3Below Theaters & Lounge
288 S 2nd St, San Jose
3belowtheaters.com | 408.404.7711
Nine
Oct. 17-Nov 10
This stage version of Fellini’s Oscar-winning movie 8½ is also no slouch in the awards department. The original Broadway production in 1982 racked up five Tonys including best musical, and the 2003 reboot got the nod for best revival. As was Fellini’s wont, the show is a surreal celebration of women that takes a hard look at the cost of following your creative vision at the expense of your personal relationships.
Broadway San Jose
255 S Almaden Blvd, San Jose
broadwaysanjose.com | 699.242.8555
Jesus Christ Superstar
Oct. 22-27
Along with Steely Dan and Beatles albums, the soundtrack of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s rock opera also hung out in my older brother’s record collection. Decades later, I still pretend that Yvonne Elliman is singing “Everything’s Alright” to me when I can’t fall asleep: “Try not to get worried, try not to turn on to/ problems that upset you, oh./Don’t you know/everything’s alright, yes, everything’s alright, yes.” It’s such a comforting song that you almost believe that Mary Magdalene will be the one to save her savior.
Blue Man Group
Nov. 1-3
Men wrapped in blue second skins, like The Watchmen’s Doctor Manhattan, will soon be looking at San Jose audiences with their disconcerting wide-eyed stares. Mere words don’t seem up to the task of describing the Blue Man Group’s “Speechless” tour, but you can’t mime in print. First, a disclaimer for introverts. You should know that this show includes “large-scale audience participation.” My guess is that “fostering communal moments” means: Plan on playing a tube-based musical instrument. To sum it all up, your days as a passive spectator are at an end!
Miss Saigon
Nov. 12-17
Claude-Michel Schonberg and Alain Boublil’s musical transports Madame Butterfly from turn-of-the-20th-century Japan to the Vietnam War. The sound of helicopters haunts the stage. Will the American soldier do right by the woman he meets or will their wartime love affair end in tragedy? Odds are the whole thing will end in tears.
City Lights Theater
529 S 2nd St, San Jose
cltc.org | 408.295.4200
The Wolves
Sept. 19-Oct. 20
After last month’s World Cup win by the US women’s national soccer team, the timing couldn’t be better for a staging of Sarah DeLappe’s play. The story centers on a high school girls soccer team whose rallying cry is, “We are the Wolves.” They huddle and chant the phrase together as if their mascot is a spirit animal that can be brought to life. DeLappe shows how the rowdy individuals on the team bond and bicker as they morph into a cohesive pack.
The Wickhams: Christmas at Pemberley
Nov. 14-Dec. 15
It’s reported that Lauren Gunderson has become the most-produced playwright in the Western hemisphere, barring the Bard of Avon, by elevating the art of fanfiction. She and Margot Melcon share co-writer status in this ode to Jane Austen’s galaxy of troubled aristocrats. This new play is a sequel to the sequel Miss Bennett: Christmas at Pemberley. If anyone can fast-track Austenmania into a national Christmas tradition a la The Nutcracker, Gunderson will be the one to do it.
Hammer Theatre Center
101 Paseo De San Antonio, San Jose
hammertheatre.com | 408.924.8501
The Other Mozart
Sept. 26-27
The Mozart family was blessed with more than one musical prodigy. But Amadeus’ sister Nannerl, a.k.a. Maria Anna Walburga Ignatia, got lost in the history books. Sylvia Milo, an actress and violinist, wrote and stars in this one-woman play that brings her back to life. Milo performs the play in and on an 18-foot dress.
Los Altos Stage Company
97 Hillview Ave, Los Altos
losaltosstage.org | 650.941.0551
Admissions
Sept. 5-29
“Do you really care about diversity?” That’s the tagline for Joshua Harmon’s play about college admissions. As the head of admissions at an East Coast prep school, Sherri is emphatic about the need to diversify the student body. But when her son applies to an elite college, her personal ambitions for him conflict with her professional values. Harmon’s great at taking topical issues and turning them into relatable, human stories.
