Do you love Rock N Roll? Were you ever a teenager? There is an amazing show at Foothill College right now, and you need to see it.  Take your teenager, send your teen with a friend, or go see it yourself.

(clockwise from far left) Jeremy Griffith, Mark Sanders, Brandon Leland, Dillon Mena, Jacob Marker, Warren Wernick, Ryan Mardesich (floor), and Jason Rehklau (sitting center). Photo: Karen Santos

A year or so ago I saw a bigger budget production of the Rock N Roll musical Spring Awakening.  It is an amazing, powerful, emotional show to watch with all the effects of a rock concert. It requires a very talented cast, a knowledgable choreographer, a well rehearsed band and a director capable of putting on a rock concert.

So what do you do when you are a small production company and want to produce a high budget rock and roll musical on a small budget in a tiny theater?

You get together an extremely talented cast and direct the crap out of them.

Spring Awakening is, like Rock N Roll, all about the truth of growing up.  It’s about anger, and frustration, and being held to adult standards while being treated like a child.  It’s about adult emotions and the inability to let them out.  It’s the kind of show that many parents won’t want their teenagers to see, but it is exactly the kind of show that teenagers should see.

And the young adults on stage at Lohman Theater on the Foothill College campus are just rocking the pants off this show.

Moritz (Ryan Mardesich, sitting) is rebuked by his teacher (Justin Karr). Photo: Karen Santos

I was incredibly surprised to see such an amazing production on such a small stage, and most impressed of all with the talented cast.  Special notice goes to Ryan Mardesich as Moritz.  Mardesich introduces Moritz as an innocent young boy who is just not quite as smart as his classmates, but manages to show the believable growth to a frustrated, hopeless teen who is rightfully angry with the betrayal of all the adults in his world, and the world itself.  The words of his songs do not matter; it is the hopeless anger in his eyes that tell his story.

Juliana Lustenader as Wendla is also outstanding.  She not only has a beautiful clear voice, but she played innocent, confused Wendla to perfection.  Her final, terrified scream made it very clear to the audience exactly where she was going and exactly what was going to happen to her.  I still get chills at the memory of that scream.

Two smaller parts, Otto and Ernst, are played by Dillon Mena and Warren Wernick, and they deserve special note for their singing.  Wernick has the voice of an angel, and Mena was a true rock star on stage.  Holly Smolik and Casey Ellis, as Martha and Ilse, also brought incredible emotion to their parts – and the bruise makeup which Smolik wore deserved an award.

This is a show about teenage frustration, and the frustrations teens deal with now are the same they dealt with in 1891 Germany when this show was written.  Sexual frustration and ignorance, child abuse, measuring up to expectations, abortion, suicide, sexual identity… It is a rare adult who would go back to that age.  And director Milissa Carey manages to pull those feelings to the surface from her actors.  Mardesich was awesome showing the emotion, but Mark Sanders as Georg demanded audience attention with both his character’s sexual frustration and Sanders’ own excellent singing voice.  Georg is a smaller part in the show, but Sanders manages to pull all eyes to him with the physicality of his dancing and his comedic expressions when called for.

The amazing women of S.A.: (l-r) Holly Smolik, Lyn Meheula, Taylor Sanders, Juliana Lustenader, Carissa McElravy, Dana Johnson, and Casey Ellis. Photo: Karen Santos

The 1890s costume design was perfect, the use of lighting design successfully brought tears to our eyes, and the use of stairs and ledges expanded the stage to rock concert size.

Everyone in this show is amazing.  There were stand outs, as I’ve credited, but the entire cast is genuinely amazing, and the show is Excellent.  If you have never seen Spring Awakening, you should take this opportunity – there might be more flash and/or fireworks at a bigger show, but director Carey manages to give you everything this show has to offer on a smaller scale and you never realize you’re in a small theater.  In many ways, I enjoyed this production more than the one with the big budget.

Keep in mind it is a show with “adult” themes, there is very strong language and sexual themes.  It is not really fit for preteen and younger, however I believe it is a show that every teenager should see and will appreciate.  It is also a show every adult can identify with.

