he wasn’t showing up. We also had to sit through a mediocre talent show. which I probably could have handled if the artist had shown up. This isn’t my first poor experience at the Black Rep… no more.

I loved the intimate nature of the playhouse, excellent acting and really loved how the actors were present after. It is very much a community theater, down home awesome acting a marvelously pleasant evening!:)

Saw Amen Corner yesterday. This is an intimate venue with the lobby lined with photos of well known and lesser known accomplished black men and women from all fields of endeavor. The play treated the problems in religion with respect… THe cast was good, and it was a delight to get the opportunity to shake hands and chat with them after the show. It was definitely worth the drive from San Jose, oh, wish we hadn’t had dinner before because there was great home made food available. Including what looked like a great crab pasta salad and some skewered jerk chicken that sure looked good.

The Amen Corner by James Baldwin is fabulous. The acting was as good as any I’ve seen at any theater, anywhere. The play is both dramatic and funny. Everyone was very nice and helpful, and the atmosphere was welcoming. We’ll be back.

We saw the play — Mulatto — at the Berkeley Repatory Theater. The actors were fantastic. I highly recommend it.

Enjoying Langston Hughes «Mullato» GREAT Cast & a GREAT way to end Black History Month ~

Most of the acting was just OK. The woman who played the lead was good. We saw Langston Hughes’ «Mulatto». Now for the theater. It’s definitely in need of a makeover. They also need to do some serious maintenance in the ladies room — one toilet was broken & had leaked all over the floor, they ran out of toilet paper in another stall & I used the last paper towel (this was all during intermission BTW). They have a sign outside the theater that advertises coffee & dessert but what they actually had was some sad lil snacks, water & beer & wine. Lastly, we got there early to get good seats but it turns out they don’t open the theater until 5 minutes before showtime. I’m glad there’s a black theater but they need to get it together.

For Valentine’s Day, B. T took me here to watch the adaptation of Langston Hughes’ «Mulatto.» Romantic? Yes! I love watching plays so I was super excited! The Black Repertory Group Theater is not shiny, swanky, or new but there is something very endearing about it. I think a lot of it has to do with the passion and pride of the performers and the support from the community. It’s very easy to say that this place needs an overhaul, but this is a community theater. I think the important thing to concentrate on is that the Black Repertory Group focuses and fosters the manifestation of creative arts– for EVERYONE to enjoy. The seats are very comfortable, and from a vantage point, there are no bad seats. «Mulatto» was very well done. One of the better plays I have seen and the acting was amazing. Oh, during intermission, they sold food! Score! Goodness that Jambalaya was yummy!!! They also had a raffle and B. T won VIP membership for a year. I can’t wait to go back and see more plays here. So B. T if you’re reading this… hint hint.

It is easy to find or see many problems here, but look ”behind the scenes” for the true Black Repertory Group. Some may criticize the condition of this historic Theater without giving regard to the unwavering community support provided by BRG for over 50 years. The Theater has given many a start, and a forum for all races to demonstrate creative expression — poetry, music, plays etc written/​performed by the young & the old ! Some famous entertainers & creative people have either started or performed here. Sure it needs a physical facelift, (we all do eventually), but passion in Black Repertory Group and those who have committed to its community goals, which is THE HEART of this Theater, needs to remain a contemporaneous creative influence. Just spend some time watching local children learn about themselves here and see if the shortcomings really matter that much.

Black repertory group is a very wonderful establishment!
#Aprilfools!

Website advertised Comedy Show for March 1^st at 9pm. Purchased tickets, and received a confirmation about event. When I arrived the gentlemen at the door (who was nice) had no idea what I was talking about. I told him to look at the website and said let me go get the Manager. The Manager would NOT come and talk to me about the error on the website or refunding my money. After waiting 30 minutes a lady did come out and acted as if Brown Paper Bag who collected the money for the event made the mistake. I Told he NO go look at your Website calender. I told her I was surprised more people did not show up, and she had the nerve to say– OH Maybe they figured it out??? I was like huh??? figured out that your website is wrong??? Regardless, I agree with a post i read earlier… THIS PLACE IS A RIP OFF!

Went to see Paul Mooney for New Years. Unfortunately he was in the hospital but there was absolutely no mention of it on their website.
We decided to go anyways cause they had some comedians lined up. The show was decent. The owner and staff told us that if we give them an email address they would send us a free pass to see Paul Mooney when he gets better at the end of Jan 2014. Still waiting for any email. At least they could have emailed us saying they could or could not do it. The owner even came up to me and literally swore on his parents that he would send us a receipt of our purchase (no joke). I thought that was weird and even weirder that he did not follow through. I am a strong supporter of black-​owned businesses, but this is just disrespectful.

