Romance rekindles in Gilead and Boleros ring out for the Disenchanted around the world! Nero gets a makeover, Putnam County's 25th Annual Spelling Be delivers and The Wedding Singer gets a Charlie J. "Zinger"!!
This week’s reviews, I am happy to report, will provide an opportunity to partake of two outstanding and heartwarming productions, one in Walnut Creek and one in San Francisco.
Join me on a little bus trip to Gilead, Wisconsin, enjoy fall's colorful canopy along the Copper Creek and tarry a little while at the The Spitfire Grill.
“The Spitfire Grill” is a story about people and personalities, a personal tragedy that brought an old Wisconsin town a new face, new life, new hope and within a short time, forgiveness and rejuvenation. The Contra Costa Christian Theatre strives to produce plays and musicals with a good moral message. Director Kimberly James has struck gold with an excellent production, bringing a great story, a superb cast, outstanding voices, and great musical accompaniment that take a real gem of a story and polishes it into a resplendent jewel.
If you feel a need for a little respite from the chaotic news that pounds our brains every day, time for a lift and a reason to put on a happy face, then before I even get into the story, I’m here to tell you that this is a terrific opportunity for you to take in a show "that will make your heart glow!
The Spitfire Grill began life as a 1996 Lee David Zlotoff movie by the same name. The movie was re-created as a musical by James Valcq and the late Fred Alley and has adapted to the stage even better and more intensely meaningful than it came off as a movie. The Contra Costa Christian Theatre is currently producing this show for a very short run in the Dean Lesher Regional Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek, in the very intimate Knights Stage III Theatre.
When the story opens, Percy Talbott (Laurie Kinsella) is about to be released on parole following a 5 year prison term. Having grown up in the grey squalor and black and white strife of life in coal mining towns, abused and put through terrific pain by an abusive stepfather and an ineffective mother, Percy has longed for a new life, a new start, in a totally new environment. While in prison, she secretly tore a page from a travel magazine that illustrated pictorially the exquisitely quiet pastoral beauty and rich fall colors near the little town of Gilead, Wisconsin. In the next scene, Percy, now an ex-convict, travels north by bus to the miniscule rural town she had so often dreamed about.
Percy sets the tone of this scene, as she sings of her new adventure, an adventure that begins as she first surveys the town of Gilead, “A window without bars, looking out on something free, in the town of Gilead, close my eyes and count to three - - - and there’s a ring around the moon, bigger than me, ready or not, here I am, olly olly oxen free!”
Percy’s parole requires she report immediately to a local parole officer, who in this case, is Gilead’s one and only policeman, Sheriff Joe Sutter (Nephi Speer). Joe asks her why she would ever want to come to Gilead, a town he describes as “ a place for leaving, not for coming to.” She produces from her denim pants pocket, the time worn magazine page with its picturesque glowing story and photographs, describing the images as “Autumn colors along Copper Creek, near Gilead, Wisconsin”.
He shakes his head, because he knows that since the town’s primary employer, a large rock quarry, closed down several years ago, the town has been in constant decline ever since. Knowing of only one possibility for employment, he delivers Percy to the town’s one remaining restaurant, The Spitfire Grill, and introduces her to the little restaurant’s tough and careworn owner, Hannah Ferguson (Ann Kendrick).
As Percy begins her first work day in the grill, Hannah, in her stern fashion, chides the girl, who responds angrily. Hannah continues vocally, “Smart-mouthed girl, fresh out of jail, can’t tell a skillet from a garbage pail. - - Keep in your place, this place is mine, mind your own business and we will get along fine - -“. Percy perceivers, does her job, and in spite of her inability to even boil water properly, she works hard and learns.
The story of an ex-convict coming to a new place to start over is certainly not new, nor unique, but the illustration and development of the character of everyone in town provides this story with its heartwarming and fulfilling promise. From the acerbic, gossip-generating postmistress and general store operator, Effy Krayneck (Nathalie Archangel), to the tough, gruff and occasionally motherly Hannah, to her abusive, male chauvinist control-freak son Caleb (Richard Howarter), to his mousy and subservient wife, Shelby (Steph Peek), to the mysterious visitor (Bill Dietz), this story is about people, how they can contribute and how they can change, if they are motivated to do so. Most of all, it is about how a total stranger with a deeply troubling past, manages to rebuff the town’s small mindedness and turn the small town around, awakening and re-defining its new heart.