Spring Awakening
Through March 10
Lohman Theatre
Foothill College
12345 El Monte Road, Los Altos Hills, CA 94022 Read more

At Camera 3

On February 24, millions will sit down in front of their televisions to watch the 85th Academy Awards. Many viewers will have seen Life of Pi, Lincoln, and Silver Linings Playbook, and they have their opinions for which should win. But every year there are a couple categories that most people have had no chance to view: the Shorts. And how can you enjoy a win or gnash your teeth at a loss, if you’ve never seen the films?

Short films are not silly ventures made by filmmakers with no ambition. Most of them pack a punch equal to Les Misérables + Django Unchained x (Director Noms – Affleck). All the talent, drama and emotion that you see in a full length film can be stuffed into 15 minutes that leave you drained from laughter, sadness, or the wonder of what you just learned about the world or humanity. And yet the majority of filmgoers never get the opportunity to see the best of the best.

Enter Camera 3, where every year they show the complete collections of the Oscar Nominated short films. There are three different groupings: the Live Action Shorts, the Animated Shorts and the Documentary Shorts. For only ten dollars you can see the entire category of films.

You can’t call yourself a film lover or an Academy Award junkie if you haven’t seen the nominated shorts!

For tickets and time/date info:
2013 Oscar Nominated Animated Short Films (Warning: “animated” does not mean appropriate for children)
2013 Oscar Nominated Documentary Short Films (Final Week!)
2013 Oscar Nominated Live Action Short Films

I was away from my office at lunchtime the other day, so I decided do something different for lunch. I wanted to see if anything new had moved in to the old Mission City Coffee location, and if not I thought I’d get some tacos at the Chalateco Mexican/Salvadoran place near there. What I found instead was a great new sandwich shop.

Ike’s Love & Sandwiches is part of a small local chain, and located on The Alameda at Chapman Ct in Santa Clara (the shop opened last month, and the Ike’s web page still doesn’t list it as a location). It’s right near where El Camino splits off from The Alameda and The Alameda becomes a tiny little spur leading to the “SCU” Safeway.

Everything about the place shows incredible enthusiasm. The walls are painted in bright “flower-power” colors and decorated with retro school lunch boxes from the 1970′s and ’80′s. There’s loud music playing and the place is crowded with customers, mostly college-age, even when I was there at 1 pm on a rainy day. The clerks are incredibly friendly and helpful, not just trying to get through their shifts so they can spend their paychecks on beer and textbooks.

The sandwiches are mostly named for local celebrities and landmarks. The “Andrew Luck” is halal chicken, bacon, garlic & herb sauce, and cheddar cheese, for example, and the “Steve Jobs” is breaded egglplant, ranch dressing, green pesto, and provolone. There’s a huge selection of vegetarian sandwiches. All sandwiches are served hot (unless you want it cold).

I got the “Patrick Marleau”. Roast beef, bacon, jack cheese, horseradish sauce, and sriracha. I thought about asking for it with no sriracha to get something less risky, but then figured, they must have tried it and think it’s good, so why not go for it? It was the right decision. The horseradish dominates the flavor of the sauce, but the sriracha adds just a note of something different to a classic combination.

Try this place now, and go early or late, because once the whole town catches on to it, it’s going to be one of those places where the line runs out the door.

Cast 1: Soprano Cecilia Violetta López as Roselinde and tenor MIchael Dailey as Alfred. Photo by Pat Kirk

I have now attended close to a dozen different shows at Opera San Jose, and I can honestly say that Strauss’s Die Fledermaus was like no other I have ever seen.  If you are looking to attend your first opera, or even if you would like to introduce opera to your teenager (that’s right!) then this is the opera for you… and yet it is still perfect and worthy for the seasoned attendee.

Die Fledermaus is about one man seeking hilarious revenge for an embarrassing practical joke from the past, and in the process there are endless mistaken identities which will leave you in sidesplitting stitches.  There is no love story in this opera, requited or otherwise; nothing particularly deep in the plot; neither is there a tragic death or a particularly happy ending.  More than half the songs are about drinking, and the second act revolves around a party of debauchery which may (or may not) include beautiful dancers skinny-dipping in a pool.

