Introduction | Art | Stage | Dance | Pop | Jazz | Classical | Film
BROADWAY SAN JOSE
San Jose | broadwaysanjose.com
Cats
Feb 19-24
Would that T.S. Eliot had lived to see Andrew Lloyd Webber meddle with his modest collection of children’s poems, Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats. I’d have given anything to have watched Thomas Stearns’ expression change from awe to disbelief on opening night.
CITY LIGHTS THEATER
San Jose | cltc.org
Mothers and Sons
Jan 17-Feb 17
Terrence McNally chronicles the aftermath of an actor’s death from AIDS. Twenty years after her son dies, a grieving mother visits the man who loved and cared for him when she couldn’t.
Eurydice
Mar 14-Apr 14
A revisionist take on the ancient Greek myth by the inventive playwright Sarah Ruhl. Instead of hearing from Orpheus as we usually do, Eurydice gets to have her say.
CMT SAN JOSE
San Jose | cmtsj.org
Aladdin Jr.
Feb 20-24
What will the young Aladdin do with those three wishes? Is the genie in the lamp his friend or his conscience? This is a magic carpet ride for all ages.
A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder
Mar 1-10
Based on Roy Homimam’s book Israel Rank: The Autobiography of a Criminal, this musical also takes its inspiration from the Alec Guinness film Kind Hearts and Coronets. This is British black comedy at its best.
HAMMER THEATRE CENTER
San Jose | hammertheatre.com
Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus LIVE!
Feb 8-9
A one-man stand-up show that comedically dissects John Gray’s 1992 best seller. Statistics show that Gary’s book solved all of our relationship problems and reduced the worldwide rate of divorce forever.
LOS ALTOS STAGE COMPANY
Los Altos | losaltosstage.org
American Night: The Ballad of Juan Jose
Jan 24-Feb 17
As Juan Jose prepares for his U.S. citizenship examination, his imagination sends him on a picaresque journey through American history.
PALO ALTO PLAYERS
Palo Alto | paplayers.org
Shakespeare in Love
Jan 19-Feb 3
Tom Stoppard concocted this romantic fable for Gwyneth Paltrow. Her cross-dressing character Viola de Lesseps wants to act on the theatrical stage where only men are allowed. Andforward-thinking woman that she isto be allowed to marry the man she loves, William Shakespeare. Society asks, “How dare she?”
THE PEAR THEATRE
Mountain View | thepear.org
Sojourn
Mar 15-Apr 7
Evan Kokkila-Schumacher wonders what it would be like to jet into outer space for five years. Will Nick and Deanna get along or will their relationship fall apart? And did they happen to watch Tarkovsky’s Solaris before they left our fair planet?
SOUTH BAY MUSICAL THEATRE
Saratoga | [ http://southbaymt.com/ ]southbaymt.com
Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Opens Jan 26
Based on Mark Twain’s classic novel, this musical incorporated bluegrass and country songs into a Broadway-sized entertainment several decades before Steve Martin and Edie Brickell did in their collaboration Bright Star.
The Tabard Theater Company
San Jose | [ http://tabardtheatre.org/ ]tabardtheatre.org
Snapshots: A Musical Snapshot
Jan 11-Feb 3
After thirty years of marriage, Sue and Dan’s suburban life is about to fall apart. When they look through photographs from the past, musicals they once attended remind them of their younger, happier selves.
Beau Jest
Feb 15-Mar 10
Did you love Debra Messing in The Wedding Date (2005)? That’s the film in which she hired Dermot Mulroney to be her companion for a family wedding. In this play, the protagonist, Sarah Goldman, takes a similar path to temporary coupledom in order to please her mother.
THEATREWORKS SILICON VALLEY
Mountain View | [ http://theatreworks.org/ ]theatreworks.org
Marie and Rosetta
Mar 6-31
Sister Rosetta Tharpe hires Marie Davis to be her partner on the Gospel Circuit in 1940s America. With songs like “The Train,” “Down by the Riverside” and “Rock Me” on the track list, get ready to have your socks knocked off.
