Presentation Theatre

"The Little Theater was built in the Adam manner, named after Robert Adam, an eighteenth-century Scottish architect who made a special study of Greco-Roman architecture and decoration. This style is particularly prominent in the ornamental plasterwork around the proscenium arch and around the stage. Several motifs in the plasterwork show the influence of Greece and Rome: urns, cameos, winged sphinxes and flowers in the Corinthian style. In the center of the proscenium are the three graces. Adam believed the audience should be near the performance, so the seats in the Little Theater were positioned "for the greatest visibility."

Presentation Theater is probably best known as the home of the Lamplighters Musical Theatre, beloved performers of Gilbert and Sullivan operettas. In 1968, they moved to Presentation Theater from the Harding Theater where they had performed without interruption since 1961. In June 1991, the University of San Francisco purchased the Presentation campus, and Presentation High School vacated the facilities at the end of the year. An extensive renovation began, making it necessary for The Lamplighters once again to look for a new home. Their last performance was held in Spring of 1995.

Thanks to the generosity of the Ira and Leonore Gershwin Trusts, Presentation Theater underwent extensive remodeling, including new technical systems. The theater opened in December 1996, managed by the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, with the San Francisco Opera Center's production of Hansel and Gretel; the Center returned in Spring of 1997 with Handel's Ezio.

In 1999, the University resumed operation and management of the theater with the same commitment to providing a venue for artistic and cultural events that will enrich the community and University. Managed by the Fine and Performing Arts Department in the University's College of Arts and Sciences, it currently hosts a wide array of Bay Area cultural arts organizations. The 2002-2003 season includes productions by Lamplighters Musical Theatre, Omni Performing Arts Foundation, Theatre of Yugen, and the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra as well as academic and student programs open to the public."

-- www.usfca.edu