The songs are in German, and as usual are translated on a screen over the stage.  But there was something quite surprising in this show that I had never seen before:  a good deal of the story was spoken in English!  This was less like an opera and more like musical theater – and it was lovely.

Cast 1: Soprano Elisabeth Russ as Adele, soprano Cecilia Violetta López as Roselinde, tenor Alexander Boyer as von Eisenstein. Photo by Pat Kirk.

I had been disappointed that I could not make it to opening night, however last night was an unexpected treat as I got to see Cast 1 who were absolutely delightful and just as talented as any Cast A I’ve seen.  It was refreshing to see some new faces and there were no disappointments.  Soprano Elizabeth Russ was delicious as the petulant chambermaid Adele; soprano Cecilia Violetta Lopez was virtually unrecognizable to me from her role as Leila in The Pearl Fishers, and I still adored her immensely.  The familiar faces of tenor Alexander Boyer (Eisenstein) and tenor Michael Dailey (Alfred) were welcome and played their comedic roles beautifully.  Special mention goes to bass-baritone Isaiah Musik-Ayala as Frank the prison warden – who I just LOVED, and also Kelly Houston who plays a hilarious Frosch.  Some of these performers were newer to me than others, ALL of them I hope to see more often.

Wait, did I forget to mention baritone Jo Vincent Parks, as Dr. Falk (Die Fledermaus!)?  He has a small part for the title character, however he too was perfect.

Marc Jacobs makes his Opera San Jose debut as stage director, and this is a perfect show for his background in musical theater.  I hope we see more from him at OSJ.

Cast 1: Baritone Isaiah Musik-Ayala as Frank. Photo by Pat Kirk.

And as often happens at Opera San Jose, there was another star, and that was the set design.  It does not surprise me to find out that Charlie Smith also designed the Pearl Fisher’s sets, and I’m excited to see what he does for the upcoming double-bill of Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi.  It is too bad there are no available photos to show you the complete beauty of the designs.  Acts one and two were set in a sweeping, gorgeous, art deco residence with subtle hints of the jail term awaiting Eisenstin… indeed, it transformed seamlessly into the jail itself in Act three.  As well there was an amazing newspaper print curtain with “articles” pertaining to the characters in the story.

This was not the usual opera I attend at Opera San Jose.  There were not so many ball gowns and sparkling jewelry in the audience that I usually see, perhaps because it was not opening night, perhaps because this show is just not as “stuffy” as some others (which I recommend no matter the stuffiness!!).  There was raucous laughter heard throughout the show, as if we were all drunk with the comedy we were watching.  “That was the most fun I’ve had at the opera ever!” stated my guest, Danielle Roberts.  And indeed, she is quite right.  This opera plays through November 25, and I can recommend without any reservation whatsoever that you should see it – and take your teenagers too.

Die Fledermaus
Opera San Jose
Through November 25
California Theatre
San Jose, CA

The Adderall Diaries

It appears we’re a little short on posts here at Metblogs, but never fear, I’m here to bring some excitement to your lives.  Er, I’m here to tell you about someone who will bring you some excitement to your lives…  Anyway…

Author/Director Stephen Elliott will be at San Jose State University tonight for a book reading and Q&A, and tomorrow will be screening his new film (about the porn industry – oh yeah, I have your attention now!) at the university on Wednesday evening.

Stephen Elliott is the author of seven books including the memoir The Adderall Diaries, which was named best book of the year in Time Out New York, and a San Francisco Chronicle Notable Book of 2009; the novel Happy Baby; and the erotica collection My Girlfriend Comes to the City and Beats Me Up. In January 2009 he founded The Rumpus, now the most popular online-only literary magazine. In 2011, he directed his first feature film, About Cherry.

Co-sponsored by The Rumpus and the Oshman Family Jewish Community Center

November 13, 7pm: Reading and Book Signing, MLK Library Room 225/229
November 14, 8pm: Screening of About Cherry, SJSU, Sweeney Hall Room 100

Photo by Katherine Emery

Note: About Cherry is Rated R. It contains nudity, drug use, and adult situations which may make some viewers uncomfortable. A preview may be seen here.

