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Yousif Kassab on December 13, 2018
When it comes to music, the very concept of a genre is polarizing. Some artists will bristle at any attempt to pin a label on their work; some will shrug off the practice of categorization as a meaningless but unavoidable convention of the industry; others still will actively tout their given tag,…
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Wallace Baine on December 13, 2018
In that very tiny village called Celebrities Everybody Loves (Bill Murray, Keanu Reeves, etc.), the immortal Willie Nelson is mayor. After a serious illness that sidelined him for a while, and a little campaigning for Beto O’Rourke in Texas, Willie is on the road again—this time with his family, including his wife,…
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Wallace Baine on December 13, 2018
There’s never a bad time to visit the historic California Theatre, one of downtown San Jose’s most beautiful buildings. But the best time might be during the holiday season. For the 14th straight year, the Symphony Silicon Valley Chorale—under the direction of Elena Sharkova and accompanied by a brass ensemble—will lead a…
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Wallace Baine on December 13, 2018
Conductor Barbara Day Turner and the San Jose Chamber Orchestra combine forces with the Choral Project, under the direction of Daniel Hughes, for this annual winter concert that explores the music of faiths and traditions from around the world. Among the goodies are the Basque carol Gabriel’s Message, Jaco Wong’s Behold the…
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Wallace Baine on December 13, 2018
The celebrated tenor quartet Il Divo is a great example of humankind’s desire to span cultural divides by (literally) singing from the same hymnal. The swoony foursome features a highly diverse cast, with singers from Spain, France, Switzerland and the U.S. The group, which expertly blends classical opera and pop, was the…
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Wallace Baine on December 13, 2018
Sure, you can listen to your neighbors’ off-key version of “We Three Kings” on your doorstep without leaving the house. But wouldn’t you rather get your holiday music fix from a Grammy-winning jazz legend? The great Dianne Reeves belongs in the lineage of Dinah Washington and Sarah Vaughan, and she’s been bringing…
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Wallace Baine on December 13, 2018
For those depraved souls whose holiday tradition includes adult beverages and Bad Santa, there is a live theater show just for you. Who’s Holiday is a decidedly raunchy, not-for-kids take on the Dr. Seuss classic How the Grinch Stole Christmas. This one-woman show stars Shannon Guggenheim as the all-grown-up Cindy Lou Who—now…
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Wallace Baine on December 13, 2018
True to its name, The San Jose Nutcracker adapts the iconic Tchaikovsky-scored ballet for local audiences—bringing the Sugar Plum Fairy, the Mouse King and all those marching toy soldiers into the orchards of the Valley of Heart’s Delight. Performed by the New Ballet School, the production also features plenty of South Bay…
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Wallace Baine on December 13, 2018
Massachusetts-born standup comic Alingon Mitra has all the bonafides, both as a performer (Conan, Last Comic Standing, Craig Ferguson, Colbert) and as a writer (The Daily Show, Adam Ruins Everything, the Harvard Lampoon). He loves Katy Perry, the pope and reality TV, doesn’t like the word “gonorrhea,” and has deep suspicions about…
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by
Mike Huguenor on December 5, 2018
In the binary universe of the Santería religion, Iré (blessing) is the opposite of Osogbo (curse). However, like true binaries, neither could exist without the other. Written by playwright, author, poet and professor Paul S. Flores, We Have Iré is a new theater project that uses the cosmology of Santería to explore…
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