Ah, 1951. It was a banner year in the entertainment world: the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The King and I premiered on Broadway, moviegoers flocked to see A Streetcar Named Desire and An American in Paris. And in the Bay Area, The Castro Valley Little Theatre Group started rehearsing for its first show in a chicken coop.
Performers came from the Castro Valley Women’s Club, with the chicken coop provided by charter group member John Hayes. Soon, a contest was held to choose a permanent name for the group. The winning name “Chanticleers” was submitted by Lucille Cochran and is a nod to the rooster in the medieval tales of Reynaud the Fox, derived from the old French word “chantecler,” meaning “to sing clear.”
In Sept. 1951 the group’s first major production, The Mystery of the Whispering Bell, was staged at Castro Valley School with tickets at $1 for adults and 50 cents for children.
Photo courtesy of Chanticleers
Photo courtesy of Chanticleers
Important memorabilia
In anticipation of the group’s 75th anniversary in 2026, historian and archivist Conrad Cady is working to preserve memorabilia from the group’s long history.
When Cady started the volunteer position about nine years ago, he turned to the community for help. “Lots of people had lots of stuff,” he said. “I collected as much as I could, so we now have all the ephemera from the theater, including many, many programs and fliers from past events…and I’ve digitized them all.”
In addition to what he collected, Cady said there is a treasure trove of vintage Chanticleers Theatre printed material in large wood-bound scrapbooks at the Hayward Area Historical Society. Because much of their material is sealed under plastic, it is harder to digitize those documents. However, Cady said the public is welcome to visit the museum on Foothill Boulevard to look through them.
Before acquiring its first permanent location, The Little Red Palomares School House in 1958, Chanticleers Theatre performed several temporary venues around Castro Valley and Hayward. After the Palomares venue was destroyed by fire in 1976, the group was able to lease the former Castro Valley Community Center building on Quail Avenue from the Hayward Area Recreational District.
Volunteers quickly transformed an indoor basketball court into an intimate 100-seat theater on the edge of Castro Valley Community Park. Cady said a recent stage expansion reduced the number of seats to 92.
An intimate theater
Christine L. Plowright, the group’s artistic director, said a top goal is “embracing our space and providing intimate theater.” Toward that end, the group strives to put on shows that engage theatergoers and reflect the community.
“We have a basic formula, with four shows a year,” Plowright said. “At least one comedy, one drama.” She noted that musicals are also popular, but were scaled back because of revenue downturn from the Covid pandemic. However, they will return to the theater in the future.
Meanwhile, Plowright said the group has made efforts to broaden the audience and reflect the community with a wider lens. Two recent shows focused on that goal: Stop Kiss by Diana Son takes a serious look at violence, homophobia and love and Yellowface by David Henry Hwang that focuses on stereotypes and racism faced by Asian actors and playwrights.
More standard fare also is performed including recent productions of Bell, Book & Candle, The River Bride, and Dracula. Additionally, each season includes children’s productions with performers enrolled in the Chanticleer’s Musical Theatre Summer Camp for kids.
One-man show
Also in the mix are occasional one-man performances by Bay Area writer, performer and storyteller Brian Copeland, who regularly appears on local television and radio outlets. Among Copeland’s performances at Chanticleers is an autobiographical story Grandma & Me and a witty holiday story, The Jewelry Box.
Marylou Juras Ramirez, a longtime Chanticleers Theatre volunteer who has worked as a director and performer, was instrumental in bringing Copeland into the group’s fold. Copeland was a student of Ramirez’s when she taught language arts and children’s theater at St. Felicitas Catholic School in San Leandro.
“He had quite a voice, and so I used him in quite a lot of my singing productions,” Ramirez recalled. They kept in touch over the years and he migrated over to Chanticleers.
A milestone anniversary
While things are always busy backstage, Susan Hohl, the Chanticleers board president, said it is important to reach out and thank the community for its support during the last 75 years.
As part of its anniversary celebration in 2026, Hohl said preliminary plans are underway to partner with other businesses and community organizations to get the word out that live theater is flourishing in town. One idea is to partner with Pete’s Ace Hardware, an iconic Castro Valley business that will be celebrating its 100th year serving the community.
Hohl said Chanticleers also has stepped up its involvement with the Castro Valley Chamber of Commerce. “We really want to engage people—we have so much media, TV, radio, phones. The idea of wanting to keep live entertainment going and have people embrace that. You hate to lose track of live entertainment.”
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