When Hannah suffers an injury from a fall, Percy takes over the grill, or attempts to. The Sheriff encourages Hannah to employ Hannah’s daughter-in-law, Shelby, to come to work for the grill, at least temporarily, to get through the emergency. Shelby does go to work for the grill over her husband’s strenuous objections and in a short time, she and Percy become good friends. Together they begin to bring new life to the Spitfire Grill.
There is another secret hidden in the forest along Copper Creek in Gilead, a deep dark secret waiting to be discovered, which I will leave for you to discover as the show unfolds.
Then one day Percy learns that Hannah has been trying to sell the grill for years, but there have been no offers and no takers. Shelby says Hannah has even been willing to give the grill away, but no one really wants it. Then, in sort of a joking exchange of ideas, Percy comes up with the idea of conducting a giant raffle or contest, in which people would submit a simple essay as to why they would want to move to Gilean to own and run this little restaurant, The Spitfire Grill. The contest entrants are to mail their essays to the Spitfire, accompanied by a $100 donation in order to participate. The winner would be selected by Hannah and she would turn over the Spitfire Grill to the essay writer with the tale that she liked best.
After a lot of consternation, Hannah comes around to thinking that this idea might not be a bad idea after all. The three gals put together an advertisement that becomes a national human interest story phenomenon, as the unique idea of giving away a business by raffle, is picked up and spread like wildfire by the media, eventually reaching interested people all across the country. Perhaps their fortunes are about to change! You will have to see the show to find out! It has a surprise ending that is very believable and uplifting.
Every actor contributes significantly, uniquely to the overall richness of this story and gives pause for us to search out the occasionally humorous and poetically poignant fabric that ties together life in a small town. It is hard to pick out favorites because this is truly a masterful ensemble production. Everybody “done good”! The voices are superb, the music is memorable and the lyrics echo the underlying messages that electrify and resonate with the audience. Much like a penny opera, the songs and lyrics meld continuously into the story adding to the resonate beauty of the piece.
I have to mention the incredible set designed by Tom Matousek with special touches by Director Kimberly James. This is one of the most delightfully artistic I have yet see in this very small venue. Also, the musicians, Brian Roberts (keyboards), Marjorie McWee (mandolin), Kerry Borgen (violin) and Joshua Mikus-Mahoney (Cello) were a perfect addition to the production. Josh Mahoney filled in for Gretchen Egan, who had another commitment during this particular evening’s production.
“The Spitfire Grill” plays Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8;15 p.m., with matinees on Saturdays and Sundays at 2:15 p.m., now through May 31st in the Dean Lesher Regional Center for the Arts at 1601 Civic Drive in Walnut Creek. Call (925) 943-7469 (SHOW) for visit the Dean Lesher Regional Center for the Arts website at the following link : www.lesherartscenter.org/onstagenow/buy_tickets or visit the box office at 1601 Civic Drive in Walnut Creek, or at the Barnes and Noble Walnut Creek book store ticket outlet. Tickets range between $21 for students and $28 for adults. Seniors are only $26 each. Don’t miss this terrific show!
"Boleros for the Disenchanted" sings poignantly of yesterdays romantic dance of love, love labored, love tested, but love not lost!
Meanwhile, in San Francisco, the ACT Theatre brings another powerful work by author Jose Rivera, entitled Boleros for the Disenchanted, to their theatre. This show is currently drawing rave reviews and standing ovations. Rivera is the first Puerto Rican playwright to be nominated for an Oscar Award, for his screenplay for the movie, "Diarios de Motocicleta", or The Motorcyle Diaries, the story of a youthful Che Guevara and Alberto Granada.
Boleros for the Disenchanted is a touching story of how Rivera’s mother and father met and fell in love, and their journey to the United States in the 1950’s. It examines the trials, tribulations, fidelity, infidelity, love and loyalty that encompassed their lives, played out in their later years.
The beautiful and simple set designed by Ralph Funicello brought immediate recognition (applause) as the curtain rose on the production. A simple but colorful home in 1950’s Puerto Rico, in a village called Milaflores, set the scene.
