Paige Baxter

Finding a good hair stylist is like finding a good hand bag; which can be one of a woman’s biggest challenges. I tried a celebrity stylist in Willow Glen. As far as I know he doesn’t do celebs, he just thinks that he is one. Mr. Celeb took a quick look at my hair and then turned me over to a shampoo girl. Mr. Celeb took all of 10 minutes to do the cut. He then called over another girl to blow dry and style. That will be $100 please. I wondered what did that C-note cover? Just the cut? The experience felt odd, and to make it worse I didn’t like my hair.

One afternoon I was up near SFO with some time to kill. Always on the search for that good hair cut, I happened into Roobik’s, in Burlingame. Martine listened to me, cut my hair to perfection, and that will be $18 please! Even though it means a trip to Burlingame; one of my life’s biggest challenges is solved.

The last time I was up there for my cut Martine told me about her daughter Paige. She is the drummer with a group called Wonderland Syndrome.

Wonderland Syndrome @ VooDoo Lounge
14 S 2ND ST, San Jose
Tonight – Friday, Oct. 2
7:30 PM

Roobik’s
1805 El Camino Real # B @ Trousdale Dr.
Burlingame, CA 94010-3202
(650) 697-424
* Ask for Martine

The SJ Rep is helping you help the community – AND see a play!

The San Jose Repertory Theatre has always been a leader in bringing the arts to everyone and giving back to the community. This season they are taking even broader steps in this direction.

In order to help community members who cannot afford regular priced tickets to the outstanding productions held at the Rep this year, they are offering Pay What You Will Tuesdays. The first preview Tuesday for each production of San Jose Rep’s 2009-2010 season, starting with the Tuesday, September 1 production of As You Like It, will be open to all members of the community for a suggested ticket price of $10, however any amount will be accepted. In addition, a canned food drive for Second Harvest Food Bank will have food bins in the lobby hoping for your donations. In this way any member of our community can not only see an exciting new production at the SJ Rep, but they can also help Second Harvest help those who are in even greater need.

Tickets go on sale at San Jose Rep’s box office one week prior to the scheduled performance. Seating is general admission and will be on a first-come, first-served basis.

Pay What You Will Tuesday:

• Groundswell – Tuesday, Oct. 13

• A Christmas Story – Tuesday, Nov. 24

• The Weir – Tuesday, Jan. 26

• Ain’t Misbehavin’ – Tuesday, March 16

• Sonia Flew – Tuesday, May 11.

If you don’t make it to this Tuesday’s preview of As You Like It, you can still see the production of one of Shakespeare’s most beloved plays at the SJ Rep from August 29 to September 27.

Sibling rivalry, royals in exile, mistaken identities, cross dressing (no kiddin’), and love at first sight, all make an appearance in this bewitching and sophisticated comedy about freeing oneself from the shackles of technology and finding oneself in nature. Really! The actors will be texting onstage, and you can too, during intermission and after the show!

Don’t miss this exciting new production. San Jose Metblogs is excited to attend the September 4 show and we will have our review up by Saturday afternoon. See you at the Rep!

There are three ways to purchase tickets starting Monday, August 3:

• On-line at http://sjrep.com beginning at 12:00 a.m.

• By phone at 408.367.7255 during box office hours beginning at 10:00 a.m.

• In person at the box office downtown, 101 Paseo de San Antonio, between 2nd and 3rd Streets.

Single ticket prices start at $33. Five and six play subscriptions are also available for as low as $125. Discounts are offered to seniors, students, teachers, ADA or ASL members and groups of ten and more.

San Jose Rep also offers flexibility and value with Design Your Own (DYO) and Flex Pass packages. Choose the plays you want to see, when you want to see them with the Design Your Own package. Simply mix and match the days of the week and select 3, 4 or 5 plays to create an individualized season package. Save up to 20% and receive benefits that include free ticket exchange and complimentary ticket upgrades. For the ultimate in ticket flexibility, choose the Rep’s convenient Flex Pass. At a discounted price from single tickets, the Flex Passes are vouchers that can be redeemed for any main stage performance in the parterre or balcony section. Attend productions with one friend, bring all your friends to one production, give tickets away as gifts – the possibilities are endless.

