Thursday, September 27, 2018

Playful People Productions Presents: Seusical JR and KIDS



Horton the Elephant, the Cat in the Hat and all of your favorite Dr. Seuss characters spring to life onstage in Seussical Kids and Seussical JR., a fantastical musical extravaganza from Tony-winners, Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty.
Transporting audiences from the Jungle of Nool to the Circus McGurkus, the Cat in the Hat narrates the story of Horton the Elephant, who discovers a speck of dust containing tiny people called the Whos. Horton must protect the Whos from a world of naysayers and dangers, and he must also guard an abandoned egg that’s been left in his care by the irresponsible Mayzie La Bird.  Although Horton faces ridicule, danger and a trial, the intrepid Gertrude McFuzz never loses faith in him.  Ultimately, the powers of friendship, loyalty, family and community are challenged and emerge triumphant! You wont want to miss this upbeat and hilarious show for children and adults alike!

Our shows often sell out prior to the show weekend. Be sure to buy your tickets early, you won’t want to miss out on this fantastic production. 

All Shows at the Historic Hoover Theatre, 1635 Park Ave  San Jose, CA 95126
 
Show Times:

Seussical KIDS
Friday, October 26th - 7pm
Saturday, October 27th - 11am, 3pm and 7pm
Sunday, October 28th - 11am and 3pm

Seussical JR
Friday, November 2nd - 7pm
Saturday, November 3rd - 11am, 3pm and 7pm
Sunday, November 4th - 11am and 3pm

Tickets available at www.playfulpeople.net
$15 attendees 12 and up and  $10 children 11 and under
 
Tickets at the door (30 minutes prior to curtain)
$18 attendees 12 and up and $12 children 11 and under

 

Playful People is positive, inclusive, family theatre. Founded in 2010, Playful People Production’s mission is to provide a quality, caring environment where children, teens and their families can have positive theater experiences. We strive to involve all family members in the many aspects of on stage and backstage theater in a safe and fun environment and offer participation in theatrical productions, classes, summer stock and camps for ages 3-103

Wednesday, September 26, 2018

3rd Annual Little Italy San Jose Street Festival

The annual Little Italy San Jose Street Festival goes down this Sunday (Sep 30) from 11am to 7pm. Almost 25,000 people attended last year and this year could be even bigger. You can expect authentic Italian Cuisine, local bands, children's activities, Italian Arts & Crafts, and more info on the future Italian Museum & Cultural Center. The event will be a blast and admission is free!

Parking is available across the street at the County Social Services building on Julian. For more info, head over here.


Tuesday, September 25, 2018

Dual-branded hotel and condo coming Downtown

A unique multi-use building is coming to the corner of Clinton Place and Stockton Avenue, which is on the border of Downtown San Jose and The Alameda. The nine-story (97-foot-tall) project would host two different hotel brands, a Courtyard by Marriott and a Residence Inn. Combined they would have 311 hotel rooms and three stories of underground parking.

What is even more interesting than two hotel brands in a single building, is the fact that they are also building 19 market-rate condos on the top floor. This is the first time in Silicon Valley proper that condos are being included as part of a hotel project. Yet even more unusual, these are entry-level hotel brands. Typically you find condos that share hotel facilities in hotels like the Four Seasons, St. Regis, or Ritz Carlton. This goes to show how in-demand housing is in the area.

The hotels and condos are an easy walk to Whole Foods, the SAP Center, and Diridon. When Google builds their headquarters Downtown, these will be the closest rooms to their offices. It's a safe bet that nightly rates will be astronomical throughout the workweek.

If final approval from the city is received within 10 months, the hotels could be ready by 2020.

I'm happy to see more hotel rooms proposed for the area, but the building aesthetics could use some work. We don't want another AC Hotel fiasco (this kind of looks like a prison as well). Each new project should bring additional character to San Jose, and this looks quite generic. At minimum, perhaps they could utilize the giant roof area to build a park/outdoor lounge for guests and residents. The Pierce is a great example of how you can build something without height that is visually appealing and is additive to the neighborhood.

Source: SVBJ



Friday, September 21, 2018

San Jose Puzzle

Here's a quick brain teaser before the weekend. Where should San Jose go on the list below? Submit your answer over here.

Hat tip to Serhiy Grabarchuck for submitting this.



