San Jose Center for the Performing Arts Interior Photos

The American Musical Theatre of San Jose (AMTSJ), previously known as the San Jose Borough Low-cal Opera (SJCLO), was a major professional nonprofit musical theatre company in San Jose, California. Founded in 1934 as the San Jose Lite Opera Association, information technology became the 2nd largest theatre company in the Northern California (exceeded just by the American Solarium Theater), with an annual budget of $9.8 million and an attendance exceeding 150,000, including 15,000 season ticket holders. The company performed at the 2,677-seat San Jose Center for the Performing Arts. The arrangement incurred debts after a 2002 agreement to get a receiving house for touring Broadway productions. It closed in December 2008.^[1]

History [edit]

The American Musical Theatre of San Jose had been through many name changes:

San Jose Low-cal Opera Association [edit]

In 1934, a group of community volunteers formed the San Jose Low-cal Opera Association (SJLOA), performing works by Gilbert and Sullivan. The first product was The Mikado,^[2] held at the Victory Theatre on Due north Kickoff Street near Santa Clara Avenue in downtown San Jose, where they would perform for several more years. Shows were later held at Theodore Roosevelt Junior Loftier School Auditorium, the Montgomery Theatre downtown, and so the Santa Clara University Theatre.^[three]

For the 1957/1958 flavour, SJLOA shifted from low-cal opera to musical theatre. (Light opera is light-hearted opera usually with a happy catastrophe; musical theatre can be thought of as a play with singing.) As well, performances were moved to the San Jose Civic Auditorium. The first productions in the new venue were Carousel and Guys and Dolls.^[two]

San Jose Music Theatre [edit]

In 1972, as the company continued to grow in popularity and success, SJLOA changed its proper noun to San Jose Music Theatre (SJMT), in fourth dimension for its move into the new San Jose Customs Theatre (renamed in 1975 as the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts). To mark the occasion, SJMT hired its first Equity role player, Enzo Stuarti, for its product of South Pacific. Unfortunately, the move to the new venue was delayed when the interior ceiling of the Community Theatre collapsed, closing the edifice for three years for repairs.^[4]

In 1975, SJMT finally debuted at the Centre for Performing Arts with Guys and Dolls. That same year, SJMT began to contract much more Equity talent, including stars like Michele Lee, Tommy Tune, JoAnne Worley, Theodore Bikel, and Tyne Daly.^[iii] The influx of Equity actors forced SJMT to begin a costume shop; before that, actors were responsible for making their own costumes. By 1979 SJMT was providing costumes for the entire cast.

The 1979/1980 season saw a downturn in the visitor'due south fortunes. The premiere of City of Broken Promises, based on the volume of the same name by Austin Coates, ran so far over budget that SJMT faced bankruptcy. The President of the board resigned, and newly installed President Anthony J. Mercant demanded that each board member donate $500 or resign. The members complied, and this, coupled with a grant from Chevron, averted financial disaster.^[3]

San Jose Civic Light Opera [edit]

Afterward the 1979/1980 season the board hired Stewart Slater as General Manager,^[five] ushering in a new era and some other new name: the San Jose Civic Light Opera (SJCLO). In Slater, who had been general manager of American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, the lath chose someone from outside the organization and a proven business organization leader. Within 2 years of Slater'south hiring, SJCLO once again had a balanced budget and began a streak of 8 profitable seasons.

When Slater took over, the company relied heavily on star power to depict audiences. The large names were paid for at the expense of production quality; many of the supporting cast were unpaid volunteers. One of Slater's first acts was to end this practice, avoiding costly stars to eternalize the quality of the unabridged production.^{[vi] [seven]}

In 1984, thank you to a successful season ticket renewal campaign, the CLO had a rare surplus of $40,000 in advance ticket sales, prompting Slater to have an unprecedented risk for the arrangement. He hired a Chicago arts publicist, Danny Newman, to organize the largest direct mailing campaign ever done by an arts organization, spending the entire surplus.^[5] The gamble paid off, with the number of season ticket subscribers increasing by 10,000 within two years.^{[half dozen]}

The Slater era saw steady growth in the visitor's reputation and attendance. Performances such equally the critically acclaimed production of Jesus Christ Superstar in the 1989/1990 flavour and the widely successful restaging of Chess in 1991/1992 were considered notable achievements by Dianna Shuster, whom Slater had promoted to Artistic Director in 1985.^[viii]

American Musical Theatre of San Jose [edit]

In 1995, the theatre changed its name yet once again, this fourth dimension to American Musical Theatre of San Jose, to commemorate its 60th anniversary.^[ix]