A young Flora (Lela Loren) comes out of the house crying following the news that her fiancé has been having an affair with another woman (perhaps several or many women). Flora refuses to believe that the “love of her life” could possibly cheat on her. Her mother, Dona Milla (Rachel Ticotin), tries to discuss the facts of life and the realities of the way many men behave at this time in their poor and impoverished country. She doesn’t make excuses, she tries to make her daughter face up to what they (mother and daughter) now believe may be true. Then her father Don Fermin (Robert Beltran), returns home, so drunk he can hardly stand. A minor battle ensues between father and daughter, before the denounced fiancé Manuelo (Dion Mucciacito) shows up and is confronted with the accusations of his infidelity.
He doesn’t exactly deny them, he vacillates, eventually justifying his infidelity, stating that “men are not men” if they don’t stray with certain types of women (not the kind of girl he is engaged to however). At this point, after Manuelo is unable to convince his fiancé that he has really been doing her a favor by exercising his sexual prowess with “other women”, they split up, and she returns her engagement ring.
Flora is terribly hurt by Manuelo’s infidelity and she is talked into taking a little trip, off to another village, Santurce, where she will live for a while with her cousin, Petra (Michele Vazquez). Her cousin is full of life and a bit of a flirt. One day while in the center of town, near Petra’s apartment, a young National Guardsman who has missed his bus back to the base, happens upon the young ladies sitting outside a little liquor and grocery store, as he walks by. Eusebio (Drew Cortese) is immediately attracted to Flora. Petra flirts with him, but Flora remains aloof, withdrawn (somewhat still depressed over her previous failed love affair). The young man continues to miss his bus every night for the next two weeks, forcing him to walk by Flora and Petra’s home, until he is sure Flora has noticed his attempt to see her again.
Finally, reservedly, Flora does engage the young man in conservation and he, politely, does ask to meet her family, to gain permission to meet with Flora with the family’s blessing. Eusebio garners the family’s favor when he confronts the former fiancé and puts him down, properly, intelligently.
Before long, they marry and then break her family’s heart, when they announce that their only future, financially, is to do like so many other young Puerto Ricans, move to the United States. In the final act, they have ended up in their later years in Daleville, Alabama.
Life has not been great, but they have survived and basically have had a good life together. At this point of their life, 39 years later, the husband Eusebio (now played y Robert Beltran) has diabetes and has lost both of his legs, is bedridden and taken care 24 hours a day by his wife, Flora (now played by Rachel Ticotin).
Eusebio tells his wife of a very disturbing dream in which he was visited by an angel, who tells him that he is about to die in two days. In order to be ready, he insists his wife call a priest who can grant him his last rights and absolution. Even though Flora feels that this is ridiculous, she grants his wish and has a priest come. Unfortunately, in the process, Eusebio admits earlier infidelities in his life, not just the first one that his wife had found out about many years earlier and for which she had forgiven him, but a second infidelity, that she was not aware of. This infidelity infuriates her, a betrayal that she now considers a final slap in the face. At this point, the husband cannot understand how this infidelity many years ago can be making her so angry now!
The story is really a story of the trials and relationships we encounter in life, the right and wrong of them, their impact on our relationships and how, even with terrible missteps, love engendered over many years can still endure in some fashion. This is a very romantic story, sad, poignant and touching.
As is typical of ACT, the acting is superb! The costumes by Sandra Woodall are most excellent. Carey Perloff’s direction is once again, brilliant! This story really pulls at the heartstrings and helps us to realize that everyone has warts, some more obvious than others, and even with warts, we can still love the frogs!
Boleros for the Disenchanted plays Tuesdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m., with matinees at 2 p.m., on Wednesdays, May 20th and 27th at 2 p.m., on Saturdays and Sundays at 2 p.m., continuing now through Sunday May 31st. Call (415) 749-2228 for reservations or order on line at www.act-sf.org or visit their box office at 405 Geary Street in San Francisco. The theatre is located at 415 Geary Street, just one blocks West from Union Square. This is an excellent love story and brings back a lot of memories of the 1950’s. Three shows were under the magnifying glass this week, two of which definitely deserve your consideration but the third was a bit of a disappointment. The Berkeley Repertory Theatre is currently producing Amy Freed’s comic spoof of life under a despotic emperor, in “You, Nero”. At the southern end of the Bay Area, the San Jose Repertory Theatre brought their audience smartly to their feet, with a standing ovation at the end of an outrageously funny production of the Tony Award-Winning comedy, “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.” Meanwhile, in Concord, “The Wedding Singer”, a musical production in the Willows Theatre in Concord, just plain felt amateurish, with absolutely no lyrics that were the least bit memorable, at least not for my taste. Maybe I’m a bit old fashioned but this re-hash of the Adam Sandler, Drew Barrymoore 1998 comedy movie by the same name, just couldn’t get my heart-rate above a barely audible thump thump!