Thursday, September 20, 2018

New hotel planned for SoFA

San Jose's artsy SoFA District is about to get a much needed new hotel. Downtown San Jose is starving for more rooms with occupancy and room rates hitting astronomical figures--we're talking up to $550 a night (with taxes & fees) for a normal room at the Fairmont in the middle of the week.

Krishna Hotels is planning to build a 106-room, seven-story hotel at the corner of South Second and East Reed. Two stories of parking with 39 spaces would be built underground. While not a huge hotel, every extra room matters at this point. The location is also in an undeserved area close enough for San Jose business travelers but also far enough from the Downtown core that it can add more foot-traffic and vibrancy to SoFA.

The Hotel would be built on what is now and empty parcel. No timeline has been given so far.

Source: SVBJ



Tuesday, September 18, 2018

sjDANCEco Opens Season 16 with “Flying” October 12 and 13 in San Jose





Who: sjDANCEco presents
What: Flying
When: Friday and Saturday, October 12 and 13 at 8:00pm
Where: California Theatre, 345 S. First Street, San Jose, CA 95113
Why: The 16th Anniversary of sjDANCEco is entitled Flying and will feature a collaboration with the San Jose Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Barbara Day Turner.

Tickets: $45 to $70. Visit online at https://www.sjdanceco.org/ or call 408.520.9854

More: The 2018-19 Fall Season entitled Flying returns the company to the beautiful California Theatre with two public performances, and again this year a free Youth Performance for under-served Title 1 schools. In its 9th year of collaboration with Barbara Day Turner and the San José Chamber Orchestra, the program will feature the Company Premieres of “Corvidae” by Limón Dance Company Artistic Director Colin Connor and “Flying Colors” by sjDANCEco’s Choreographic Advisor/Mentor Fred Mathews. The Program will also include World Premieres by company choreographers Maria Basile and Gabriel Mata as well as excerpts from José Limón “Mazurkas” which premiered in 2014. Saturday night's VIP tickets include entry into our aftershow Gala, with a chance to meet the dancers and choreographers of sjDANCEco. 

Artistic Director, Maria Basile, confronts ‘Parallel Universes’ with her World Premiere for sjDANCEco’s 16th Anniversary Fall Season. An abstract story about two people who have one foot in each reality creating a dynamic field between them. With two working titles…htaPReset or htaPParallel, the work is danced to contemporary composer, David Crowell’s Open Road – played live by the San Jose Chamber Orchestra.

Gabriel Mata, a company member since 2012, is a dedicated risk-taking choreographer who has been winning accolades across the country. Chosen at last year’s Minnesota Fringe Festival by the Twin Cities Arts Reader as “Best of the Fringe” and this year the “Audience Pick”, his current solo work Dreaming will be a Company Premiere. Reviewer Tim Wick wrote about this year’s sold out Fringe performances: "What I love about Gabriel Mata is his understanding of the ways dance doesn’t always succeed. At it’s worst, dance can be aloof and impersonal. The audience seems almost like an interloper – there to watch but not to interact. Mata breaks down the walls between audience and dancer. He joins them together in an experience that neither could have without the other. This is what binds together all good theater – an interaction between the audience and the performer. When that bridge is not built, the audience is left wondering why they are even there. Mata has a deep respect for what the audience brings to the equation. He wants us to appreciate his work for the story it tells and he takes the time to help us understand the story though movement but also, sometimes, through words. His stories may come from him but he wants to give them to his audience. More than most, he knows how to make that connection."

Gabriel will also present the World Premiere of In This Time which addresses the heteronormativity that is imposed on lgbtq dancers, their personal dreams, and aspirations. Set to Franz Liszt’s - Benedictus und Offertorium aus der ungarischer Krönungsmesse the work explores the idea of what a "perfect dance" would be for the performers, how they would like to perform the work, what roles they would like to take on and the kind of movement quality they would like to dance. Taking the choreography into their own hands, they begin to reset it while discussing their personal views on normalized gender roles.

Choreographic Advisor/Mentor Fred Mathews’ Flying Colors was originally commissioned by Winnipeg’s Contemporary Dancers and had it Premiere in 1978. It was a signature work of the Mathews – Masters Dance Company/New York, was the highlight of the company’s tour in France in the 1980’s and has been staged for professional and university Dance companies. 
Set to JS Bach’s Violin Concerto #2, the work has been staged for nine sjDANCEco dancers with Artistic Director Maria Basile in the Solo role.