THIS PLACE IS A RIP OFF! And we should have known when my partner called the three different phone numbers found on the website for the box office that turned out to be personal cell phones.
Saw that Paul Mooney was performing here, before reviewing Unilocal and finding out that he’s pretty much the only performer here year-​round, we were anxious to see him.
The prices range from $ 25 for GA to $ 200 for backstage access, bottomless champagne, and no waiting in line. We were between the $ 65 and $ 45 seats. Upon arrival, the woman at the door suggested the $ 45 and so we made our purchase. When we got into the theatre it was obvious that all seats were GA and we asked the couple sitting one row in front of us how much they paid and they said $ 25. I ran back out to the woman and she said there’s no way unless they bought the Gold Pass online blah blah and then said, «Well it’s pretty much empty in there so sit wherever you like. Go right ahead to the front row.» And we did. I was confused by all that was happening, so we made no more fuss about it.
The comedian that opened up had to introduce himself, open the curtain, then run back out to start the show talking about how ‘ghetto’ they were. Well, I just figured if you’re charging people $ 200 and giving them the same services as one who pays $ 25 this wouldn’t be so ghetto.
Paul Mooney. He sucked. The first hour was pretty funny, but because it was the late show and he couldn’t find his cell phone, so he had no idea how long he was going. And so there we sat mostly in silence until something came to his mind and he spoke for a minute or two and then sit silently thinking to himself and laughing while the audience sat totally clueless, yet ready to laugh at any peep he would make. The show lasted for 2.5hrs and 1.5hrs was in near silence.
BRG’s website opens to a beautifully renovated ampitheatre, which implies that it’s the BRG’s theatre, but IT IS NOT. It’s some stock photo and BRG is run down as shit. The entire place is like that. They have all of these inspiring African American figures framed throughout the lobby, but then you realize that they’re all photo copies and there are so many duplicates, some of which are half ripped and falling out of frames.
**Tickets are supposed to include a two drink minimum, but the guy behind what they are calling a «bar» was so annoyed by the miscommunication that he said, «ugh, just forget it and show me your ticket to the show.» The concession stand sucked. It’s expensive and hot water for tea or hot coco is from the water fountain and then heated in the microwave.
Oh, and the $ 200 tickets for backstage access doesn’t mean jack because anyone can sit on the stage with the performers and then at the end of the show Paul Mooney comes out so that you buy their garbage and then he can sign it. The «VIP» line was held off by a red velvet rope with a piece of crumpled computer paper, hand written ‘VIP Line’ and scotch taped to the rope.
Oh man, I could go on and on about the crap we went through here… It’s unbelievable they would run a business in such a way. We would have loved to support the idea of this place, but now we will never return and will tell all that we know to stay away from here.
On a positive note, all of the staff was really nice. But I would be too if I were robbing folks blind.

Came here to see «the Old Settler» last Friday. Not bad! I was pleasantly surprised. It was their 1^st show and one actor had fumbled through some lines, but we thoroughly enjoyed the show! It ran a little longer than we expected.
The theatre itself is pretty good sized, bigger than some we’ve been to. The rows are long. It’s like a school auditorium or a cinema type of seating (not stadium style though, so if you’re short you might want to sit closer to the aisle).
Parking wasn’t bad. It was fairly easy to find parking within a block of the place. If you live in the E. Bay, you may consider BARt as well, but since BARt would take us more than an hour to get home, we drove over.
We didn’t know they sold dinner, otherwise we’d probably eat there. We bought a piece of cake there.

This was a very cozy and intimate place to see PAUL MOONEY! It was as if he was doing standup in your Living Room.
The staff was extremely friendly. I’d definitely go here again for an event.

This was my first time at the BRG and when Paul Mooney is in town, you go to great lengths to see the man.
We walked in about an hour before our show was to start and all the ladies were very helpful, the bartender was pouring champagne (Martinelli’s for us b/​c we don’t drink anymore) and they offered a couple of excellent entrees. New Orleans Jambalaya, we saw (and smelled) go by our table a few times. Boy, they know how to pile some food on. They also had a biscuits and gravy option, which looked pretty good as well.
The venue is super chill, very clean and a great place to watch a show. The seating is divided in two sections. VIP in the front and General Admission in the rear. We got the hook up on VIP tickets through goldstar and it was a sweet deal. If not for this deal, I doubt we would have paid full price. I’m not a fan of overpaying for tickets to anything, that’s just me.