The Wedding Singer doesn't win me over!
“The Wedding Singer” is just plain silly, but is a fun-filled, feel-good musical with a simple and highly predictable plot. The people who are about to get married don’t realize it yet, but their dream partners turn out to be a nightmare, until a little twist of fate re-aligns the stars and they find happiness and true love forever.
Robbie Hart (Ryan Drummond) is the lead singer for a small rock combo who is staying alive financially by providing the music for weddings, when he and his band are not bringing in sufficient money and success from their other gigs. Robbie runs into Julia Sullivan (Sarah Ali), a very vivacious and warmhearted employee of the wedding caterer, while Robbie sings sweet love songs to a charming couple during the wedding reception. Julia is so taken with this really charming and romantic young singer that she pleads with him to sing at her wedding, if and when she becomes engaged. She has high hopes that her self-centered, high-flying, big-bucks junk-bond dealing boyfriend, Glen (Noel Anthony), will pop the question soon, very soon!
As Robbie expresses his excitement for the wedding couple’s future bliss, he shares with the guests that he too is about to get married, in fact, on the very next day. He is absolutely thrilled at the prospect of getting married. Robbie is a really romantic guy, a man who loves the idea of being married. Unfortunately, as the audience discovers in very short order, he has asked the wrong girl to tie the knot with him, as she is a no-show at the nuptials. Robbie is crushed and his whole attitude about marriage crashes. The next wedding gig is a complete disaster as Robbie, now a chump with a chip on his shoulder, becomes a maudlin master of ceremonies as well as a bad attitude balladeer. Before this wedding is over, the wedding singer is dumped in the nearest dumpster.
Julia, now engaged, witnesses the fiasco, but still supports Robbie and tries to pull him up and get him right back on positive track. Julia’s boyfriend is a real turkey and Robbie can sense it. It doesn’t take long for the stars and planets to start their re-alignment process, leading to the appropriate ending.
The Willows production brought in several really excellent and highly talented actors, with the main two principal performers, Sarah Ali and Ryan Drummond, truly excellent choices! In fact, there were several others who were very good as well, but for some bizarre reason, the bulk of the cast just didn’t thrill me at all. When one of the band members, George (the keyboard/guitar player- Brady Woolery), tried to catch the bride’s bouquet that was being thrown to the unmarried ladies, I was thrown for a loop. While he appeared to be emulating in attire and look, the once famous “Boy George” of an earlier punk rock era, his actions in that scene didn’t seem to make any sense to me. Why would a guy try to catch the bouquet? Grandma Rosie (Linnea vonAhn) just didn’t look old enough to be the grandmother to the lead singer, as she was much too youthful looking to portray a “grandma”. Where was the makeup expert?
It wasn’t that the overall acting was bad, but some of the acting seemed amateurish and a bit strained (apart from the lead actors). The strange costumes and an uninspiring set (primarily because of a really weird bed set up), just didn’t grab me at all. I don’t know why, but nothing about the show got me the least bit excited. Maybe it was just a bad night at the Willows for Karen ( my lovely wife) and me, but neither of us could get into it. The evening started off badly with a fifteen minute delay due to technical problems, plus the six-foot wookie (think Chewbacca from “Star Wars”) who was sitting in front of me had such a massive head of hair that I had to get up and move to a vacant seat elsewhere in the theater in order to see the stage at all.
I would love to have you hear the great voices and experience the talent of the lead actors, which was very good, but I started off with a bad attitude that unfortunately carried over into my experience. You will probably see the show and tell me off, saying that I was not being fair, and you will probably be absolutely right. Go ahead and see the show and let me know how you perceived it, thumbs up or thumbs down!
