eSavers

Come ready for an enchanting night of choreography, luscious wines and cuisine as resident Belly Dancer Adrianna appears along with her band. Dance Artist Adriana, a California native, has been dancing since she was four years old. With a background in classical dance such as ballet and jazz, she was drawn to all forms of movement and music specifically in Latin, Brazilian, and Middle Eastern styles. Murad Bshara, born and raised in Haifa Palestine, will be entertaining on keyboard and drum. Murad Bshara grew up with a passion for playing Middle Eastern drum instruments such as tabla, deff, and tar. He has toured with big-name luminaries such as Majdi El Hosaini and Fares Karem, but loves playing with local Bay Area artists in intimate settings. From a young age, Farah Farah studied drumming in his home town of Birzeit in Palestine. In high school, he joined a folkloric group El Fanoun, and sang with them until graduating. Farah attended music conservatory and universities in Jordan and Iraq. In 2006, Farah released a CD, Hizzy which became an international success within a few short months overseas, back home and trough out Canada. This is a multicultural extravaganza that will feed your soul as well as your body!

Two plucky sisters from Columbus, Ohio move into a basement apartment in Greenwich Village in the 1940's amidst New York's subway system construction. Their transition brings them to discover much about life in the big city and each other. Filled with memorably quirky characters and a visit from the Brazilian Navy, this charmingly humorous play, derived from the stories of Ruth McKenney, later became the basis of the musical hit Wonderful Town.

These men who make their way home for the holidays aren’t exactly looking forward to sharing a cup of holiday cheer. But, a stranger in their midst, in town to collect a major poker debt, forces them to take a look at their lives — and where they’ll end up if they’re not more careful. The Tony Award-winner is a darkly funny examination of Ireland's culture of drinking and the arguable states of grace achieved by those who embrace it.

It’s 1964, and wedding bells are ringing for our favorite singing sisters, The Taffetas. Join them and their crooning beaus, The Cardigans, as they swoon and sway to favorite '50s and '60s pop tunes like Who’s Sorry Now, Oop-Shoop, Sincerely and Locomotion in this nostalgically fun musical about gals and the guys they love, written by Rick Lewis, creator of The Taffetas and A Taffeta Christmas.

Senseless violence. Needless loss. More than 400 years later, the Bard’s timeless classic of ancient feuds and young love resonates in countless headlines of warring families and factions, long-standing rivalries, and vengeances for reasons long forgotten. Shakespeare’s wondrous combination of lyricism, humor and suspense makes immortal this tale of two instant, yet star-crossed, lovers. From first shy glance to last heartrending kiss, this dynamic production of untamed passions will captivate new and veteran theatergoers alike.

Steve Byrne's high energy, physical style of comedy make him one of the hottest young comedians touring the country today. He was born to a Korean mother and an Irish father, which provides him with a wealth of material. His new hour special, Steve Byrne's Happy Hour, premiered on Comedy Central earlier this year to rave reviews. You can catch him on the big screen in the Jeremy Piven vehicle The Goods: The Don Ready Story as well as with Vince Vaughn and Reece Witherspoon in Four Christmases. He was a series regular on NBC's The Real Wedding Crashers and he appeared in a promo for last years' Superbowl Halftime Show with Prince. His standup has been featured on NBC's The Tonight Show, ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live, CBS's The Late Late Show and BET's Comic View. Steve has been a featured comic at The Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal, The HBO US Comedy Arts Festival in Las Vegas and The CanWest Comedy Fest in Vancouver. He has featured for Colin Quinn on a USO tour in Iraq as well as for Drew Carey in Afghanistan. Steve's lack of ego and outstanding work ethic make him one of the most sought after comedians in clubs and colleges across the country.

During his exhilarating and epic twenty-one year professional career, Agassi captured eight Grand Slam single championships and is the only man to win a career Golden Slam (all four Grand Slam singles titles plus the Olympic gold medal). Agassi reflects candidly on his life both on and off the court; dropping out of high school and turning pro at sixteen,  pivotal matches with rivals Jimmy Connors, Pete Sampras, and Roger Federer, his personal relationships with Brooke Shields and wife Stefanie Graf, and his role as an education advocate and philanthropist.