The Rep launches the 2009-10 season with one of Shakespeare’s most sophisticated and bewitching comedies As You Like It. Next is the Regional Premiere of Groundswell, a haunting, psychological thriller about dashed dreams, enduring hope and the promise for a just post-apartheid society. Back by popular demand is the holiday classic A Christmas Story. In the New Year, the Rep presents the 1997-98 recipient of the “Laurence Olivier Best New Play,” The Weir, by Conor McPherson. In the spring, the joint will be jumpin’ to the musical styling of “Fats” Waller with the Tony® Award-winning musical revue, Ain’t Misbehavin’. The season concludes with a funny and moving family drama Sonia Flew.

Follow the SJ Rep on FaceBook for access to special discounts.

Follow SJ Metblogs on Twitter for instant notifications about new articles.

The side-splitting savagery known as Forbidden Broadway is on the road again with their newest edition! Now celebrating its record-breaking 25th year in New York, this year’s victims include the puppets of “Avenue Q,” the witches of “Wicked,” “Billy Joel’s Movin’ Out,” and a new look at old favorites such as “La Cage aux Folles,” “Little Shop of Horrors,” “Les Miz,” “Beauty and the Beast,” and “Chicago.” Rounding out the laughs are Mel Brooks’ “The Producers,” ABBA’s “Mamma Mia” and “Thoroughly Modern Millie;”  with lots more Broadway past and present.

The show is running from July 7 through July 12 with a matinee show on Saturday the 11th. For the Thursday and Saturday performances you are invited to join the Rep after-hours in the Curtain Call Patron Lounge for live piano music and premium wine, and you may even see a cast member or two! I think the most interesting deal is the Cabaret Club Package. This “swanky and unique package” includes two seats at intimate cabaret tables adjacent to the stage and a bottle of premium wine for you to enjoy during the show! Having never been to a cabaret style show before I am sure this would be fabulous fun.

San Jose Metblogs will be attending the opening night show and we will have a review up as quickly as possible. It’s a great time to get a babysitter and have dinner and a show downtown! We hope to see you there!

Forbidden Broadway is the recipient of an Obie Award, the Outer Critics Circle Award, and the 2005 Drama Desk Award for Best Off Broadway Musical.

“Wonderful! There’s no Broadway like Forbidden Broadway!” -Entertainment Weekly
“Hilarious and brilliantly wicked” -The New York Times
“Gut-Busting Funny!” -New York Post

The San Jose Repertory Theatre
101 Paseo de San Antonio, CA 95113-2603
Purchase tickets online
Call 408.367.7255 for Cabaret Club Package

The rules of the festival: Admission should be free, the musicians should perform for free, amateurs must be just as welcomed as professionals, and there should be a diverse range of genres represented. By every measure I can find, San Jose’s participation will do exactly this.

It’s happening at Santana Row, where headliners include Tété, who is being called the “French Ben Harper,” and Eric John Kaiser, who calls himself “Portland’s French Troubadour.” The rest of the crazily diverse lineup can be found at the San Jose Jazz website. And when I say diverse, I mean there’s hip-hop, jazz, rock, folk, classical, funk, gospel, blues, pop, indie and swing on the lineup. Crazy diverse.

For more info, check out the international home page (in English). The Merc also does a writeup here.

What: Fête de la Musique
Where: Santana Row, at Winchester and Stevens Creek boulevards, San Jose. Free parking. (Directions)
When: Saturday, June 20, 2009, 1 p.m. – 9 p.m.
Contact: 408.551.4611.

San Jose Repertory Theatre is a great place for children and teens to spend their summer. The Creative Dramatics Summer Workshop is a series of two-week programs that teaches youth improvisational and play-building skills. Sessions are offered for children and teens between the ages of 5-16, starting June 22 through July 20. All workshops are held at San Jose Repertory Theatre’s Fourth Floor Studio Theatre, located at 101 Paseo de San Antonio, in downtown San Jose.

“We’re delighted to offer a summer program for kids and teens that focuses on their ideas and their creativity,” comments Karen Altree Piemme, San Jose Rep’s Director of Outreach. “There are many opportunities out there for kids to perform in a play. At the Rep, we celebrate kids’ imaginations by giving them the opportunity to create their own plays.”