“The Wedding Singer” plays Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., with matinees on Wednesdays at 3:30, on Saturdays at 2 p.m., and on Sundays at 3 p.m., now through June, 14th. You may call (925) 798-1300 for reservations or visit the companies website at http://www.willowstheatre.org/ to purchase your tickets. The Willows Theatre mainstage is situated at 1975 Diamond Boulevard in Concord, next to the REI sporting goods store in the Willows Shopping Center. Tickets range between $30 and $40 each with discounts for seniors, students and groups.
When it comes to a publicity makeover, Nero doesn't fiddle around!
The Berkeley Repertory Theatre has just opened their production of “You, Nero” to the complete delight of the audience. If you have ever seen Mel Brooks’ version of “A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum”, transpose that fun-filled experience to the times and trials of Nero and you will begin to get an idea of what this show is about.
Author Amy Freed has taken the life and times of a tyrant and transposed it into a silly story about a misunderstood despot doing his best to do an image make-over! Nero didn’t exactly emerge into public life with the best of parentage or publicity going for him. His mother, Agrippina, was the sister of the notorious Caligula and was officially adopted by Emperor Claudius at age 13. At age 15, Nero married his stepsister, Claudia Octavia. His adopted father was purportedly poisoned by Agrippina, establishing Nero as emperor at age 16. His early political prowess was fostered by his mother and two principal advisors, Seneca and Burrus. As Nero became more spoiled and pampered, he became more ruthless and cynical. Within four years, he was sexually involved with a friend’s wife, Poppaea, who became his mistress. Within the next four years he executed his mother (supposedly because she was now plotting his demise), before he was 21 years of age, followed by the execution of his wife, Octavia, so that he could marry his mistress. A few years later, around 64 AD, historians theorize that he kicked Poppaea to death after she complained about him coming home late from the chariot races. - - - And you think today’s reality shows are a downer, as you can see, life in Rome was a bit rocky in the early AD’s.
Needless to say, there wasn’t much media to manage at that time in history, but author Amy Freed has put a modern spin on the Nero chronicles by having Nero employ a well-known playwright, Scribonius of Carthage (Jeff McCarthy), to re-write Nero’s history (for current audiences). Scribonius is asked to create a play to dress up the tragedies in Nero’s life, to make the patricians and plebeians more sympathetic of his excesses and murderous intrigues. Jeff McCarthy is understated brilliance in action. He is funny, endearing, and articulate and a terrific actor. Scribonius reveals the emotional layers of a playwright working to please the emperor and yet trying to convince him that the glamorized and sanitized character he is creating on paper, could be the real Nero, if he can just get Nero to see his own potential. Scribonius tries to re-create Nero as a hero, a force of positive change, a man of the people, for the people, for the republic. For a while, Nero actually likes the fictitious Nero and for a brief time, is even drawn toward emulating his alter ego, his media-enhanced self.
Nero (played outrageously by Danny Scheie) is characterized brilliantly as a many faceted spoiled character, which he probably was, and yet, is portrayed in a grossly over-exaggerated comedic style. Danny Scheie is a very, very funny man, creating the character of a coy, caustic, and courageously bombastic emperor.
The entire cast is superbly over-exaggerated. Lori Larson plays well Nero’s conniving mother, Aggripina, and Susannah Schulman is sexy, seductive and likeable as Nero’s mistress, Poppaea. Mike McShane, Kasey Mahaffy and Richard Doyle play well a plethora of prestigious, pompous and pathetic characters. Donnell Hill, Maggie Mason and Sarah Moser add immeasurably to the “eye-candy”, raising the temperature in the audience with their cool and beautiful bodies and teasing, tantalizing appearances.
“You, Nero” makes bad politics seem more tolerable and is wonderfully silly, a great way to spend an evening. Director Sharon Ott has carved another notch on her magic wand of directorial success with this highly “sucsexsful” production. I am sure that this show will become a new comic standard for the stage. It is certainly apropos for our times as we see politician after politician trying to re-make his or her image at all levels of government. We all need a good laugh and this show delivers laughter without a drop of blood being drawn.