As the founder of the Andre Agassi Charitable Foundation, Agassi has raised more than $85 million for the Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy, an acclaimed K-12 charter school for underprivileged children in his hometown, Las Vegas.

18 Mighty Mountain Warriors, a hot sketch comedy troupe from Los Angeles, stars in Contemporary Asian Theater Scene's 9th Annual Asian Comedy Night. It's the only Northern California appearance of 18 Mighty Mountain Warriors, which is celebrating its 15th anniversary. Come see old favorites and new cutting edge themes such as... What's life like for Republicans under the Obama administration? What's North Korea's new diplomacy? Friday has a cast reception where you can meet the actors.

In a modern version of Adam's seduction by Eve, The Shape of Things pits gentle, awkward Adam against experienced, analytical Evelyn. After a chance meeting at a museum, Evelyn and Adam embark on an intense relationship that causes shy and principled Adam to go to extraordinary lengths to improve himself. In the process, Evelyn's subtle and insistent coaching results in a reconstruction of Adam's fundamental moral character. Labute's latest work is an intense and disturbing study not only of the uses of power within human relationships, but also of the ethics involved in the relationship of art and life. The Shape of Things challenges society's most deeply entrenched ideas about art, manipulation and love.

During In October 1998, a 21-year old gay student at the University of Wyoming was kidnapped, severely beaten and left to die on a fence outside Laramie, Wyoming. Matthew Shepard died several days later. This crime made national news. To try to make sense of this horrifying event, Moisés Kaufman and the Tectonic Theater Project made six trips to Laramie over the course of a year and a half in the aftermath of the beating and during the trial. They conducted over 200 interviews with people in the town. The Laramie Project is a compelling collage told by the people who lived in the town.

Two fathers put up a wall between their houses to ensure that their children fall in love, because they know that children always do what their parents forbid. After the children do fall in love, the children discover their fathers' plot and they each go off and experience things in the world for themselves.  Will they return to each other?

A holiday confection told in song, stories and poems, A Christmas Pudding celebrates the season with lighthearted whimsy and solemn reflection. This collection of Christmas memoirs featuring tales by Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, Shakespeare, Emily Dickinson, George Bernard Shaw and more is interwoven with traditional melodies familiar from ages gone by. A Christmas Pudding is a treasury of literary and musical gifts, a true recipe for Christmas celebration. 

Adam del Monte, adjunct assistant professor, has been on the faculty of the Thornton studio jazz guitar department since 2002, teaching flamenco and coaching the World Guitar Ensemble. Del Monte was both influenced by and inspired the younger generation of flamenco performers who were beginning to depart from the previous virtual space of Spanish flamenco. Del Monte, too, set out in new directions, integrating years of traditional and leading-edge flamenco training, as well as expanding his musicianship on the classical guitar. An eclectic awareness of jazz, world music and other contemporary forms led to new, creative renditions of flamenco repertoire. He has been commissioned by the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet to compose a progressive flamenco piece entitled Cambio de Aire. He has collaborated with Yusef Lateef and the Atlanta Symphony at the National Black Arts Festival in Atlanta, Georgia. His flamenco debut CD on the Spanish label Sonifolk (1998), Viaje a Un Nuevo Mundo (Journey to a New World), was favorably reviewed by Spain's most acclaimed flamenco critic, Angel Alvarez Caballero, as well as Miguel Mora of El Pais and Alfredo Grimaldos of El Mundo.

The Amernet String Quartet, all graduates of Juilliard School, has garnered worldwide praise and recognition as one of today’s exceptional young ensembles. The Amernet formed in 1991 and rose to attention by winning the 1992 Tokyo International Music Competition Gold Medal, the 1995 Banff International String Quartet Competition First Prize, and Grand Prizes at the Fischoff and Yellow Springs competitions. Currently the Resident Quartet at Florida International University, their busy performance schedule has taken them across the United States and to Canada, Mexico, Europe, Japan, and Korea. They record on New World, Gasparo, and Centaur labels. Their San Jose program will include  Haydn's Quartet in B-flat Major, op.76/#4 Sunrise; Mendelssohn's Quartet in E Minor, Op.44/#2; and Tchaikovsky's Quartet #1 in D Major, Op.11,  all audience favorites.  A pre-concert talk by Janet Sims starts at 6:15pm and a 20 minunte post-concert Q&A with the musicians is also part of this fantastic evening of music!