Hsiang Hsiu Lin’s new work is inspired by the poem -The Road Not Taken -by Frost Robert. A World Premiere
The Road Not Taken
Dancers: Hsiang-Hsiu Lin, Maria Basile
Choreographer: Hsiang-Hsiu Lin
Hsiang-Hsiu Lin, one of the founding sjDANCEco dancers that is still with sjDANCEco today! He is the Director of Lin HH Dance Company of Taipei.

###

Fall 2018 Program Repertory
The 16th Anniversary Season entitled Flying will again be in collaboration with the San José Chamber Orchestra under the Direction of Barbara Day Turner.
Guest Choreographer Colin Connor (Artistic Director, Limon Dance Company/NYC)
            Corvidae Company Premiere 6 - 9 dancers – 8 min)
             Music: Phillip Glass (Violin Concerto #1, 1st movement)
______________________________________________________________________________
Fred Mathews (sjDco Choreographic Advisor)
            Flying Colors (1977)
                         Company Premiere (7 - 8 dancers – 15 min)
                        Music: JS Bach (Violin Concert #2)
______________________________________________________________________________            
Maria Basile (Artistic Director)
            TBA -  World Premiere (duet)
                        Music: David Crowell (Open Road) 
Hsiang Hsiu Lin (Company DanceArtist/Choreographer)
            The Road Not Taken –World Premiere (duet) 
Gabriel Mata (Company Dance Artist) 
            In This Time
                        World Premiere (4 dancers - 16 min)
                        Music: Franz Liszt - (Benedictus und Offertorium aus der ungarischer Krönungsmesse)
____________________________________________________________________________
Gabriel Mata (Company Dance Artist)  
            Boundless Trajectory (2017)                                                            
           Company Premiere (Solo – 12 min)
                        Music & Text: Gabriel Mata (recorded)
______________________________________________________________________________
José Limón 
            Suite from Mazurkas (1958)
                        Revival (4 sections - 4 dancers – 10 min)
                        Music: Frederic Chopin
 ______________________________________________________________________________

ABOUT US
sjDANCEco is a year-round contemporary dance company based in San Jose, California that produces world premieres by its core and guest choreographers, and presents the very best of Contemporary and Classic Modern Dance and Masterpieces of the American Modern Dance Repertory. In addition to a full season of dance concerts, sjDANCEco also is a major participant each Spring in free outdoor dance presentations during National Dance Week, international dance festivals, and has a full schedule of contemporary dance classes for the advanced and professional dancer. sjDANCEco ignites the spirit of dance.

Monday, September 17, 2018

Self-driving grocery deliveries coming to San Jose courtesy of a San Jose startup company

The timeline for self-driving cars has been significantly underestimated. Waymo is already running a limited number of rides to beta customers in Arizona with no safety driver. Tesla is 6 months away from enabling basic self-driving features on over 200,000 consumer cars. And AutoX Inc. just started doing self-driving grocery deliveries late last month.

AutoX is headquartered in North San Jose (off of Trimble) and has two satellite offices in China. They raised $43 million in fundy last year from Danhua Capital, MediaTek Ventures, and SAIC Capital.

Several residents in a geo-fenced area near the headquarters are already eligible for service. Customers can either pick what they want to be delivered from the app or make last minute purchasing decisions when picking up the groceries from the car. You read that correctly... the car itself is a store.

They just have a handful of vehicles today, but are looking to grow to 20 cars very soon and expand the service to Mountain View and Palo Alto. For more info, head over to AutoX.ai or watch the video below.

It's great to see a San Jose company both pushing technological boundaries and providing new services to their immediate community!

Source: SVBJ




Thursday, September 13, 2018

San Jose is the 3rd most educated city in the US

It should come as no surprise that a region overflowing with tech talent is also one of the most educated in the country. The San Jose metro ranked third when it comes to education. The study looked at the 150 largest metros and evaluated the number of adults with college degrees as well as the quality of schools in the region. Ann Arbor came in 1st place, followed by the DC area. SF/Oakland came in 5th and New York was 29th.