Led by San Jose Repertory Theatre professionals, participants develop their improvisational acting and play-building skills. In each two-week program, the first week focuses on character creation, communication, scene building, storytelling, and the collaborative nature of the improvisational process. During week two, participants use those skills to develop their own short play or improv showcase. At the end of each two-week session there is a final presentation of the participants’ finished works. Families, friends and the community-at-large are invited to view the final presentations.

“The program was originally started to fill a void in the offerings of summer arts programs in the community. There were lots of great programs that allowed kids to perform in plays or musicals that already existed,” Altree Piemme continues. “There wasn’t much available, though, that focused on the creative process. Kids’ natural impulses are to imagine – characters, stories, whole new worlds. We see it in children from a very young age. The Rep’s Creative Dramatics Summer Workshops help kids capitalize on those imaginative impulses and learn to use them in a nurturing, supportive, collaborative environment.”

 Creative Dramatics Summer Workshops Sessions:
 • Session I:   Ages 5-7   June 22-July 3,  9:00am-12:00pm
• Session II:   Ages 11-13   June 22-July 3,  1:30pm-4:30pm
• Session III:   Ages 8-10   July 6-July17,  9:00am-12:00pm
• Session IV:   Ages 14-16   July 6-July 17,  1:30pm-4:30pm
• Session V:   Ages 5-7   July 20-July 31,  9:00am-12:00pm
• Session VI:   Ages 11-13   July 20-July 31,  1:30pm-4:30pm

For more details contact Melissa Locsin at 408-367-7292 or MelissaL@sjrep.com. 

The 25^th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee has been extended:

Due to packed houses, overwhelming great reviews and exuberant standing ovations, The San Jose Repertory Theatre has extended the Putnam County Spelling Bee through June 14.  As we have said before, this musical production should not be missed.  It will appeal to adults and college students, and high school kids will also love it.  You don’t want to lose your last chance to see it and now The Rep has made it easier to go:  They have reserved 25 seats at every performance for the low price of $25 each.  You can purchase one or you can purchase all 25, but once they are gone they are gone.  If you miss getting that deal, you may fall into one of the below categories:

Price range: $33-$62

Students (full-time, with valid ID) - 1/2 off tickets for all performances, all seats.

Seniors (65 yrs +) and Teachers - $6 off tickets all performances, all seats.

ADA or ASL discount - $6 off your ticket and your companion’s ticket.

Subscriber Single Ticket Discounts - $6

Rush Ticket Discounts - Balcony price for that performance

By phone: 408.367.7255

Online: www.sjrep.com

By fax: 408.367.7236

In person: Rep Box Office, 101 Paseo de San Antonio, San Jose

REMINDER: The SJ Rep has received a Challenge Grant, needs your help!  

I noticed recently that the carpet at the SJ Rep is in horrible condition. Thank goodness someone else noticed too – If the SJ Rep can raise half the money through donations, they’ll receive a grant to pay for the rest of it.  Click this link for details:
The SJ Rep gets called to the carpet
UPDATE!  The Rep has already met their goal!

Two new Summer Shows: Forbidden Broadway and The Second City

Tickets on Sale June 10^th!

Forbidden Broadway opens July 7 and runs through July 12.  New York’s longest running musical comedy revue that parodies, jeers and cheers American musical theatre celebrates its record-breaking 25^th year.  This year’s special victims include the puppets of “Avenue Q,” the witches of “Wicked,” “Billy Joel’s Movin Out” and new look at old favorites such as “La Cage aux Folles,” “Little Shop of Horrors,” “Les Miz,” “Beauty and the Beast,” and “Chicago.” Rounding out the laughs are Mel Brooks’ “The Producers,” Abba’s “Mamma Mia” and “Thoroughly Modern Millie;” with lots more Broadway past and present.

The Second City, running from July 14 through July 19, provides audiences with the chance to see comedy stars in the making, but they will also have the opportunity to see absolutely hilarious satire and cutting-edge improvisation.  No topic or subject matter is off limits for The Second City.  If your parents asked you not to speak about it at the dinner table, chances are it will be made fun of in an evening with The Second City.