Palo Alto Players
1305 Middlefield Rd, Palo Alto
paplayers.org | 650.329.0891
Bright Star
Sept. 13-29
That wild and crazy guy Steve Martin wrote this musical with the New Bohemians lead singer Edie Brickell. His passion for the banjo means it’s a featured player in just about every number. Bright Star follows a small town girl who wants to make it in the big city. And she does, but it costs her dearly. Self-affirming ballads punctuate parallel love stories. Depending on your mood, the music will feel uplifting or treacly.
The Pear Theatre
1110 La Avenida St, Mountain View
thepear.org | 650.254.1148
An Ideal Husband
Aug. 23-Sept. 15
The Pear’s 18th season commences with this chestnut by Oscar Wilde. Underneath the period-appropriate costumes, there’s a relevant, contemporary themepolitical corruption. On the other side of the New Age (the 20th century’s answer to the Age of Enlightenment), it turns out that being greedy in 2019 doesn’t look any different than it did in 1895. If only Wilde’s famous line applied to certain members of the Executive Branch: “At some point, we all have to pay for what we do.”
Sweat
Oct. 18-Nov. 10
Lynn Nottage’s 2017 Pulitzer Prize-winning drama takes place during the Great Recession of 2008. A group of co-workers, friends and family members struggle to find or keep their jobs. When someone is given a chance to move into management, and off of backbreaking work on the factory floor, envy and old enmities threaten to tear these long-term relationships apart. Most of the action happens in a neighborhood bar where the community comes together, and where it also starts to disintegrate. Better than an economist’s assessment of the era, Nottage’s writing feels as authentic as documentarian’s film.
South Bay Musical Theatre
13777 Fruitvale Ave, Saratoga
southbaymt.com | 408.266.4734
A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder
Sep. 27 – Oct. 19
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. It’s an Agatha Christie mystery that’s been turned on its head by Monty Python’s embrace of surrealism and absurdity.
The Tabard Theater Company
29 N San Pedro St, San Jose
tabardtheatre.org | 408.679.2330
Sherlock Holmes and the Mystery of the Crown Jewel
Sept. 13-Oct. 6
A musical based on a Holmes and Watson adventure. Expect wild goose chases around London, an appearance by Queen Victoria and street urchins singing crowd-pleasing songs like “The Game’s Afoot.”
TheatreWorks
500 Castro St, Mountain View
theatreworks.org | 650.463.1960
The 39 Steps
Aug. 21-Sept. 15
No, not an adaptation of Hitchcock’s 1935 espionage film, but Patrick Barlow’s parody of it. Only four actors play every part in the movie, meaning they each have dozens of roles and quick costume changes. The spy story definitely takes a backseat to the comic hijinks.
Mark Twain’s River of Song
Oct. 2-27
If you missed veteran actor Dan Hiatt singing in ACT’s recent production of Vanity Fair, he leads the cast of Randal Myler and Dan Wheetman’s River of Song. Join Mark Twain and friends as they travel down the Mississippi River while singing traditional songs like “Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child” and “Deep River Blues.”
Dragon Productions Theatre Company
2120 Broadway, Redwood City
dragonproductions.net | 650.493.2006
Hickorydickory
Sept. 6-29
Marisa Wegrzyn’s play Hickorydickory won the Wasserstein Prize in 2009. In it, she asks, What if you knew the exact moment when you’ll die? She sets the play in a suburban Chicago watch and clock repair shop. If you’re wondering for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee.
Anne of the Thousand Days
Nov. 1-24
Poor Anne Boleyn. The second wife of King Henry VIII never saw her daughter, Elizabeth I, take the throne. Maxwell Anderson’s play begins at the end of her life, as she reflects on her marriage, her husband and what it was like to be a queen.
