San Jose Stage Company

What a wonderful venue and stellar program and performances. You don’t have to pay the big dollars of San Francisco to see outstanding theatre. Supported by volunteers, this intimate venue has a lot of appeal. I’ve supported the theatre in various forms over many years and am delighted to be a new season subscriber of San Jose Stage. Just saw RFK — David Arrow’s solo performance was brilliant, insightful, funny, poignant, sad, and a reminder of all the things that happened during that period of time. He was truly a tour de force. Well done, and thank you!

My husband and I have been enjoying plays at this theatre since we moved out to California in 2001. It was the first theatre experience we had in San Jose and it continues to be our favorite. I love that it is an intimate space. If I were an actor I would think it would be much harder to pull off a great performance when people are able to so clearly see every nuance up close and personal. If it is intimidating, then you would never know. The actors make it seem so real and I am pulled into the show every time. I’m no expert on quality of acting ability but I believe the talent this theatre attracts is top notch. Some of my favorite plays have been: Urine Town, Red, Death of a Salesman, Avenue Q, and some others I can’t remember right this moment. I’m looking forward to seeing RFK!!! If you have not been yet I highly recommend you check this little gem out.

I really, really love San Jose Stage. They produce very high quality plays of a wide variety. I go to the theater a lot — in San Francisco, Berkeley and in New York and I think the shows here are terrific. They have a miss here and there, but in general they are fantastic. Plus it is a great theater — small enough so that it feels very intimate, with comfortable seats and good wine. And the prices are reasonable. There are enough restaurants within a few blocks that it is easy to make a fun evening of it.

I love this place. I got a 5-​play pass from Groupon, but even without Groupon, it’s fairly affordable theatre.
The first show I saw here was Avenue Q, which was super über awesome. And then, I saw Race, which was again super duper awesome. Then, I saw Reckless and Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, which was awesome.
The great thing about the plays that San Jose Stage puts out is that they choose very very provocative scripts. I mean, theatre, in general, is meant to be thought proving so that’s not a very cathartic insight. Nonetheless, for a little a theatre in Downtown San Jose, they choose fairly provocative and challenging scripts. The dialogue is very philosophically thoughtful about life and the subtleties of it. I guess this observation comes from seeing «Race» by David Mammet. And the actors they chose are suberb. Hands down, the scripts wouldn’t come alive and speak to you on a deeper level if it weren’t for the actors’ commitment to putting on a great and meaningful play. Honestly, most theatres produce at least one play that’s worth seeing. But what sets San Jose Stage apart is that almost everything they put out is really good and Season Tickets are worth getting.
Physically, the theatre itself is not small but definitely intimate. I even wanna say that I don’t think there’s a bad seat anywhere in the theatre. They serve drinks before a show, so if you’re down for some wine during the play… they’ve got you covered.
Honestly, I can’t wait for them to announce their next musical because it was so nice to see Avenue Q there.

I discovered this place when another play I wanted to go to was sold out, and have been a subscriber ever since.
They do great engaging stuff that is sometimes a bit racy (never nude or anything crazy, but still). I find their style is very thought engaging and I leave each play inspired and full of questions and deep thoughts. Check it out.

I saw «Reefer Madness» here with a few friends last year. Oh my God, it was so funny and fun and the music and songs and dancing were so great! So enjoyable and quite a production. The cast were so talented and professional. I was surprised at how polished it was. We bought a few cocktails at the bar and the tender was super nice There prices are very manageable, especially for the production value. Really nice, clean, comfortable venue I look forward to going to another production there this year. In fact I’m going to look on their web site now!

Just saw ‘It’s a Wonderful Life — A Live Radio Play’ there tonight. It was amazing. Excellent actors and an excellent play. Very friendly staff. Go and see it while you still can! Highly recommended!
We had a wonderful time at this nice little theatre tonight. Thank you!

Unique amazing shows!!! Been to 4 and always different. Never disappoints!

Beautifully small! Every seat is a great seat! I saw the production of Persuasion. I had just finished the book by Jane Austen when the Mercury News started to advertise for the production. I was able to get cheep tickets through Amazon Local for a Sunday showing. They were great seats. Honestly, I look forward to seeing more productions through the San Jose Stage Company.