This production is in the Thrust Stage at 2025 Addison Street (at Shattuck) in Berkeley. Tickets range in price between $33 and $71 a seat. Call (510) 647-2949 or visit their website at http://www.berkeleyrep.org/ for more information. You can purchase tickets toll-free by calling 888-4-BRT-Tix. The theater is just a little over one block from the downtown Berkeley BART station. Show times are Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., Wednesdays and Sundays at 7 p.m., with matinees on Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays at 2 p.m., continuing now through June 28th.
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee spells great success in this current production!
I absolutely love the San Jose Repertory Theatre Company which is currently producing “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee”, a tongue-in-cheek trip back in time for those of us who are in love with words and can remember the awkwardness and trials and tribulations of attending the local spelling bee contests in our adolescence. It is a celebration of the courage of our youthful competitors in all personal development and language skills, including debate, spelling bees, 4 H and youth in government competitions. It is a funny, funny, tunefully enjoyable way to spend an evening.
Director Timouthy Near has fine tuned this award winning musical show with outstanding actors, a superb set and outstanding direction into an evening one will not soon forget. Near has just recently completed her 21 year tenure as artistic director for the San Jose Repertory and has left a legacy of outstanding memories that she has created or overseen in this very comfortable and attractive facility. I personally want to thank her publicly for the great gift she has give our residents who have journeyed to San Jose to see her shows over the past 20 years. She will now be directing shows all over the Bay Area, including in the Dean Lesher Regional Center for the Arts (in Walnut Creek) occasionally.
The judges of the competition, Rona Lisa Peretti (Alison Ewing) and Douglas Panch (Steve Irish), set the mood and develop their character for us by reliving memories about their own personal experiences as childhood competitors and/or their relationships with school administration challenges and being part of the educational system that loves and works for children.
The children are played by professional actors who are really quite believable as high-school aged competitors, each with their own life’s baggage that is inadvertently brought along to the competition. One young lady, Miss Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre (Molly Bell), has two male parents rooting and conniving for her; Chip Tolentino (last year’s spelling bee winner)(played by Marc de la Cruz), who is having problems coping with the burgeoning ups and downs of manhood; Marcy Park (Sophie Oda), an over achiever who speaks 6 languages and competes in every avenue of her life; Olive Ostrovsky (Dani Marcus), who is brilliant and introverted at the same time; Leaf Coneybear (Clifton Guterman), who makes his own clothing and lives with a hippy type family; William Barfee (Mark Farrell), who is brilliant and knows it. In addition, Mitch Mahoney (Berwick Haynes), is a troubled adult who is doing his community service by assisting the judges and delivering little bits of positive anecdotes and encouragement to each contestant as each one bombs out and leaves the competition.
I have had the pleasure of seeing these actors play in many other productions and it is absolutely wild to see them playing these teen-aged fonts of verbal wisdom.
As you enter the theatre you will be asked if you have any interest in spelling competition and several people will be selected to join the cast on stage as members in the spelling bee competition. They actually are given words to work on, some ridiculously simple such as “cow”, others much more difficult, to which they may ask (as each student is allowed to do) of the judges , “may I please have the definition- - use of the word in a sentence- - word origin, etc.”
The music and lyrics are fittingly funny, poignant, touching, and memorable of the process of growing up and taking ones’ place in life. “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” is a most enjoyable show, and provides an evening to just sit back and let the fun begin, to let the good feelings and laughter simply lift your spirits.
“The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” plays Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m., Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays at 8 p.m., with matinees at 11 a.m. on Wednesdays, at 3 p.m. on Saturdays and at 2 p.m., on Sundays, now through June7th. The theatre is located near San Jose State University, at 101 Paseo de San Antonio, between 3rd and 4th streets, one half block north of San Carlos street. There is a large parking garage at the corner of San Carlos street and 4th street that is both convenient and reasonably priced. I highly recommend the 45 minute drive to San Jose to see this show. Also, I highly recommend driving down early and having dinner in one of the many fine restaurants near the theatre. There is a Scott’s Seafood Restaurant nearby that serves a great dinner.
Call (408) 367-7255 for ticket and reservation information, or visit their website at http://www.sjrep.com/ or visit the theatre box office at #101 Paseo de San Antonio to purchase tickets. Tickets range in price between $40 and $62, depending on performance date and seat location in the theatre. This is a terrific show and now's the time to go!