The American Musical Theatre of San Jose (AMTSJ), previously known as the San Jose Civic Light Opera (SJCLO), was a major professional nonprofit musical theatre company in

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popu ...

. Founded in 1934 as the San Jose Light Opera Association, it became the second largest theatre company in the Northern California (exceeded only by the American Conservatory 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 San Jose Center for the Performing Arts is a performing arts venue located in Downtown San Jose, California. It opened in 1972 and is now home to San Jose Dance Theatre and Broadway San Jose. History The theater opened in 1972 the architect w ...

. The organization incurred debts after a 2002 agreement to become a receiving house for touring Broadway productions. It closed in December 2008.Quillen, Shay
"American Musical Theatre of San Jose closes down"
''

San Jose Mercury News ''The Mercury News'' (formerly ''San Jose Mercury News'', often locally known as ''The Merc'') is a morning daily newspaper published in San Jose, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is published by the Bay Area News Group, a subsidia ...

'', December 1, 2008.

History

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

San Jose Light Opera Association

In 1934, a group of community volunteers formed the San Jose Light Opera Association (SJLOA), performing works by Gilbert and Sullivan. The first production was ''

The Mikado ''The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu'' is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen Gilbert and Sullivan, operatic collaborations. It opened on 14 March 1885, in London, whe ...

'', held at the Victory Theatre on North First Street near Santa Clara Avenue in

downtown San Jose Downtown San Jose is the central business district of San Jose, California. Downtown is one of the largest tech clusters in Silicon Valley, as well as the cultural and political center of San Jose. History The town was first settled in 1777. T ...

, where they would perform for several more years. Shows were later held at Theodore Roosevelt Junior High School Auditorium, the Montgomery Theatre downtown, and then the Santa Clara University Theatre."History of AMTSJ", American Musical Theatre of San Jose. For the 1957/1958 season, SJLOA shifted from light opera to musical theatre. (Light opera is light-hearted

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

usually with a happy ending; musical theatre can be thought of as a

play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

with singing.) Also, performances were moved to the

San Jose Civic Auditorium The San Jose Civic (formerly known as the San Jose Civic Auditorium and City National Civic) is a former arena, currently operating as a theatre, located in downtown San Jose, California. The venue is owned by the City of San Jose, is managed by ...

. The first productions in the new venue were '' Carousel'' and ''

Guys and Dolls ''Guys and Dolls'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. It is based on "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" (1933) and "Blood Pressure", which are two short stories by Damon Runyon, and also bo ...

''.

San Jose Music Theatre

In 1972, as the company continued to grow in popularity and success, SJLOA changed its name to San Jose Music Theatre (SJMT), in time for its move into the new San Jose Community Theatre (renamed in 1975 as the

). To mark the occasion, SJMT hired its first Equity actor,

Enzo Stuarti Enzo Stuarti (born Lorenzo Scapone; March 3, 1919 – December 16, 2005) was an Italian American tenor and musical theater performer. After performing on Broadway under the stage names Larry Laurence and Larry Stuart, he changed his name again a ...

, for its production of '' South Pacific''. Unfortunately, the move to the new venue was delayed when the interior ceiling of the Community Theatre collapsed, closing the building for three years for repairs. In 1975, SJMT finally debuted at the Center for Performing Arts with ''Guys and Dolls''. That same year, SJMT began to contract much more Equity talent, including stars like

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Tommy Tune Thomas James Tune (born February 28, 1939) is an American actor, dancer, singer, theatre director, producer, and choreographer. Over the course of his career, he has won ten Tony Awards, the National Medal of Arts, and a star on the Hollywood Wal ...

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, and

Tyne Daly Ellen Tyne Daly (; born February 21, 1946) is an American actress. She has won six Emmy Awards for her television work, a Tony Award and is a 2011 American Theatre Hall of Fame inductee. Daly began her career on stage in summer stock in New York, ...