Source: WalletHub, thanks to Barclay Livker for sending this in!


Wednesday, September 12, 2018

Tea Collection announces first brick-and-mortar location at Santana Row

Santana Row has scored another exclusive retailer. Tea Collection already has a strong online presence as well as partnerships through boutiques and Nordstrom department stores, yet they decided to open their very first physical store on the row. See the press release below for all of the details.


Globally-Inspired Kids Fashion Brand Announces First Brick and Mortar Location at Santana Row

Tea Collection, the high-quality children’s clothing brand inspired by the beauty of global cultures, is pleased to announce its first brick-and-mortar location at Santana Row in San Jose, California. The Tea-Collection-dedicated retail location opened its doors to little citizens of the world and families alike on August 22.

The Tea Collection store will be a first-of-its-kind shopping experience for the brand, and is designed to further connection between Tea Collection's loyal customer base and its boutique partners. Driven by curiosity, the Tea Collection store will serve as a living classroom to play with new ideas and products, and a chance for the brand to engage one on one with families.

“We see our Santana Row location as a way to spread the love in San Jose. We have many customers there, but not a strong boutique presence. Having our own space provides us an opportunity to meet existing ecommerce customers who don’t have a nearby Tea retailer,” says Emily Meyer, Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer of Tea Collection. “We have been so impressed with Santana Row and how they have created a destination and community that draws people in to spend time.”

Santana Row is Silicon Valley's premier destination for shopping, dining and living. The Tea Collection store will serve as the area's exclusive brick-and-mortar provider of Tea Collection goods.

“Opening a Tea Collection shop is a natural evolution for our brand and will make us a better partner with the hundreds of retailers who carry Tea already,” said Leigh Rawdon, Co-Founder and CEO of Tea Collection. “We hope that the announcement will demonstrate to our retail partners that we are committed to being a great brand at retail, and that what we learn in Santana Row will be translated into their stores.”

Tea Collection will be open seven days a week during regular mall operating hours. All are invited to visit Tea Collection at Santana Row, 377 Santana Row, San Jose, California 95128.

For more information, please visit www.TeaCollection.com.

###

About Tea Collection
Based in San Francisco, California, Tea Collection makes children's apparel and accessories for ages 0-16 inspired by global travel and the world’s natural beauty. Believing that all cultures deserve to be celebrated, twice a year Tea Collection designers explore a new region of the world and transform their discoveries into a collection of high-quality, modern clothing for children, making the foreign more familiar. Tea Collection clothing is available online, in over 250 boutiques across the U.S. and exclusive Nordstrom locations. For additional information, please visitwww.TeaCollection.com or follow our adventures on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest.

About Santana Row
Offering 1.7 million square feet of retail, office, hotel and residential, Santana Row is located in San Jose, California; the hub for high-tech innovation and development. Featuring 615 luxury rental homes, 219 privately owned condos, 376,000 square feet of office space, over 50 shops, 30 restaurants, a boutique hotel and a movie theatre. Santana Row is a property of www.federalrealty.com (NYSE:FRT), headquartered in Rockville, Maryland. For more information, please visit www.santanarow.com.


Monday, September 10, 2018

SJC adding even more gates and flights than expected, including a new international route

Just as San Jose International received approval to build an extra four temporary gates at the end of terminal B, a new proposal comes up to extend that to six. Nine new flights have recently been added and several more are coming before the end of the year. The goal is to keep each airline's gates together as much as possible, which is especially helpful when you have connecting flights.

The revised proposal would still be completed June 2019, but would add two additional parking spots for planes, one of which would have a jet bridge while the other would require using stairs or an elevator (just like the old terminal C days). The passenger waiting room for the new gates would also grow from 8,300 SQFT to 12,500 SQFT. The new plan would still cost around $50 million (and 500 parking spots). Eventually there will be a 10 gate permanent expansion in the same area.

Can SJC justify an extra 6 gates? The answer is absolutely. Not only is it the fastest growing international airport in the country right now based on passenger growth, but new flights are being added left and right. For example...

A new airline called California Pacific is launching a new twice-daily San Jose to Carlsbad route (airport north of San Diego). This will use a 50-seat Embraer ERJ145. This is the first time San Jose would have a direct route to this airport from the commercial terminal.