The reason I bought these tickets was because I wanted to see the Three Penny Opera. It’s one of my favorite shows– and the San Jose Symphony was putting on a Kurt Weill show– so I thought the two would go great together. Imagine how sad I was when I found that they’d bumped The Threepenny Opera for Persuasion. I love Persuasion– I own an extremely good production of it (the one with Ciaran Hinds) — and I did not have any interest in seeing it «live». I suppose they did their best with it– but it was a strange choice, and not the kind of thing small theater does well. The minimal sets didn’t work, and having the characters play multiple roles was a mistake — especially for the poor folks who don’t know the characters backwards and forwards like I do. I heard many people muttering. And of course some made dash for the exit, like we did, at intermission. I’d thought I might get season tickets next year– but having been badly burned on the Threepenny Opera, I won’t bother.

february twenty-​two, two-​thousand-​thirteen production of john logan’s red…$forty-five for two tickets… nicer local theatre facilities in bay area comparison… close up look into the mind of an artist and his apprentice… the inner struggles of right and wrong… entertaining and interesting… have mixed thoughts on the chain smoking… is it necessary to be that «real»…seems common in most local theatre groups in the bay area…

SUPPORT LOCAL THEATER, PEOPLE!
Now that I live in DTSJ I’ve been to 2 shows here, and will be attending more (I got the Groupon deal for 5 shows). Each show has been very good so far. The seating is great — not a bad seat in the house.
Production quality has been really good, if not excellent. Good quality work being done here.

We have been attending plays at The Stage Theater Company for the last couple of years and have enjoyed the productions a lot overall. I enjoy the initmate space and their willingness to put on plays thoughtful, interesting plays.
We saw «Race» by David Mammet last night and were treated to an exciting and interesting evening of twists, turns thoughtful observations and some great laughs here and there. All four actors turned in excellent performances, and realistically brought the play to light. This is a play I would higly recommend to anyone who enjoys thought provoking dramas with a touch of humor.

My first visit has me hooked! Intimate setting and wonderful selection of shows. I can’t wait to go back!

This is an intimate theater where I watched Buffalo’ed. I can’t say I was the biggest fan of the actual show (it started off really well, but then kind of went all over the place). But I have to say, it is small enough where every seat is a good view of the stage. Which is great because when you go to a play, you want to feel like you’re really part of the show. The San Jose Stage Company give you that feeling. Its clean and there’s ample parking in the area.

BUFFALO’ED
We know we’re in for a rousing performance right from the start of ‘Buffalo’ed’, when buffalo soldier David Fagen (Clinto Derricks-​Carroll) struts front a la black minstrel and engages the audience in a rollicking song, dance and monologue on the life of the American soldier in the jungles of the Philippines and the irony of carrying out the US manifest destiny of bringing freedom and democracy to a faraway culture while denying it to black citizens like Fagen himself.
Are we in for another bleeding heart polemic by that cadre of ‘I hate America and its terrible flaws but hell, why would I live anywhere else?’ artists? It turns out the answer is NO. ‘Buffalo’ed’ is a really terrific play that features great writing, great directing, great acting and entertaining weapon dances about a little known true incident about the buffalo soldiers and the story of the real David Fagen, who deserted the expeditionary force and joined the rebels. There are plenty of applications you might think of regarding Afghanistan and Iraq. Playwright Jeannie Barroga, thankfully, doesn’t go there. She just tells her great story.
Ms. Barroga advances her story in four overlapping layers. First there’s the buffalo soldier layer, three African-​American soldiers and their white captain and corporal who march onstage in their 1898 expeditionary uniforms carrying in their rifles, cots and trunks. One soldier, the volatile but loyal Linc (Adrian Roberts) breaks away from the group and carries on a verbal back and forth of letters to his attractive and very pregnant wife Della (Elizabeth Carter), who appears on a daïs above the stage.
A choreographed dance pair, presumably Filipinos, portray the feelings expressed by Della and Linc, such as their passionate love for each other. Then the buffalo soldiers grab all their belongings and fade back through the many-​opening stage curtain while more bolo and sword-​carrying dancers come forward and we realize they represent Filipino society and more specifically, some of them are rebels intent on chasing the Americans out. Porfiro (Rajiv Shah) and Luisa (Amielynn Abellera) break out of the dancers and express their plans for Filipino independence.
The fourth layer is represented by the periodic full-​stage slides that gobo light the backdrop curtain with scenes from the actual 1898 war.
Dona Luisa steps out of the Filipinos and approaches the American captain (David Arrow). Luisa is all charm, banter and bravado initially and it’s not clear what she intends with that little stiletto that she hides under her wrist wrapping. She invites the Captain to a ‘soirée’ where he can meet Filipino society. It becomes clear that she wants more than international friendship. At heart, she is a nationalist. Ms. Abellera’s passionate performance is one of the great strengths of this performance.
As the story progresses, we watch the buffalo soldiers turn sour over their treatment by the American military and Linc’s letters to Della grow scarcer. What else can I say without giving away the whole plot? Even as the Captain is getting a promotion and new stripes for his success in taking Filipino territory, Luisa and her insurrecto colleagues plan to dilute the strength of the American forces by luring the unhappy buffalo soldiers to the rebel cause.
The gifted actors, director and choreographers of the San Jose Stage Company somehow make these four layers and simultaneous stories work. The only part that limps is the full-​stage slides, which don’t really do well at the role I think they were intended for, which is providing scene breaks – marking the passage of time. It might work better if scenes were listed in the program. The dialogue was sometimes overloaded and my sixty-​something brain couldn’t make sense of an interchange. However, the action carried the story along.
If only the playbill synopsis writer had shown the same discipline as the playwright. Carried away by his responsibility perhaps, Norman Gee (listed as the Assistant Director) confuses us all as we sat down to begin the play with a liberal polemic and long-​winded explanation of the story’s setting that makes some sense when you read it the day after but is better left unread before you watch the performance.
My wife and I spent a good thirty minutes talking about the performance afterwards and we noted that lots of people stuck around to fill out the questionnaires. Perhaps the Company is seeking feedback to decide how to position this ‘World Prermier Performance’ for a roadtrip. (The show continues until April 29). We met Ms. Barroga as we headed out (she’d been in the audience behind us). She credited the Company with the success of ‘Buffalo’ed’ but we know better. She’s created one great story here that should grow legs and see more cities.
–Ken Yoder Reed