The screening on November 14 will be immediately followed by a panel discussion featuring writer/director Stephen Elliott, Dr. Tanya Bakhru (Women’s Studies), and Professor Harry Mathias (TV, Radio, Film & Theater).

I was able to speak with him for an hour this afternoon and found him utterly charming, intelligent, and quietly charismatic.  Don’t miss this great opportunity to not only see a great new film (starring James Franco and Heather Graham) but to speak to a fascinating, multi-talented creator of art.

It’s finally come to pass. Thirty years ago when “Ma Bell” was broken up to form the regional Bell operating companies, my step-dad claimed it was only a matter of time until we’d need to dial 11 digits to call someone at the other end of the block. Starting today (October 20, 2012), South Bay residents in the 408 area code are required to dial 11 digits (1 plus 408 plus a phone number) to reach other 408 phone numbers. We’ve come a long way from asking the operator for “CYpress 7 1234″.

The new dialing procedure is being enforced to make way for a new area code, 669, which will cover the exact same geographic region as 408. This “overlay” was approved by the California Public Utilities Commission one year ago, when it was predicted that 408 would run out of new phone numbers by January, 2013.

Phone service providers will begin to issue new 669 phone numbers starting on November 20.

One of the great activities at last month’s Luna Park Chalk Art Festival was a bike tour of 24 of the “art boxes” recently created around San Jose. The art boxes are city-owned utility boxes that have been painted by local artists, each in the artist’s individual style. Decorating the boxes has turned these eyesores into public art, and is also expected to deter graffiti (and in case it doesn’t, each box is triple-coated with an anti-graffiti coating).

The bike ride was led by San Jose Bike Clinic, and was originally planned as a one-time event. But Art Box project leader Tina Morrill has shared the route with us, and it’s now available on Box in two parts: a map with directions and a list of boxes and artists.

The ride is 15 miles long and passes 19 of the project’s 34 or so completed boxes in the Northside, Japantown, the Alameda, and Willow Glen. An optional 8-mile extension covers five additional boxes in the Berryessa area. The directions are given for starting and ending at Backesto Park in the Northside, but it would be easy to start anywhere along the route and complete the loop.

Given San Jose’s flat geography, the ride should be reasonable for most people or families to do in an afternoon, but as always you should keep your personal fitness level in mind when planning to ride. Also be sure to ride safely, wear a helmet, and obey the rules of the road.

Since early August, there’s a new place to satisfy your sweet tooth in Japantown. Jimbo’s is selling Marianne’s ice cream in cups and cones, as well as Bubbie’s mochi ice cream from Hawaii. On one visit I tried Marianne’s “10-20″ ice cream, with caramel ice cream, fudge swirl, and oreos, and it was fantastic.

In addition to ice cream, they have several bakery items including cookies and rice krispie treats (the matcha rice krispie treat is intriguing, but I haven’t tried it yet).

Or, if you’re not ready for sweets, they have hot dogs, or rice bowls topped with hot dogs in several flavors. And you can wash it down with a beer or a soda. Today I tried the teri rice bowl, with a teriyaki hot dog and cucumber and radish pickles, and it was a great light lunch.

Welcome to Japantown, Jimbo’s!

I bet the hero’s name is Ralph.

The villagers celebrate their new king Zurga with a joyous dance. Choreographed by Lise la Cour. Photo by Pat Kirk.

If you are looking for something dressy, exciting and classy to do this weekend, I resoundingly recommend Bizet’s The Pearl Fishers at Opera San Jose.  It’s no secret that while I love attending the opera, I am not qualified to review it at more than a layman’s level.  But this time I was able to bring my friend’s visiting mother, an actual coloratura soprano who has sung opera since she was a child.  So instead of coming back and telling you all, “It was Splendid!! The music was Amazing! The singers were Perfect!!  Perfect-perfect-perfect all around!” I thought maybe I could have some actual criticism to share with you all.

So this is basically what my ringer of a reviewer had to say after the show:  ”It was Splendid!! The music was Amazing! The singers were Perfect!!  Perfect-perfect-perfect all around!”