Volaris is adding their fourth nonstop international destination--to the beautiful city of Leon. The flight starts on November 17th and will use a 174-seat Airbus A320 (all economy). For those counting this is our 12th international route:

  • Asia
    • Tokyo
    • Beijing
    • Shanghai
  • Europe
    • London
    • Frankfurt
  • North America
    • Vancouver
    • Guadalajara (served by three different airlines)
    • Cabo San Lucas
    • Mexico City
    • Morelia
    • Zacatecas
    • Leon

Delta is also adding Detroit (a Delta hub) as a nonstop destination from SJC starting on November 15th. The flight will use a Boeing 737 with 160 seats (16 in first class).

At this rate, we will need a lot more than six new gates in the near future.

Sources: SVBJ, SVBJ (2), SVBJ (3)SVBJ (4),


Thursday, September 6, 2018

p1440 Announces San Jose Music Lineup


- Foster the People, Grouplove, Daya, Marian Hill and Magic Giant to perform at three-time Olympic gold medalist, Kerri Walsh Jennings’ inaugural p1440 event in San Jose, Sept. 28 – 30, 2018 -

SAN DIEGO (August 16, 2018) – Professional beach volleyball player and three-time Olympic gold medalist, Kerri Walsh Jennings’ event series, p1440, announces its p1440 San Jose weekend music lineup for Sept. 28 – 30, featuring Foster the PeopleGrouploveDayaMarian Hill and Magic Giant. The five music acts will perform at the inaugural p1440 San Jose event at the Avaya Stadium grounds. In addition to the live music performances, the three-day event will also feature a professional beach volleyball tournament with the best athletes from around the world, a health & wellness village and development experiences.

“We are so excited to announce such an extremely talented and fun music lineup for our p1440 San Jose event,” said Walsh Jennings, co-founder of p1440. “The p1440 event series was founded upon four pillars—competition, development, health & wellness and entertainment, and each of these pillars will come to life in a powerful way at each event stop. These music acts are an amazing reflection of our entertainment pillar and will help ensure that our fans and guests have an amazing ending to their days spent with us! It’ll be a weekend full of experiences they will never forget and we hope everyone leaves inspired and equipped to live the p1440 lifestyle beyond the weekend and into their daily lives.” 

The music lineup for p1440 San Jose features:

Foster The People—Founded in 2009, the popular alternative rock band is most well known for its #1 hit single “Pumped Up Kicks,” from its debut album, “Torches,” which was declared “the year’s anthem” in 2011 by SPIN. Foster the People garnered three Grammy nominations for its monumental debut, including Best Alternative Album, Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for “Pumped Up Kicks” and Best Short Form Music Video for “Houdini.” The band’s current single, “Sit Next To Me,” recently debuted on the Top 40 airplay chart.

Grouplove—The Los Angeles-based band was founded in 2009 and has quickly become one of music’s most exhilarating young acts. Grouplove’s album, “NEVER TRUST A HAPPY SONG” arrived in 2011, making a stellar chart debut among the Top 5 on Billboard’s “Heatseekers” album chart for new and developing acts. “Tongue Tied,” the second single from “NEVER TRUST A HAPPY SONG,” proved an even greater success, earning RIAA platinum certification for sales in excess of one million while spending three consecutive weeks at #1 on the Alternative airplay chart.

Daya—Since making her debut with 2016’s double-platinum “Hide Away,” the 19-year-old singer/songwriter won her first ever Grammy for her smash collaboration with The Chainsmokers “Don’t Let Me Down,” released a gold-certified album, and headlined a national tour. In 2017, Daya emerged as the youngest honoree on Forbes’ 30 Under 30 music list. Daya is set to deliver a sophomore album that finally shows the full depth of her talent and scope of her artistry.

Marian Hill—This multi-talented duo, Jeremy Lloyd and Samantha Gongol, have been collaborating since they were in high school. In 2013, after recording their first EP, “Play,” in a bedroom, Marian Hill amassed millions of plays on various platforms, sold out shows across the country and were featured in high profile commercials. They signed to Republic Records in early 2015 and settled in to write and record their debut album over the course of the following year with a plan to push their unique sound to its fullest potential.

