Backstage Look at CCCT
- Livable El Cerrito
- Aug 10
- 5 min read
Updated: Aug 28
About 100 people – mostly El Cerrito residents – gathered Saturday afternoon to celebrate the 65-year anniversary of the Contra Costa Civic Theatre (CCCT) and the 50th anniversary of the El Cerrito Historical Society. They enjoyed a behind-the scenes tour of the building, an interview with the founder’s daughter, and an informal reception featuring an anniversary cake donated by PennDel Bakehouse.
The nicely landscaped theater building on the corner of Moeser Lane and Pomona Avenue fits into the neighborhood so well that many residents don’t know it is there, according to Kathleen Flynn Ray, daughter of theater founders Louis and Bettianne Flynn.
“’I would love to change that,” Kathleen Ray said in a Q and A session on Saturday.
The El Cerrito theater is one of the few local theaters still standing after the Covid 19 shutdowns and arts cutbacks that began in 2019.
Contra Costa Civic Theatre began in 1960 in a small movie theater at Blake Street and San Pablo Avenue in what is now a liquor store. In 1971, it moved to the current location in two World War II vintage buildings at 951 Pomona Ave. The buildings were used as PX (public exchange) buildings for the Kaiser shipyards in Richmond.
In the 1960s, the buildings were home to the El Cerrito Boys’ Club, recalled Michael Martin, who now serves on the board of the local historical society.
Every afternoon there were games, sports, and activities that made it a fun place to hang out. For Martin, the biggest draw was baseball. Martin played on Boys’ Club teams in 1965, 1966, and 1967.
By 1971, the city was planning to tear the old buildings down at a cost of $6,000, but Bettianne Flynn convinced the city to lease the buildings to the CCCT for $1 per year. Then theater supporters raised more than $20,000 to renovate. They also did much of the work themselves.
The theater was known for extraordinary performances by Louis Flynn and by local actors who appreciated the theater’s camaraderie as well as being treated like professionals. It thrived for decades, but it almost died during the Covid-19 pandemic, said Ray.
Surviving Covid
There were two keys to the theater’s survival when many Bay Area theaters closed, she said.
One was the ability of CCCT directors to obtain federal PPP (Payroll Protection Program) loans and grants. The other was moving children’s programs outside and adapting them for an outdoor environment. Young people were grateful for the chance to work together with one another, even if it had to be in the parking lot, Ray said.
An audience member pointed out that most people at the theater Saturday were older, and asked about the future of live theater at CCCT.
Young People at the Theater
“It’s about the kids,” Ray said. “The arts are the most important things in the world. You learn a lot of skills – to be empathetic and work together. These fabulous young people start out as campers.”
Hopefully, she said, today’s theater camp students are the theatergoers of the future. Ray would also like to see outreach to local schools.
At the reception in the lobby, an El Cerrito resident named Ken said he ran into one of those grown-up CCCT campers during an informal tour Saturday.
He and his wife go to Ashland, Ore. every year for the theater festival, he said.
“They have three world class theater buildings and they give tours, but they don’t let you stand right next to the equipment like we did today,” Ken said. “We got a very thorough tour of the sound and light boards by a professional theater tech guy who lives in Minnesota but comes back (to El Cerrito) every summer to staff this camp.”
Former Camper, Current Professional
That guy is Lucas Martin, who started coming to theater camp at CCCT when he was nine years old and returned every year until he was 15. At 16, he started working on sound and lighting and discovered that was where he wanted to be.
Currently he is a freelance sound and light technician in the Twin Cities and comes back to El Cerrito every year to teach at CCCT summer camp.
“There are kids I just met this year and kids I have taught for five or six years,” Martin said. “It’s awesome to watch them.”
Growing Up in the Theater
Alexandra Rivers, director of education at CCCT for the past two years, was with the Bay Area Children’s Theatre before it ceased operation in 2023. She interviewed Kathleen Ray on stage Saturday.
Ray grew up immersed in theater. Sundays were for dress rehearsals, and Bettianne Flynn took care of preparing food for everyone at the theater so they could stay all day. The casts would do two run-throughs and while they did, Bettianne would take notes. When the family went home, she’d fix another dinner for her family and talk with Louis about the comments.
The Flynn family even slept in the theater at one point. The building wasn’t in great condition and it was getting vandalized. So Louis and Bettianne organized a family campout there.
Kathleen Ray’s first acting role consisted of two lines in Play It Again Sam, the first production in the Pomona Avenue location. She ended up studying theater at UC Berkeley, then teaching theater at El Cerrito High School for seven years and at Head-Royce School in Oakland for 30 years.
At Saturday’s event, the Jenks-Kasuga family was exploring the “catacombs” of props and costumes under the stage level of the theater. Thomas just completed summer camp and said it was fun.
“The best part was ‘cooking with Ben,’” Thomas said, showing the quotation marks with his hands. “It happens on the last day of camp but I can’t tell you about it.”
El Cerrito residents Evelyn and Cameron are long-time theater supporters.
“We’ve been coming to this theater for years and years and we wanted to take a look behind the scenes,” said Evelyn.
Meanwhile, in rehearsal rooms at the north end of the building, cast members were practicing singing and working on choreography for the upcoming musical Pippin, which will open Aug. 30th.
And the theater is working on a plan to start offering classes to adults, possibly in spring 2026.
Information about the upcoming CCCT 66th season is available here.
Fascinating! Thanks, Betsy!