I attended the Opening Night performance of The 25^th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee with open expectations.  I had never heard anything about the show before and did not know what to expect, and I got the same feeling from other audience members in attendance.   Two hours later we filed out of the SJ Rep with euphoric hearts and maybe a tear in an eye or two.  This is a production that draws you in from the moment you step into the theatre, and it continues on with a catharsis of hysterical laughing, hopeful rooting for your favorite speller, and heartbreaking sorrow for the losers.  It is an interactive production like no other and simply put, is not to be missed.

My guest and I stepped into the theatre and gasped with delight when we saw the stage had been turned into an extraordinarily detailed gymnasium.  It was brightly lit even as the audience was finding their seats, and the bright colors and fun details from floor to ceiling really helped make the audience excited before the play even began.  When the play started at 8pm the house was packed full and ready to see what this play was all about.

Every character in this play is the protagonist of their own little story, and we slowly learn about each student as the play goes on.  Four members of the audience are also chosen to participate on stage and are given spelling words until they have been eliminated from the competition.  There is a lot of playful fun-poking and the audience cheered loudly for all the students whether they won or lost. 

There is no fourth wall in this production and the audience is a fully participating part of the play.  Fifteen minutes into the production on Friday the audience was uncontrollable in our laughter and yelling and rooting for each speller.  Halfway through the play the character of Chip Tolentino walks through the aisles with a candy box and slings M&Ms and Kit Bars at the crowd while singing about his “Unfortunate Erection”.  But soon after this we started to quiet down as the student characters in front of us slowly opened up and we saw some of the sadness and hurt and disappointment they held inside.

As the play tells us, “Life isn’t fair,” “Life is pandemonium,” and “the good don’t always win.”  These are hard lessons that we all have to learn in life, and the students in the spelling bee are dealing with extraordinary pressures put upon them from their parents, society and themselves to succeed.  There is only going to be one “winner” at the end of the spelling bee.  But as director Timothy Near tells us, this play shows that “working hard, being creative and making good friends in the process IS winning.”

The actors in this production were incredible.  You never for one moment believe you are looking at adults playing children, you only see six hopeful preteens sitting in the gym waiting for their turn to spell.  Clifton Guterman as Leaf Coneybear and Dani Marcus as Olive Ostrovsky were special standouts who make you fall in love with their characters.  Berwick Hayes as Mitch Mahoney brings comic relief and much love and comfort to the characters and participating audience members.  But every member of this cast was amazing.  I also give high marks to scenic designer Robert Broadfoot, costume designer Shigeru Yaji and musical director Dolores Dura-Cefalu.

But this review would not be complete without a special thank you to play director and Senior Artistic Advisor Timothy Near.  After 21 years as Artistic Director this is her final play at the SJ Rep.  Stan Anders, SJ Rep President, Board of Trustees, says that “under her leadership, the Rep has become nationally recognized and award-winning theatre.  She was the driving force in getting this beautiful theater built, and her true legacy will be the artistic excellence that she has instilled in the organization.  In addition to the countless awards and honors that have been bestowed upon Timi, starting next season, the board will give Timothy the honorary title of Emeritus Artistic Director.”  Timothy Near will definitely be missed, but we would like to thank her for bringing this wonderful last production to San Jose.

The Tony award-winning musical hit The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.

Opens: May 15th, 2009

Closes: June 7th, 2009

Price range: $33-$62

Students (full-time, with valid ID) - 1/2 off tickets for all performances, all seats.

Seniors (65 yrs +) and Teachers - $6 off tickets all performances, all seats.

ADA or ASL discount - $6 off your ticket and your companion’s ticket.

Subscriber Single Ticket Discounts - $6

Rush Ticket Discounts - Balcony price for that performance

By phone: 408.367.7255

Online: www.sjrep.com

By mail: Rep Box Office, 101 Paseo de San Antonio, San Jose, CA 95113

By fax: 408.367.7236

In person: Rep Box Office, 101 Paseo de San Antonio, San Jose

Between South 2nd & 3rd Streets

For group sales: 408.367.7295

There is an excellent Study Guide at the SJ Rep website with Pre- and Post-Show Discussion Questions.  I highly recommend you take a look through it before you see the play.

For a full schedule of events and a listing of 40 participating venues and 100 bands, visit the event website.

This looks like a real music-geek’s festival, with styles including rock, jazz, rap, and latin all on the bill. New acts have been announced sporadically on the event’s website, so there could be even more variety to come.

Looks like potential for a major boost to downtown.