Magic Giant—This Los Angeles-based band released their debut album, “In The Wind,” in 2017 and have since been named one of the “Artists You Need to Know” by Rolling Stone. The trio’s initial single “Set on Fire” broke the Top 25 on Billboard’s U.S. Alternative chart and their second single, “Window” debuted on the Hot AC Top 50. At their live shows, Magic Giant’s upbeat, energetic sound inspires the crowd to get up and dance along to the music.

Daily line-up schedule is below:
Friday, Sept. 28| Grouplove and Daya
Saturday, Sept. 29| Foster the People and Marian Hill
Sunday, Sept. 30| Magic Giant

p1440 San Jose tickets are now on-sale at p1440sanjose.eventbrite.com

Weekend passes start at $80 for adults and $40 for youth under 12 years old. Single day tickets start at $40 for adults and $20 for youth under 12 years old. Kids three years and under are complimentary. Ticket prices will increase as the event approaches. 

To purchase tickets and stay up-to-date with p1440 San Jose, visit here.
Following the p1440 San Jose event, the inaugural p1440 season will travel to Las Vegas, San Diego and Huntington Beach in 2018 with four additional events in 2019 to round out its inaugural year.

To become a part of the #1440Movement, visit, www.p1440.com, or follow p1440 on FacebookTwitter and Instagram @platform1440.

###

About p1440

p1440 was created from the vision of three-time Olympic gold medalist and one-time Olympic bronze medalist, Kerri Walsh Jennings, and husband Casey Jennings’ way of life: to live every minute of the day with purpose—all 1,440 of them. p1440 is an event series encompassing a professional beach volleyball tournament, personal development experiences, live music performances and a health & wellness village, mirrored by a powerful digital community that will provide inspiration and resources to live life fully. It is a movement that goes beyond the lines in the sand, encouraging all to live the p1440 lifestyle regardless of age, gender, profession or geographic location. p1440 was founded upon four pillars: Competition, Development, Health & Wellness and Entertainment. Through the event series and the digital community, p1440 will elevate the sport of beach volleyball, provide a credible platform for aspiring and professional athletes, grow the volleyball audience and become the leading resource for individuals to live a life full of intention. To become a part of the #1440Movement, visit www.p1440.com or follow p1440 on FacebookTwitter and Instagram @platform1440.

Attachments area

Wednesday, September 5, 2018

September 2018 Downtown Dimension Highlights

The SEPTEMBER 2018 Downtown Dimension is now available at:
  • A resurgence of officers in the Downtown Property Owners' Association Secondary Enforcement Units (SEU) program makes a positive impact on the downtown community.
  • City intends to keep South Hall property for future Convention Center expansion.
  • Jay Paul Co. invests in San Jose.
  • Two new stores opening in MOMENT at San Pedro Squared.
  • Street resurfacing program leads to new downtown bikeways.
  • Artist Brian Brush hired to add illuminated art to the Market - San Pedro Square Garage.
  • SJDA hosts a public meeting at 8:30 a.m., Sept. 14 at the studio at Poor House Bistro, 87 S. Autumn St.  Agenda includes update of the planning for Diridon Area and for the College Football national championship game in January.  
Also available:
  • Live and Local SJ supports live music in the center city.
  • Traffic alerts keep up with lane and road closures and openings.
  • Maps of downtown commercial property availability and development proposals.
  • Boom City: SJDA continues to update the roundup of new downtown building proposals and west side acquisitions.
Downtown Dimension is a leading source for information about downtown San Jose news, events and businesses.  Subscribe with a simple email to sjda@sjdowntown.com, subject line: Subscribe.  

For information about downtown events, also subscribe to Downtowner Online.

Tuesday, September 4, 2018

WeWork opens second Downtown San Jose location

The coworking industry is still picking up steam. One of the market leaders, WeWork, already has several spaces in Silicon Valley including a 75,000 SQFT Downtown San Jose location at 75 E. Santa Clara Street. That location already has 1,382 desks, but apparently that is not enough.

By the end of the year WeWork is opening a new 72,167 SQFT location at 333 W. San Carlos Street, also known as Riverpark Towers. The second location will have 1,344 desks across four floors of the building.

Coworking primarily (but not exclusively) benefits small business and entrepreneurs. As these companies grow there will be increased demand for more office space in San Jose, hopefully helping offset our jobs and housing imbalance. A second WeWork location is a very positive sign for our central business district.

Source: SVBJ