.Tad Malone

For this year’s lineup of San Jose Jazz events and activities, the organization is trying something a little unusual, combining and synthesizing many of...

One of the most exciting artists to emerge from the English music scene in recent years is London-based pianist and composer Alfa Mist. Combining...

The opera premiered on April 5, 1874, at Vienna's Theater an der Wien. Since then, it has not only been a staple of the theater's repertoire but has grown in reputation, becoming one of the most popular operas ever produced.

Rodrigues is looking forward to the chance to take on a role in which he normally wouldn't be cast. 'I rarely get to be feminine onstage,' he says. 'There are so few featured roles written for gay men in musical theater other than side characters and [typically 'queer' shows]. It's nice to be able to be the ingenue, villain, love interest while expressing my feminine side.

Enter David Shayne, a young, idealistic playwright new to the big city. Desperate to make his musical and a name for himself, Shayne casts Olive Neal, a mafioso's girlfriend with dramatic aspirations, in exchange for funding. As with all Faustian bargains, Shayne is soon in over his head, as madness and escalating criminality ensue.

The overture opens on a massive matte painting of swelling waves, which itself rolls up to reveal an impressive geometric set, featuring large cylindrical blocks and curves, textured with old maps that constitute different parts of the whaling ship while looking almost like an observatory.

The potent plot is propelled by strong casting. Every actor in the production fits neatly into the assigned role, embodying their real-life counterparts without falling into caricature or an exacting impersonation. This is most evident in the show's standout performance: Allen McCullough's portrayal of Nixon.

Dinner and a movie—it’s been a go-to date night tradition since the advent of cinema. But at the recently revamped Pruneyard Cinemas and adjoining...