I want to be clear that the theatre itself is GREAT, small, intimate and cozy & for the most part has good shows. HOWEVER, last week I went to see the show «Every Christmas Ever Told» — WHAT A WASTE OF money! I got up and walked out in the first half and hour (it would have been sooner if I wasnt sitting in the front row).
It was nothing but 3 buffoons making way too much noise, zero talent… and a disgrace to this lovely Christmas season. Michael Carleton, Jim Fitzgerald and John Alvarez should be ashamed of themselves (the «actors»). Wish I could get my $ 33 back!

I came here yesterday for Avenue Q.
The stage is extremely small and intimate. It feels like a 300 — 400 seat capacity.
My friends and I sat at the most back row against the wall facing the right side of the stage. It’s definitely not the best seat in the house. On the upside, I was able to see all expressions on the characters and actors faces since we were so close to stage.
I recommend street parking (feed the meters M-​Sa) if the parking lot is full.
Since the theater was quite small, they omitted parts of the stage to accommodate size in comparison to the Martinez, CA production of Avenue Q. I was much more impressed with the Martinez, CA production. Same cast. Phenomenal performance.

My first time here so I’m saving the next star for the next show.
Hubby took me here last Friday to see Avenue Q. It was a neat experience to see live act/​musical in a small stage. The actors tend to face the center of the stage which is a disadvantage to the audience sitting on both sides… it is visible but hard to see full view of what’s going on. The building doesn’t look that big from the outside but it can actually sit at least a couple of hundred of people.

Let me start off by saying this is not for any show I have attended, but for the alarmingly rude man at the box office.
My friend and I walked into the lobby in order to get tickets for an upcoming show around 5:15pm. Immediately, the clerk looked annoyed at our presence — we were probably interrupting his facebook time, as we were the only people in the entire building. He told us that the box office closed at 5 (wrong) and that we could call in for our reservation. It clearly states on their website and even on the pamphlets for the show that their box office is open until 6pm. We pointed out that the website said 6pm closing and he said he would «look into it» but he was too busy to help us. My first question is how is a box office clerk too busy to sell tickets? Is that not his primary task as an employee at the theater?
At this point, he continued in a still more outrageously rude tone to tell us that he did not have any sort of paper or calendar with show times, clearly trying to usher us out of the lobby as quickly as possible. Never have I had this hard of a time trying to spend my money somewhere.
Completely bewildered by his completely unhelpful attitude, we left. I cannot even begin to explain how strangely aggressive this man was RIGHT after we walked in the door; he was almost offended by our mere presence.
I have a feeling if the ownership knew their patrons were being treated this way, they would NOT be happy.