Christmas is a time of great expectations, especially through the eyes of a child. For nine-year-old Ralphie Parker, that great expectation is a genuine Red Ryder 200 Shot Carbine Action Air Rifle. No self-respecting cowboy would be without one. Unfortunately, his mother, teacher and even the Santa Claus toiling away at Goldblatt's Department Store have the same reaction to his Christmas wish, "You'll shoot your eye out!" But for Ralphie, the longing for that special BB gun symbolizes maturity, responsibility, adventure and manhood. Based on the touching film that has become a modern day holiday tradition, A Christmas Story returns to delight the whole family and fill you with the spirit of the season.

Born in Helwan, Egypt, Ahmed's parents immigrated to the US when he was one month old.  He moved to Hollywood when he was 19 to pursue a career as an actor and stand-up comedian. Ahmed attended The American Academy of Dramatic Arts and has been seen in such films and television shows as Iron Man, You Don't Mess With The Zohan, Swingers, Tracey Takes On, Roseanne, JAG, Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn on Comedy Central and MTV's PUNK'D. He recently wrote an original screenplay titled The Pilgrimage based on his Hajj (Pilgrimage to Mecca). He also co-wrote the script Google Me with comedian Erik Griffin. Winner of the first annual Richard Pryor Award for ethnic comedy at the Edinburgh Comedy Festival in Scotland summer of 2004, Ahmed tours all across America and Europe giving audiences his unique and ethnic-based comedy.

Sunnyvale audiences will be treated to a feast of a different kind, as the Sunnyvale-based Chinese dance company Bayland Dancing fills the stage with color. Dedicated to preserving and sharing dances of China’s many ethnic minority groups, the troupe is well-known for its beautiful and extravagant costumes and is frequently featured at Chinese cultural festivals and galas throughout Northern California. For this rare hometown appearance, they will be joined by members of the South Bay Chinese Orchestra, performing on traditional Chinese instruments, including the erhu (fiddle), pipa (lute) and guzheng (zither).

This concert will begin with the Carmen Suite No.1 by Bizet, to be followed by Howard Hanson's Symphony No. 2 (Romantic). The second half will start with Fanfare from La Péri by Paul Dukas and conclude with Johannes Brahms' Double Concerto with Claudia Bloom, violin, and Thomas Shoebotham, cello.

Brian Scolaro was born in a log cabin in Eggplant, West Virginia in 1876. Actually, Brooklyn born Brian Scolaro is a standup comedian most famous for being Stuart on two seasons of FOX's Stacked with Pam Anderson and Christopher Lloyd. After doing the New Faces show at Montreal Just for Laughs Comedy Festival, Brian moved to Hollywood to be a regular cast member on NBC's Three Sisters (2001-02). He has also done stand up on Late Night with Conan O'Brien (2008), Comedy Central's Live at Gotham (2007), Comics Unleashed and recently shot his half hour special Comedy Central Presents: Brian Scolaro (2008). He has also acted in Showtime's Dexter, HBO'S Life and Times of Tim, Disney's Wizards of Waverly Place, and Bob Odenkirk's The Brother's Solomon.

The Tony and Emmy award-winning choreographer discusses how good collaborators aren’t born, they’re made, through practice, commitment, passion, and most of all, habit. She explores how the art of working with others and collaborative learning is replacing head-to-head competition in education and in business.

Tharp will discuss some of her best-known collaborations with artists like Mikhail Baryshnikov and Billy Joel, and will offer advice and life lessons from her extensive forty-year career. Among her many accomplishments are authoring The Collaborative Habit and The Creative Habit.

Northside Theatre Company presents its 27th annual production of this holiday event. This excellent stage adaptation of the Dickens’ classic captures all the power, humor and warmth this ageless tale has to offer. It is a great Christmas present for the entire family. This is the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, a lonely miser, who, through the help of spirits and visions from his past, present and future, finds a second chance to become a loving, generous, kind human being.