Cast A: Cecilia Violetta López as the mysterious veiled priestess, Leila. Photo by Pat Kirk.

Perhaps I know more about opera than I thought! (HAH!) But I know an enjoyable show when I see one! And The Pearl Fishers is one of those shows.

Having more of a theater and film background, I always appreciate the operas that have a good meaty plot.  The Pearl Fishers has romance, betrayal, danger, a “bro-mance”, not to mention beautiful music, the best singers in San Jose, gorgeous costumes, and an impressive set.  I chose the dancing photo to head up this review because not only were they entertaining and awesome (“Perfect!”) but the dancers made my little group want to dance happily in our seats as well.

There have been operas where I wanted to fall asleep, and there have been operas that had my guest and me in hysterics… or at least wiggling with glee at the fun we were having.  Although I’m not qualified to comment technically on the performances, I feel like it’s my job to convince you all to give opera a try. The Pearl Fishers is one of those shows that will make you love the opera.  Not only that, now I know that the more people you bring with you, the more fun it is!  The three of us women put on our best clothes and jewelry again, did our hair and makeup, had a lovely and relaxing dinner at Il Fornaio, and then had the time of our lives at the opera. We were so excited and had such a good time that we came home, poured glasses of wine, and stayed up til almost 1am talking about the fun.

Don’t miss out on this incredible show and the experience that is opera.  It’s more fun than you think, and you don’t have to know anything about it to enjoy it.

Bizet’s The Pearl Fishers
Opera San Jose
Through September 23
Next up: Die Fledermaus
November 10 – November 25

Sebastian (Vincent Kartheiser) and Sheba (Vaishnavi Sharma) begin to flirt. Photo by Kevin Berne

The San Jose Repertory  has brought Hollywood to local theater, and you still have a chance to see it.  Fans of Vincent Kartheiser from “Mad Men” (Pete Campbell) can see him live on stage through Saturday evening in a modern day play titled The Death of the Novel.

Kartheiser plays Sebastian, an agoraphobic writer who has decided he won’t ever leave his apartment until his advance runs out.  Sebastian is a bit of an insufferable, skeevy egotist… sort of a present day Pete Campbell.   He has issues, many stemming from the aftermath of 9/11, and others from a series of deaths in his own life.  When he meets beautiful Sheba (played by Vaishnavi Sharma), his life is turned upside down as he struggles to understand who she is, and whether it matters to him.

It’s quite a psychological drama, which seems to focus on the mystery of who Sheba really is.  She has created an intricate family history and background for herself, none of which appears to be true.  We meet the main characters in the first act, and get to know Sebastian well… then learn that we know nothing at all about Sheba.  The second act is a whirlwind of psychological intrigue and drama… an overload of the senses that is almost too much to absorb by the end.  But though it was tough to take our eyes off the beautiful Sheba, I thought the most interesting character was Sebastian.  From what we know of him, he has only one real male friend, Philip (Patrick Kelly Jones), who is Sheba’s original boyfriend.  But he also has three very important women in his life: Perry, his therapist; Claire, his hooker; and Sheba, the woman he wants but may not ever fully have.  It’s a virtual id, ego and superego of females.

In particular, I thought Zarah Mahler as Claire and Amy Pietz as Perry were the best of all the actors in the show.  Vincent Kartheiser also puts in an incredible amount of work in a role that requires him to talk almost non-stop through both acts.

It is not my favorite show that I’ve ever seen at the Rep, but there are several good points about the show and I still recommend it.  I would like to have seen it twice, or went over the script later, so I could absorb it all.  Of course, anyone wanting to see a bit of “Hollywood Stardom” should get themselves down to the Rep immediately before it’s too late.  It’s quite a coup to have gotten Mr. Kartheiser down to our theater, and we definitely appreciate the work that he and everyone else involved put into the show.  Thanks to the San Jose Repertory for an interesting and thought provoking opening to the 2012-2013 season!