In February 2002, AMTSJ announced an understanding with the Nederlander Organization, 1 of the largest operators of live theatre and music in the United states, allowing AMTSJ to nowadays touring Broadway shows in the aforementioned season with locally produced shows. The move ended a 67-twelvemonth era of sectional locally produced works and led to the departure of artistic director Dianna Shuster.^{[10] [xi]}

Following the Nederlander understanding, single-ticket sales, subscriptions, and donations all plummeted, leading to a loss at least $two one thousand thousand over two years,^[12] and to the departure of Slater after 24 years as executive producer.^[13] Michael Miller, the new executive producer, blamed the downturn on the community disconnect caused when the Nederlander understanding displaced local talent and on the struggling Silicon Valley economy.^[14]

Upon his inflow from Paper Mill Playhouse in New Bailiwick of jersey, the AMTSJ alumnus Miller launched a program to boost revenues with flexible ticket package offerings, extensive marketing, and aggressive fundraising.^[14] The plan paid off almost immediately, with AMTSJ showing over $500,000 of positive revenue for 2005, cutting debt by one third.^[15]

Bankruptcy and liquidation [edit]

On November 26, 2008, AMTSJ laid off all of its employees. The following calendar week, it filed for Affiliate 7 bankruptcy and ended operations.^[one] Executive producer Michael Miller announced that the sudden failure was due to a $one.7 million loss on an adaptation of Disney's musical Tarzan in partnership with Theater of the Stars in Atlanta. Miller called legal action against Theater of the Stars "likely" and claimed that money given to Theater of the Stars by AMTSJ for Tarzan was diverted for other purposes.^{[16] [17]} Company assets were auctioned the last week of February 2009.

References [edit]

1. ^ ^{a b} Quillen, Shay. "American Musical Theatre of San Jose closes down", San Jose Mercury News, December ane, 2008.
2. ^ ^{a b} "AMTSJ Mission Statement and History". www.amtsj.org. American Musical Theatre of San Jose. Archived from the original on 3 November 2007.
3. ^ ^{a b c} "History of AMTSJ", American Musical Theatre of San Jose.
4. ^ "Center for Performing Arts Waits in Wings for Renovations", San Jose Mercury News, March 25, 2000.
5. ^ ^{a b} Green, Judith. "The Secret of CLO's Success: Stewart Slater Lifted a Community Theater from Desperation to State-of-the-Arts", San Jose Mercury News, October 20, 1991.
6. ^ ^{a b} Dark-green, Judith. "San Jose: Civilisation at the Crossroads", San Jose Mercury News, Dec 28, 1986.
7. ^ Frymer, Murry. "San Jose CLO's 55th Season is Music to Pair's Ears", San Jose Mercury News, Nov 5, 1989.
8. ^ Frymer, Murry. "Women in the Spotlight — Shuster: Her Struggle to be a Director is Paying off at San Jose CLO", San Jose Mercury News, January 22, 1988.
9. ^ "CLO Changes Name on 60th Ceremony", San Jose Mercury News, March 11, 1995.
10. ^ McCollum, Charlie. "Silicon Valley Groups Paint Bleak Picture of Country of the Arts", San Jose Mercury News, August 24, 2002.
11. ^ Winn, Steven. "Crucial Moves in Centrality of Bay Area'due south Theater Globe", San Francisco Chronicle, August 24, 2002.
12. ^ D'Souza, Karen. "Theater Group Posts Loss for Second Straight Season-Ticket Sales, Donations Slump for American Musical Theatre", San Jose Mercury News, August 4, 2004.
13. ^ D'Souza, Karen. "What Led to Parting of Ways of AMT Board, Former Dominate", San Jose Mercury News, August 8, 2004.
14. ^ ^{a b} D'Souza, Karen. "New Executive Aims to Go AMT Dorsum in the Blackness — To Reverse a Dramatic 2-Yr Downturn, Michael Miller Wants More Local Productions", San Jose Mercury News, August 8, 2004.
15. ^ D'Souza, Karen. "Musical Theatre Posts Surplus, Stirring Hope for Rebound — Belt-Tightening, Marketing Changes Credited", San Jose Mercury News, September 12, 2005
16. ^ Weselby, Cathy. "San Jose's American Musical Theatre shuts downward", Silicon Valley / San Jose Concern Journal, December ane, 2008.
17. ^ Hetrick, Adam. "Theater of the Stars Indefinitely Postpones Tarzan; Works to Repay Avant-garde Funds". Archived from the original on June 30, 2013. Retrieved May 4, 2013.

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Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Musical_Theatre_of_San_Jose

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