. 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 company's fortunes. The premiere of '' City of Broken Promises'', based on the book 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

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, averted financial disaster.

San Jose Civic Light Opera

After the 1979/1980 season the board hired Stewart Slater as General Manager,Green, Judith. "The Secret of CLO's Success: Stewart Slater Lifted a Community Theater from Desperation to State-of-the-Arts", ''

'', October 20, 1991. ushering in a new era and another new name: the San Jose Civic Light Opera (SJCLO). In Slater, who had been general manager of American Conservatory Theater in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

, the board chose someone from outside the organization and a proven business leader. Within two years of Slater's hiring, SJCLO once again had a balanced budget and began a streak of eight profitable seasons. When Slater took over, the company relied heavily on star power to draw audiences. The big 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 bolster the quality of the entire production.Green, Judith. "San Jose: Culture at the Crossroads", ''

'', December 28, 1986. In 1984, thanks to a successful season ticket renewal campaign, the CLO had a rare surplus of $40,000 in advance ticket sales, prompting Slater to take an unprecedented risk for the organization. He hired a

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

arts publicist, Danny Newman, to organize the largest

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ing campaign ever done by an arts organization, spending the entire surplus. The gamble paid off, with the number of season ticket subscribers increasing by 10,000 within two years. The Slater era saw steady growth in the company's reputation and attendance. Performances such as the critically acclaimed production of '' Jesus Christ Superstar'' in the 1989/1990 season and the widely successful restaging of ''

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'' in 1991/1992 were considered notable achievements by Dianna Shuster, whom Slater had promoted to Artistic Director in 1985.

American Musical Theatre of San Jose

In 1995, the theatre changed its name yet again, this time to American Musical Theatre of San Jose, to commemorate its 60th anniversary. In February 2002, AMTSJ announced an agreement with the Nederlander Organization, one of the largest operators of live theatre and music in the United States, allowing AMTSJ to present touring

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

shows in the same season with locally produced shows. The move ended a 67-year era of exclusive locally produced works and led to the departure of artistic director Dianna Shuster.Winn, Steven
"Crucial Moves in Axis of Bay Area's Theater World"
''

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'', August 24, 2002. Following the Nederlander agreement, single-ticket sales, subscriptions, and donations all plummeted, leading to a loss at least $2 million over two years, and to the departure of Slater after 24 years as executive producer. Michael Miller, the new executive producer, blamed the downturn on the community disconnect caused when the Nederlander agreement displaced local talent and on the struggling

Silicon Valley Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that serves as a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical areas San Mateo Coun ...

economy.D'Souza, Karen. "New Executive Aims to Get AMT Back in the Black — To Reverse a Dramatic Two-Year Downturn, Michael Miller Wants More Local Productions", ''

'', August 8, 2004. Upon his arrival from

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, the AMTSJ alumnus Miller launched a program to boost revenues with flexible ticket package offerings, extensive marketing, and aggressive fundraising. The plan paid off almost immediately, with AMTSJ showing over $500,000 of positive revenue for 2005, cutting debt by one third.

Bankruptcy and liquidation

On November 26, 2008, AMTSJ laid off all of its employees. The following week, it filed for

Chapter 7 bankruptcy Chapter 7 of Title 11 of the United States Code (Bankruptcy Code) governs the process of liquidation under the bankruptcy laws of the United States, in contrast to Chapters 11 and 13, which govern the process of ''reorganization'' of a debto ...

and ended operations. Executive producer Michael Miller announced that the sudden failure was due to a $1.7 million loss on an adaptation of

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's musical ''

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'' in partnership with Theater of the Stars in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

. 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.Weselby, Cathy
"San Jose's American Musical Theatre shuts down"
''Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal'', December 1, 2008. Company assets were auctioned the last week of February 2009.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:American Musical Theatre Of San Jose Theatre companies in San Jose, California Culture of San Jose, California Companies that have filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy 1934 establishments in California 2008 disestablishments in California Musical theatre companies