The Death of the Novel
San Jose Repertory Theatre
Through September 22
Next up: Freud’s Last Session
October 11 – November 4

From left to right: (Mitchell) William Giammona - (Diane) Jennifer Lucas - (Alex) Henry Robert Nolin Photo by James Kasyan

My guest and I had the best time last night at Dragon Productions Theatre Company in Palo Alto.  Yes, even more fun than I had at the opera (review coming next!)!

San Jose and the Bay Area at large have plenty of great theatre, but sometimes it’s the little gems that get lost in the shuffle.  The Pear Avenue Theatre in Mountain View seats only about 45 people, but I saw an incredibly moving production of Death of a Salesman there. The small Renegade Theatre Experiment produced 9 Circles at the Hoover Theater in San Jose and the entire audience was not only moved to tears, but most of us could barely look at the actors on stage, we were so moved by what was going on.  And now I’ve seen the fabulous (and tiny) Dragon Productions Theatre where I had the pleasure of viewing 4 incredible actors put on an hilarious and moving show.

I could not wait to see The Little Dog Laughed because I had heard that the playwright was also the screenwriter for “To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar” which, sadly, might be the only drag queen road trip film available on Netflix. What my expectations received was a thought provoking comedy, and an adult show about love and sex and ambition, and all the problems that arise when you combine the three.

Mitchell Green is a small film star who could hit it big with one juicy role. Diane is his lesbian best friend and agent who plays Mitchell’s girlfriend for the public.  Yes, leading man Mitchell is gay, but because the film going public won’t accept an openly gay man in straight romantic roles, he’s forced to hire “rent-a-boys” (young looking but adult prostitutes) and hide his true self. One night in a drunken stupor he makes a call and hires Alex, a good looking “straight” boy who hustles for money.  Alex lives with his best friend and sometimes girlfriend Ellen, who runs her own money-making schemes with older rich men.  Soon it appears that Mitchell and Alex have fallen in love, but that poses problems for everyone involved.

Although the show is a comedy, it also raises many serious questions about living as a gay person in a straight world.  Mitchell laments at one point that we all learn about the American Dream, that anyone can have it all.  But he knew that really only middle class, straight white protestant men have easy access to the American Dream, and if he acted on his feelings towards other men, he could have that option taken away from him.

Dragon Productions plays in a tiny theatre, with a shoe-string budget for set design, yet still managed to find four incredible actors to play these intriguing characters.  William Giammona as Mitchell was both hilarious and heartbreaking as he showed us what a gay actor may have to give up in his personal life to be a success in his professional life.  Jennifer Lucas as Diane played Hollywood to perfection as the fast-talking agent who just wanted her friend (along with herself) to succeed. Maria Giere Marquis held my attention in every scene with her character’s quirky clothes and quirkier personality, but even as a hustler herself Ellen had our sympathy when she got herself into trouble.  And Henry Robert Nolin as young Alex is an incredible actor who you should look out for in the future.

The Little Dog Laughed is an adult show, but probably fit for older teens as well.  There are adult and sexual themes, but nothing too worrisome for anyone who knows the plot to begin with.  Tickets range from $16 (student) to $25 (adult), so it is a fantastic deal for an amazing theater production, and opening night was sold out.

Thanks also to Oren’s Hummus who provided an amazing Opening Night Celebration spread!

The Little Dog Laughed
September 14 – October 7
Dragon Productions Theatre
535 Alma Street, Palo Alto
(parking can be troublesome, so arrive in plenty of time to find a spot)

Silicon Valley’s premier art event, the Zero1 biennial, kicked off last night with a street festival dubbed [e]merge.

The festival featured live music and numerous art exhibits including performances and interactive displays.

The biennial’s theme this year is “Seeking Silicon Valley”, and the art on show at the festival last night did show a return to the art/technology blend of the first Zero1 event, in contrast to the 2008 and 2010 biennials where the focus seemed to have broadened into more traditional art media.

The Zero1 biennial continues through October 3 December 8. There will be continuing exhibitions at the Zero1 Garage in South Hall (439 S First St). There will also be ongoing public art displays around town. The Urban Screen will continue to show interactive projection projects tonight (Saturday, Sept 15, at 300 S First St).